On the table last night was contracting with Willdan Homeland Solutions for a study on our policing for a cost of 45,900. This is something that should have been done over two years ago before we dissolved our own police department and gave up all our assets to PB County. At that time, it was an emotional decision and it was political.
One of our prominent merchants' son was accosted in the downtown area. Through their actions and influencing their friends on the dais (Clemens, Lowe and Vespo, commissioners who took campaign contributions from these very Unions), the very expensive dye was cast. No study. No concern about cost. Our police chief got a $280,000 severance. We gave it all away instead of replacing the management.
As Susan Stanton, City Manager, said in August 2009, "We are paying an extremely high price to get a premium service." She did well last year by reducing the cost by $1,221,206 for Sheriff's Services. This resulted with 9 less public safety officers in Lake Worth.
Last night residents gave the Sheriff credit for reduced gang activity and said that not having the Sheriff would produce more gangs, more crime, etc. No it will not. The Sheriff reacts to crimes after they have been committed, not before. Sheriff patrols all of Palm Beach County. Lake Worth is not an exception. In fact just by being in the County and paying County taxes, we can call PBSO. We pay for that service on our ad valorem.
Instead of re-organizing our existing police department several years ago and putting more men on the street, the City voted to give away control of our police department that had been in existence for over 3/4's of a century.
The possible options that will come forth from this Study are
- proceeding with our current and expensive option, staying with PBSO with no changes
- fully re-constituting our public safety departments
- partial re-constitution
- renegotiating the contracts with PB County
- creating new partnerships with other public safety agencies.
The vote was 3/1 with Scott Maxwell dissenting on a study that will be completed in four months. This is something that really should have been done 2.5 years ago.
15 comments:
Lynn you are wrong on this one. Yes the Webber's son was taken by a gun in his back to an ATM but the decision to go with PBSO was not based on that and it was not political. It was based on the fact that people were getting killed all the time, the gangs were so bad we were featured on a TV show. People and houses were being robbed all the time. Gun shots were fired near Southgrade elementary school. The residents of this city were fed up with the mismanagement of the Police Dept and the fact that every criminal knew you could get away with murder in this city. This city can't run anything well. Money is wasted every day. A guest told me that the bathrooms at the beach are the filthiest bathrooms she has ever been in. Do you really believe that this city who can't even keep it's public bathrooms cleaned can keep us safe. The presence of the Sheriff will end if we take this on ourselves. The only viable option we have given our financial condition is to sit down and renegoiate with PBSO. Remember we can't paint the beach.
I don't blame the fact that the residents were fed up with the management of the police department. I have said all along that was the problem. It is extremely radical, however, to abolish our entire police department, give away tons of assets and contract with the PBSO because of crime. We still have crime and we still have murders. Renegotiating with PBSO is a good idea, but will they sit down?
As far as the bathrooms at the beach, I haven't been there lately. I know they painted them all last year and were very clean for old bathrooms in an old beach facility. The old guy who was cleaning up the beach for years recently retired. Perhaps they have not replaced him. I will have to peek in there the next time at the beach.
Still say it was emotional and political as was last night. :)
Argument: We still have crime and we still have murders.
Not fair because no matter what, there will always be crime. The difference now is the fact that Lake Worth is no longer seen by criminals as an easy place to commit a crime and get away with it. For the first time in years violent crime is way down. When you hear of a crime you also get an arrest. Now we have a real police presence in the city. Before we had none. If there was a crime on the south side of the city there were no cops on the north side. This is the difference and this is essential if we are going to attract people back to our neighborhoods. It is essential if we want business to invest here. Lynn, We have too much to lose. This is not the same as cutting garbage pickup. Our lives are at stake. I would like to see a member of the commission appointed to start talking with PBSO ASAP. We can get a fair deal but we have to be willing to talk. Unfortunately Stanton has lost the ability to be believed. She controls the numbers and no one knows what's real.
Perhaps there is a "real presence" in LW but we just never see the Sheriff out this way. In fact, I seldom see any Sheriff vehicle anywhere excepting at Evening on the Avenues, and occasionally driving over at our beach. I can't imagine that the criminals are paralyzed in fear of knowing the Sheriff has taken over our public safety. How much crime do we have in the County? The Sheriff has conducted stings on Dixie, etc. for prostitution...a good thing. They have conducted a remarkable PR campaign in the neighborhood associations...a very smart thing.
