The Observation Deck

Kenneth Warren wrote:We have a thin blue line of, say 88 law enforcement personnel with guns to protect us from the chaos swirling around us.....

Wait until Citi-Stat, technology or capture of scientific data by City Hall will compel the right decision.

Give me break.

A city manager?

I once hoped a talking stick posse with capes would do the trick.

Let's wake up and smell the coffee.

Police levy, please.......

Kenneth Warren

Ken

I'm goping to lend you one of my scanners for a week or two, let me know what you think then.

Last night I heard the call I have been speaking of from day one on this.

"Could some one tell me what it says? My computer cannot image it." the answer came back, "Mine has not been updated yet, anyone else?" Something was being sent out as a picture but it would seem that the officers in the cars could not get it.

A couple days earlier was from dispatchers, "My computer just went down." other dispatcher, "Mine too."

I had thought that one of the things they were doing last year is bringing all software up to date. Almost seems pointless to hire more until we can outfit them with proper equipment and cruisers.

New Year's Eve has become the grand daddy of all scanner nights. It causes all sorts of problems. From "amateur" over drinking, to new drinkers not doing well, to domestic problems which follow a curve of stupidity.

Mark, the stick and the cape might still be the best, if others can be motivated to keep their street safe.

Other high-points from the night; 3 women passed out on streets or hallways. One guy out cold at 4:00pm at Put-In-Bay, at least of handful of Casanovas locked out of their homes by the missus.

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Jim:

Keep your scanner. My eyes and ears on the ground are enough for me to ascertain what's happening.

Mastery of technology is a tall order for the public sector.

Now you complicate matters of force with a techno-twist.

Sure, Jim, we wait for mastery of the technology before putting more cops on the beat.

First Fed of Lakewood is offering a $500 reward for the punks who broke their window on one occasion and their door on another.

Captured some of the breaking glass on video. Technology is grand.

Police levy, please.

Kenneth Warren

Kenneth Warren wrote:Jim:

Mastery of technology is a tall order for the public sector.

Now you complicate matters of force with a techno-twist.

Sure, Jim, we wait for mastery of the technology before putting more cops on the beat.

Police levy, please.

Kenneth Warren

Ken

This is not mastering technology. and I am sure the levy would help. This is a system of computers in the station and in cars that cannot communicate because of drastically different systems, software and equipment that is held together with band-aids and chewing gum.

FWIW


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And 20,000 more residents will help this how? So much for that mumbo jumbo about our infrastracture being able to handle things easily. Safety is an important issue but adding more taxes is a risky proposal in the long run since the cost will fall largely on the residents. Will a levy just effect homeowner's in the form of increased property taxes or will it include all of our renters as well?

Is it time to focus on what we have? When the city's most visible form of commerce is it's bars, what did you expect would happen on New Years?

As a start, does the city need to hire someone like JOB to be Director of Technology and then make it mandatory for all city employees to graduate through the Web Wise Seniors program held at the library? It is amazing how many employees (in the private sector, too) in today's age cannot even perform simple tasks in Windows.

Doug

Shawn Juris wrote:And 20,000 more residents will help this how? So much for that mumbo jumbo about our infrastracture being able to handle things easily. Safety is an important issue but adding more taxes is a risky proposal in the long run since the cost will fall largely on the residents. Will a levy just effect homeowner's in the form of increased property taxes or will it include all of our renters as well?

Is it time to focus on what we have? When the city's most visible form of commerce is it's bars, what did you expect would happen on New Years?

Shawn

While I am very pleased to see you finally mentioning focusing on what we have. You still miss the point.

4 years ago we had 56,000 residents, ten years ago 62,000 residents. What we have now is exactly the same support we had then. Adding people while increasing some strains on the system have already been covered. Have you ever read Jane Jacobs? Her premise which most urban/social engineers take as correct, fly in the face of some of the notions you are putting forward. I believe the library has her two most important books.

The more people on the street, the safer each street is. Crime for the most part, not new years drunk fests, happen on streets that are empty, or nearly empty. She goes into great detail how corner pubs, and cities with porches are some of the safest. Corner pubs allow for people coming and going at random times, while porches provide places for people to sit and watch their streets from.

Dare I say, judging by the descriptions of the three incidents the police we called to that all happened when outsiders arrived where they were not invited or asked to leave.

