Minutes 03/28/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

O53 March 28, 1995 A proposed~"Vision 2005" Steering Committee will facilitate these public-private partnerships. The committee will consist of local business representatives, civic and community groups, and city staff. The Assistant Director of Economic Development will lead the staff effort, and I have asked our Mayor to chair the Vision 2005 Steering Committee. Other council members will be asked to assume oversight responsibility for the component areas of the plan. This committee will provide the attention and support needed to maintain the momentum and build on the actions already in progress. During the development of the Vision 2005 Plan, the concept of moving police operations to the Mid-Town area was explored and endorsed. Moving the police department to the Mid-Town corridor will centralize six different police locations, as well as show merchants and citizens that the city is committed to "Vision 2005" in its entirety and not just in revitalization efforts downtown. This move will bring three hundred (300) employees into Mid-Town and give this ~mportant area the needed "jump start" to stimulate its economic rebirth. Additionally, the Sheriff's and Magistrate's Offices will relocate to the spaces currently occupied by the police department. The space needs of these offices have been overlooked and given a lesser priority. The time has come to address their needs. Finally, I wish to thank the City Council for the bold step taken in accepting the recommendation to go forward with the economic development plan. This entire effort has demonstrated how the elected leadership, in partnership with the community and management team, can work together to effect change. We are now ready to move forward. PUBLIC SAFETY Police The budget recommends an addition of 21 new positions to the current complement and the establishment of a community policing effort to aggressively address the crime problem in our city. For the third year in a row, crime has decreased in Portsmouth, but we still have one of the highest crime rates in the Con~nonwealth. The police department, working in close partnership with the citizens and merchants of Portsmouth, made great efforts to come together, identify and solve common problems, and reduce crime by 1/2% last year. This partnership is the basis for community policing and is critical to our ability to reduce crime and increase citizen safety. Last sununer, the police department embarked upon an experimental community policing program in the Park View neighborhood, in three months, major crimes decreased 27%. A positive side effect of this effort was the impetus for citizens to become more organized and involved in order to keep their neighborhood safe and clean. To give the police department the organizational and structural thrust needed for a successful conmrunity policing effort, I am recommending the addition of a bureau commander. This position will provide the ability to restructure, and place primary emphasis on, the co~unlUy policing program without detracting from other police operations.