By putting more men on the street helped solve the image thing that police are actually reducing crime. We could have done the exact same thing with different management at LW Police and still maintained control.
Lynn you need to get out into the community more often. The difference between LWPD and PBSO is night and day. While there is still crime there's less and the criminals (who are allowed to live in Lake Worth because of the blighted slum conditions where they can pay $300 a month to live, thanks "best commission ever")are forced to hide and not operate in the open which is a big step from the LWPD policy of ignoring everything except murders. The LWPD could not even stop something as simple as street prostitution. There were always dozens of prostitutes along Dixie. You don't see them anymore. Street prositution leads to nieghborhood burglaries, etc. You are so wrong on this, much the same way you're wrong on so many other issues including the canidates you support, keeping the city manager, the issues you think are important to the city. You can just add this to the list.
And it's comical that such an huge advocate for the beach hasn't been there to see how disgusting the bathrooms are. "Best commission ever".
You are a real ball buster, aren't you?
Thank God you live in area of the city that is safe. The real presence of the PBSO is in our blighted neighborhoods. I know someone that works the 4 to 12 shift and drives through the city each night after 12. He told me that he sees at least 4 police cars every night as he passes through. He never saw this before PBSO. The difference is real. We cannot keep our beach and golfcourse bathrooms clean. We will never be able to keep our citizens safe. Except maybe in your neighborhood but don't count on it. We really all need to pull together on this issue. Peoples lives depend on it.
January 20, 2011, which spans the last week.
Property Crime 7
Death 2
Theft 15
Drugs 20
Vehicle Stop 1
Disorder 10
Family Offense 14
Liquor 6
Robbery 4
Alarm 10
Other 47
Missing Person 3
Pedestrian Stop 24
Traffic 37
Assault 21
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Both you and Stanton are coming at this problem from and emotional point of view. Yes, the Unions are bullies, but you cannot do what Stanton is attempting without a Plan B.......or even a good Plan A. She went about this the wrong way and now she will pay for it with her job.
Lynn your list of crimes is even more evidence that we need PBSO. The shooting today is just the beginning of what will happen if we rely on our own city to protect us. You really need to see that we are a dysfunctional city in crisis.
You think that I am emotional? EEEEEEEEEEK :). You are talking about the Unions, right? I just join the rest of the people in this country who see the light here. No emotion involved in this.
As far as I being a HUGE advocate for the beach (I am against the beach redevelopment per the Plan but FOR the Casino)what does your criticism have to do with my not going into the bathrooms there? You only go into them if you NEED to go into them. I need to get into the community more often--more often than what or whom? The Sheriff?
John, I can see that I am debating an attorney here. You refuse to see my side of this. The shooting on S. F just proves my point--the Sheriff is reactive. It is not preventing crime. But I am now out of this argument.
I'm at a loss. Lynn, you point to a set of crime statistics and say see the Sheriff is reactive. That makes an assumption that there will be no crime here in the city with the Sheriff patrolling our streets. There is crime in every city. That's not the issue. The only real issue is who is the best at keeping it under control. You must admit given the popularity of the Sheriff that the "people" strongly feel that PBSO is the hands down winner. I only ask that you consider why we can't at this point in our city's decline change our method of protection. It will be perceived as opening the door to criminals invading our city. Property values will go even lower.
It is a known fact that the policing entities control the stats. All of them do it...fudging the numbers to justify why they need more money. The fox watching the hen house.
This is nothing more than a change in COLOR OF THE UNIFORM. Do you mean to tell me that the Sheriff can do it better? The color of the uniform makes no difference. Local cops are better at handling local issues. For the first year of the contract, we had the same guys here in LW and we saw them everywhere. All along it was a MANAGEMENT ISSUE when it was lW Police...We had more people at desks than out on the street.
On top of everything else, we don't even have a police station open on weekends. If we want a report, we now have to go out to Gun Club. So, it's a cut in service for a hell of a lot more money and that figure will rise so high that we just might as well de-charter.
This report will tell us what our options are, if any. This is all about affordability and keeping the city solvent.
There is no question that the Sheriff is and has done a better job than our own local cops. You don't believe the stats and there is nothing anyone can say to open your mind to the realities of the situation.
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