Cpt. Silva says, "this grant will help assail the robbery problem and victimization of the Hispanic community in our city."
The City of Lake Worth, a population of 36,725 residents, located within the central region of Palm Beach County, Florida, has experienced a significant upward trend in robberies since 2002. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Uniform Crime Report UCR, there were 287 robbery crimes reported within the city in 2008 compared to 223 in 2002, a 28 percent increase. In response to this crime wave as well as economic concerns, the City of Lake Worth recommended that its police department merge with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), as it has more resources readily available and specialized units to combat violent crimes.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) is requesting $500,000 over a two years period under Category I: SMART Policing Demonstrative Initiative, to implement a data-driven problem-oriented policing strategy to significantly reduce the number of robberies and opportunistic crimes occurring within the city and unincorporated area of Lake Worth. Crime mapping analysis has shown an upward trend in robberies within a defined geographic area, which has a large immigrant and migrant Hispanic population, and who are the frequent targets of violent crimes due to their vulnerability, illegal status and their reluctance to report crimes for fear of deportation and reprisal. Our strategic plan encompasses four important goals:
1) empowering the immigrant community with knowledge and education to prevent them from being victims of crime and encourage them to report crimes;
2) addressing “quality of life” issues such as loitering, public alcohol consumption, noise violations, and abandoned properties which contribute to violent crimes;
3) creating a proactive intervention team to track and apprehend robbery suspects and respond to “quality of life” issues; and
4) evaluating program impact.
Key deliverables include: 1) conducting a community survey to assess the perception of crime pre & post program implementation; 2) hiring a Community Liaison to be an advocate for the community and victims of crime; 3) conducting crime prevention/public awareness campaigns; and 4) increasing the number of reported robberies and other violent crimes.
The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office will be the lead agency to implement the strategic plan, coordinate project activities and ensure that key deliverables/tasks are completed within specified timeframes. PBSO will partner with Florida State University (FSU) Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research to collect data, develop realistic performance/outcome measures and evaluate program impact.
Shouldn't our law enforcement officers ALREADY be doing all these things ?!? If not,why not,and why give them 500,000 for things they should be doing as common sense law enforcement RIGHT NOW ? What a load of CRA# ! Everybody's got their hand out but friggin ME !!!!!!
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