Mayor: There’s a reason for the cars

Good Afternoon Mr. Girardi,

Thanks for your note. Every year we swap out a certain number of cars — six this year. Part of the process involves overlap of new vehicles and those about to be sent to auction. We receive the new cars from the dealer without any markings, light bars or radio equipment. We install as much as possible on our own to control costs but there are other activities such as pin striping that we outsource. This all takes time. So at the moment you are seeing more cars than we will actually use after the replacement process is completed. One car is assigned to each officer who is permitted to take the vehicle home when off shift (common practice within police agencies) which helps promote safety within their neighborhood plus if we need to call out the officer while off duty, he/she has ready access to their vehicle and can respond directly to the emergency.

We have just hired a new Police Chief who has 25 years of experience with the Tucson, Ariz., PD. My challenge to him is to continue to modernize our department and ensure we have the correct staffing levels. We currently have 28 sworn officers (includes all levels) with another two to be hired in August. The FBI recommends that all agencies have 1.5 sworn officers per 1,000 population. Our current estimated population is 30,000, ergo we should have 45 sworn officers according to the FBI. The Chief and I agree that we do not need 45, 30 seems like the better number. I agree with you, we are not Chicago (I lived in the Chicago area for 12 years).

The content within the Weekly Vista is beyond my control. A reporter from the Vista has full, weekly access to all calls. I imagine that the mix of incidents reflects their marketing objectives. I can, however, assure you that our officers and command staff are fully trained professionals and are a far cry from Mayberry, thank goodness!!

We do have a very popular Citizens Police Academy which we began in the spring of 2016. It convenes twice a year – spring and fall. Our 2017 spring session is in full swing. All residents who have attended the course thus far are very impressed with our PD. I encourage you to consider applying when we advertise our fall 2017 session. Peter Christie Mayor of Bella Vista