While on council, I was always a strong supporter of our police and fire departments. I supported the license plate reader at Lazaretto Creek when others screamed that it was invading their privacy (by the way, nothing you do on a public highway is private). I supported body cameras on police officers when others worried about the cost and the chance of incriminating a police officer (which hasn’t happened.) Body cameras save all sorts of time and lawsuits when accused are shown how they really behaved during an encounter with the police.
Maintaining a fully staffed and well trained department is essential to the City’s well being. I will back our police and fire departments with proper funding for both personnel and equipment.
One of the key things I learned is that we have professionals running our public safety departments and they know more about public safety than I do. Council members should be well informed about the operation of these departments, but we should refrain from interfering in their day to day operations.
One of the biggest concerns in our community is Orange Crush. This year’s Orange Crush was a disaster. The scale of the event was beyond anything we had seen before. I know that Chief Hayes and her staff have been planning for the next event since April. I trust them to meet the challenge this coming year and I will support their plans.