Which is safe 20,000 transients coming through a city with no real vested interest or 20,000 more eyes on the streets of the town they are trying to raise their families in?

Are you trying to tell me that all 20,000 would be drunks?

I think people tend to take care of where they live, and also spend more money there.

Read Jane Jacobs, I think it will open your eyes to the amazing possibilities in the city that could almost be described as Jane Jacobs dream town.

Mumbo Jumbo, hardly, look at the facts. Past 15 years, Streets the same, police slightly larger, sewers the same, schools increased in size.

FWIW

DougHuntingdon wrote:As a start, does the city need to hire someone like JOB to be Director of Technology and then make it mandatory for all city employees to graduate through the Web Wise Seniors program held at the library? It is amazing how many employees (in the private sector, too) in today's age cannot even perform simple tasks in Windows.

Doug

Doug

I am a Mac user, by nature that means I have no knowledge of windows or real systems. In this town I would have to put John Guscott of the Library at the top, but we all need him there.

There is one thing that hiring more police would do. Make the news, and this would send a signal we are tired of outsiders coming in here for crime.

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And 20,000 more residents will help this how? So much for that mumbo jumbo about our infrastracture being able to handle things easily

So, just to understand, is there a correlation between population and crime, per se? If we have an increase of 40% in population, does it follow that crime will also increase 40%?

If it were that simple, and there were not myriad other social/economic issues involved, you could expect that areas with little or no population should have little or no crime.....right? Thus, downtown Cleveland, from the flats to E30th, innerbelt to the Lake should have the smallest amount of crime, given its very small population.

And you would be much safer walking down a deserted street at night, versus one with a bustling crowd.....

But, it isn't that simple.

Jeff

Upgrading the computer system that safety forces use saves us money in the long run. Reports can be automated, information flows faster and is collected faster, etc. The safety forces can work harder and smarter.

This does not appear to be an issue of people not being able to work the equipment, the equipment isn't working to capacity.

Is it less expensive to upgrade the computers or hire more safety forces?

I think some other questions would have to be answered to determine how current or new technology needs to be implemented and/or upgraded.

Several questions come to mind:

1) Is the current technology implemented correctly and the best fit for requirements?
2) Has the user base been given adequate training and review of the system?
3) Has data growth or new requirements caused the current technology to be obsolete?
4) What is the ROI on upgrading systems with new technology? (Intangible items such as "Will it help the force to be more efficient" as well as monetary feasibility)

I am an advocate of new useful technology, however, not all situations require it. I would assume more info is required for best decision.

dl meckes wrote:This does not appear to be an issue of people not being able to work the equipment, the equipment isn't working to capacity.

Is it less expensive to upgrade the computers or hire more safety forces?

DL

From what i am hearing you might want to drop the words "to capacity."

While some of the things overheard such as police having to return to fill out paperwork, does take needed police off the streets. Ken does make a good point as does the PR for hiring more.

I just tend to think it is like sending soldiers to Iraq and then trying to figure out how to arm and protect them.

JH

Nice stuff, welcome aboard.


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Sure Jim. Whatever you say.

Shawn Juris wrote:Sure Jim. Whatever you say.

Shawn

OK, you tell me. what software is running in the cars, and what software is running in the station?

How many upgrades, or complete overhauls between the two?

Have you ever tried to get Windows 88 to communicate with no problems with Windows 2000 or later?

If a city has a total excess of $23,000 for 2007. How many police, cars, and equipment can you hire/buy?

Now remember, I am the guy that wants to raise taxes by as much as 9 mills, and you do not want any tax raise.

Answers?


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actually I was responding to the other portion of you early post on how we could easily add 40% more to our population. The short answer seemed more appropiate. Why bother giving thoughtful answers you'll just twist whatever I say into some crazy story that you'll repeat in various post whether I'm involved or not. You don't really wonder why other's don't contribute, do you?

It seems like everyone is making assumptions of the system but we have not heard from the users.

Also, prior to a tax increase for this, the Homeland Security Budget has funds available for regions to specifically update their police/fire/ems communication systems and allow for systems in contiguous communities be able to communicate. There was just a release of what areas were complying with this, and the Cleveland area ranked toward the bottom. But of course this implies coordinating efforts with other municipalities which might bring about, gasp, regionalism - this would never fly in Lakewood - let's just raise taxes to update the system