Public Safety

By Craig Tappa

We need to take another look at the city budget to determine if there is money for more Sheriff's Deputies. In the meantime, we should employ low-cost alternatives to augment the effectiveness of the deputies we already have.

Would crime decrease if we had more deputies on the streets? Absolutely! Can we afford a large amount of additional deputies? I've been told countless times there is no money for a large increase in expenditures for law enforcement. Perhaps that is true. Granted, it costs $270,000 per deputy, per year. However, if other departmental expenditures were reduced, say 5%, that would free up a lot of money to hire more deputies. I propose that it might be worth another look at the budget to determine the viability of such a concept. Perhaps the money is there, but presently, no one wants to use it for law enforcement. Until that is decided, we can augment law enforcement with other low-cost alternatives. Here's what I've got in mind:

1. Obviously, we need to hire at least two additional deputies with each new budget + that will keep us as close as possible to the population increase;

2. Explore the possibility of hiring additional low- cost, entry-level Community Service Officers ("CSO") to enhance the productivity and efficiency of the Sheriff's Department by freeing-up deputies for more high-danger scenarios while the CSO's handle routine matters. We can also explore the feasibility of assisting the Sheriff's Department with funding to train more reserve deputies and other volunteer programs such as Volunteers on Patrol;

3. Employ more low-cost park rangers to improve safety in city parks;

4. Expand the Partners Against Crime (PAC) program, and increase parole sweeps to arrest violators.

5. Implement a Public Safety Advisory Committee consisting of Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch block captains to give the Sheriff's Department and Public Safety Department additional insight about problem areas in residential and commercial neighborhoods;

6. Implement stricter enforcement of curfew laws;

7. Utilize surveillance cameras in high crime areas such as Palmdale Boulevard between 5th Street East and Division Street where prostitutes now congregate, and at Domenic Marsari Park where thugs still terrorize residents.

8. Conduct more random sobriety checks to stop repeat DUI offenders.

Employing Community Service Officers ("CSO") has proven extremely beneficial throughout the nation in assisting the main law enforcement agency by handling calls for service not requiring the presence of a police officer and assisting in a variety of other duties, such as patrol, traffic, crime prevention, prisoner transport, personnel and training divisions. The CSO can investigate crimes and traffic collisions, assist with crime scene investigations, and the collection of evidence, direct traffic, maintain equipment, address abandoned or illegally parked vehicles, and can be assigned to the property clerk to ensure the proper handling of evidence, found property, recovered stolen property and items stored for safekeeping.

Additionally, the Neighborhood Watch program (especially the block captions acting as liaison between residents and the Public Safety Department and Sheriff's Department) is essential because it allows citizens to assist in being "eyes" for law enforcement. In this way, Palmdale residents can make a difference by taking a proactive stance in the fight against crime.

Earlier this year, because someone had the guts to tip Sheriff's Deputies of suspicious behavior in a Palmdale neighborhood, a virtual arsenal of firearms, illegal drugs and 13 undesirables were taken off the streets of our community.

One of those arrested was a parolee, and though I am uncertain if he was released from the detention facility in Lancaster, many convicted criminals are routinely paroled from the Lancaster jail, but instead of going back to the location of their arrest, they are remain on the streets of the Antelope Valley.

As one high-ranking Antelope Valley public official recently shared with me, this policy of releasing parolees in the Antelope Valley instead in the location of their arrest and conviction, is an integral factor for the high crime rate in Palmdale and many surrounding Antelope Valley cities. No doubt, there has already been an effort by public officials to block the local release of out-of-town convicts, and I intend to see that the efforts to send these parolees back to where they came from is a continuing "work-in-progress."

Because of this unfair parole policy, Antelope Valley residents must be vigilant in the effort to assist law enforcement authorities in any way we can to reduce crime on our streets. Those who show little or no respect for the rule of law have no business dwelling in our community, that is, unless it is behind bars under lock and key.