Public Safety

By Heather Fargo

Though crime is an ongoing struggle -- and always will be -- there have been many successes, including a reduction in crime over the last year.

When Mayor Fargo took office, downtown was almost shameful. Cesar Chavez Park was known as 'Wino Park', and entire areas of town like Alkali Flat and Franklin Villa were in the grips of crime and poverty. These areas and many others across the city have been turned around through Community Oriented Policing, Problem Oriented Policing, to get at the root of crime and stop it in its tracks. Better planning and design of apartments and neighborhoods and financially investing in neighborhoods also helps to reduce crime. Several years ago, crime began to increase again, and the Mayor led the city council to hire 75 new police officers, 30 new dispatchers, and built a new 911 center to decrease response times. The city is now setting up a new 311 call center to respond to non-emergency call that can reduce response time for busy dispatchers who need to focus on emergencies. As a result of this leadership, crime has seen an overall decrease during the past year and a half.

Over the last 2 years the city has built 3 new fire stations in the city. And the Office of Public Accountability is assuring that our police and fire personnel maintain their professional approach to handling citizens.

The Mayor will continue to strengthen resources for police and fire, and in her next term will work to make service and response time more uniform across the city. Additionally, it is clear that while police response to violent incidents is effective, there are serious problems with how property crimes are handled, and that will be a strong focus during the Mayor's next term.

Additionally, Mayor Fargo believes that a key way to stop crime from going out of control is to make sure that our young people stay busy and engaged in their community, so that they aren't tempted by gangs and drugs.

In the big picture, Mayor Fargo believes that federal programs (like the COPS grants) to fund police officers in all cities must be restored with the new president.