by Breeanna Jent on 2013-07-19
Residents gathered at City Hall last Wednesday evening, June 26, for an update on the state of community safety and to ask questions at a televised joint town hall meeting led by Redlands City Police Chief Mark Garcia and Redlands City Fire Chief Jeff Frazier.
The meeting was “part of the City of Redlands’ efforts to promote citizen involvement, in keeping with the City’s commitment to transparency in every aspect of City government,” according to a statement issued on the City’s official website.
Chief Frazier and Chief Garcia answered questions from those in attendance, as well as those sent via email and Facebook, working to address residents’ concerns and inquiries.
Subjects covered focused on public safety, and questions were asked concerning what can be done to prevent brush fires, panhandling, and metal theft; various volunteer opportunities; and the current state of the city’s disaster response, to name a few.
Shelley Sanders asked what could be done on Pine Avenue between Center and Texas Streets to control speeding and traffic. An RPD representative answered, “RPD no longer has a dedicated traffic unit. We have recently restructured each patrol team so that each team has a dedicated traffic officer. We deploy officers as we are able to deal with specific issues. Public education and traffic engineering solutions are also explored in each case. Traffic safety grants which pay for officer overtime are used to address specific issues such as drunken driving and distracted driving.”
“What can be done to encourage better laws dealing with metal theft? It’s time to put the scrap yards that encourage this illegal trade out of business,” said Tom Herron via Facebook.
An RPD representative responded, “We have the laws in place, but as long as the return is high people will continue to participate. We need to find ways to harden the targets. Unfortunately, with prison realignment people are not being held for these types of crimes and are reoffending. The best case is to harden the target and have community involvement.”
One resident asked if the Fire Department would soon be receiving its own ambulances.
Chief Frazier responded that with current transport system reviews, it may be possible. “The entire transport system … may be going out for a request for proposal and private and/or public bids to provide that service. One of the things that will impact that is the exclusive operating areas that those ambulances have to have won’t necessarily coincide exactly with the border of Redlands,” he said. “We are watching that situation develop very carefully, and if nothing else, we’re hopeful that we can partner with the private ambulances to have some of the revenue that goes through them come to the first responders that are actually providing the bulk of emergency care within our community.”
Questions regarding the RPD’s drug policy were answered by Chief Garcia as “Just say no.”
“We do many different drug investigations. Certainly, if you have a problem, call us. We have a motto here that’s a nationwide motto that we’ve adopted and that’s ‘See something, say something.’ This community is only as good as the people in the community. The police department’s not going to be a strong police department unless the community’s involved in telling us what’s happening because we don’t have enough officers to be on every corner all day long,” he said.
Currently with 225 active volunteers, the RPD is one of the few departments that has more volunteers than employees, Garcia said.
“You have this high visibility of people going out there and being our eyes and ears,” said Garcia.
Police volunteers provide approximately $1 million each year in services, Garcia noted.
Chief Frazier also discussed various volunteer opportunities offered by the Fire Department, including the Volunteer Fire Inspector Program and the Reserve Programs, which allow for extra persons in emergency situations.
“We also have volunteers in our administrative and logistical functions that also come in and volunteer in our office,” said Frazier.
To view more public questions and answers, visit the Redlands Police Department and the Redlands Fire Department Facebook pages.