Dear Malden Residents,
The recent unrelated acts of violence serve to remind us
that the issue of public safety needs our constant attention. I want to thank
the Malden Police Department and other law enforcement agencies for working
diligently to solve the recent crimes that have negatively impacted our city. I
also want to re-assure you that the safety of our residents and businesses is a
priority for me. From meeting weekly with Police Department officials to
holding eight public safety awareness meetings around the city, I am working closely
with the City Council to make sure that our community is safe. This week I announced
a series of initiatives that will further assist our law enforcement officials
to help prevent crime and improve public safety. They are as follows:
1. Hire additional Police
Officers – I remain committed to increasing the number of
police officers. Currently, we have 74 Patrol Officers and we are in the process
of hiring 4 additional officers which will bring us to 78. Tonight, I propose adding 3 more that will
result in a total of 81 police officers. The funding will come from citywide
positions in the budget that have yet to be filled.
2.
Assign
more Officers to the Anti-Crime Unit
– This
Unit was formed in 2010 and has been tasked with working in the Malden Center
Train Station area and surrounding neighborhoods primarily during the evening
hours. Currently, there are 3 officers assigned to this Unit. I propose the use
of overtime funding to assign 2 additional officers to this group resulting in
a 5-member Unit.
3.
Continue
surveillance camera expansion
– Surveillance
Cameras are an effective technique to detect and deter criminal activity. The
cameras provide another means for Police Officers to have a visible presence in
certain areas of the City. We presently have 18 cameras around the city. I want
to expand this number by adding 12 more which will give us a total of 30
surveillance cameras. The cost of the High Definition cameras which can pan,
tilt, and zoom is estimated at $5,000 per unit. I propose that the total
purchase price of $60,000 be funded through the Capital Improvement Program
(CIP) that I will forward to the City Council in September-October.
4.
Purchase
additional License Plate Readers
– License
Plate Readers can rapidly identify and process thousands of license plates compared
to manual checks that might only be in the hundreds. Presently, we have 5
stationary readers and 3 in our police cruisers. I want to purchase an
additional 2 stationary readers and one more to be installed in our police cruisers.
The cost per unit is estimated at $20,000. I propose that the total cost of
$60,000 be funded through the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that I will
forward to the City Council in September-October.
5. Purchase more unmarked cars – Unmarked vehicles
allow police officers the considerable advantage of patrolling areas and
carrying out surveillance efforts while not being seen. I want to purchase 2
additional vehicles. The cost per vehicle is estimated at $15,000. I propose that
the total cost of $30,000 be funded through the Capital Improvement Program
(CIP) that I will forward to the City Council in September-October.
6.
Install
a secure, high performance wireless broadband network – This private network
owned, operated and managed by the Malden Police Department would significantly
enhance both emergency and normal daily public safety operations. Such a
network would:
·
stabilize and improve the performance of the current
Police radio system and extend its useful life;
·
expand
high performance video
surveillance into new areas of the City while retaining the existing deployed
cameras;
·
provide reliable, HD quality video images that
will improve investigation and crime reduction capabilities; and
·
become a platform for importing non-City
video feeds from schools, retail centers, and other locations into the 911
center. This would not only assist with investigations, but also improve
emergency and incident responses.
I propose that the cost for installing
and maintaining this network, once it’s finalized, be funded through the
Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that I will forward to the City Council in
September-October.
7.
Reopen
Residential Permit Parking Program – The benefits that such a program offers would assist in promoting
public safety by preventing unwanted vehicles on city streets. Permit parking
stickers would be free for those already paying excise taxes. What this
program would allow us to do is collect taxes from those residents not
currently paying their fair share. These new monies would then be dedicated to
hiring additional Police Officers. I have asked Councillor Kinnon as the City
Council’s Public Safety Chairman to begin holding hearings on this initiative.
More
importantly than any of the initiatives outlined above is the fact that we need
your help. Please notify the Police Department if you see or hear about
anything that is suspicious. In the meantime, always feel free to contact me
with any questions at 781-397-7000, option 6 or mayor@cityofmalden.org.
More patrolling in general, not just in and around the Malden center T stop, is necessary if crime is to be reduced. While most of the above is good, unless there is a patrol car "dedicated" to patrolling various parks, these areas will continue to be utilized by teens and criminals as was noted during the last public Safety meeting. last night a call was made to the Malden PD concerning what sounded like a group of drug dealers in the Lincoln Commons park. Ten minutes after the call was made, the suspects had moved on. Twenty six minutes later, two cars arrived (this is an improvement over no cars, so good job there). However, not 5 minutes after those cars left the scene, people dressed as thugs (no proof that they were thugs, mind you,but still) were already on the park benches. Since these areas are generally unpatrolled, the criminal element just has to evade the police when there is a call, and the area is theirs again.
ReplyDeleteVideo surveillance in these areas does not appear to be the answer; Lincoln Commons in particular has signs that state that the area is under video surveillance, and since the people in the park may not be local (see last Public Safety meeting, many people picked up in our parks during the last push to retake Malden from the gangs resulted in a lot of suspects picked up that self-identified as from Boston or New York, not locals) they apparently don't care if there are video cameras. However, sending actual patrols would keep them running. If times/routes were randomized enough, it would make the area inhospitable for criminals, and hence would reduce crime in Malden by making it difficult to conduct business with constant threat of a random car. Unmarked cars, as suggested above, would result in more arrests, but really as a citizen of Malden all I care about is there not being crime in my community, not so much that the criminals aren't committing them elsewhere (don't get me wrong, not against the idea of the 2 new unmarked vehicles, just stating that actual patroling now is more relevant and useful).
Another issue is the Trash, and though there are many arguments on either side (should the area in front of our houses be city responsibility or home owner? Are the police actually fining people who litter, or staying in their cars and yelling as was suggested at the Public Safety meeting this last Monday?), one thing is clear: we need more barrels in Malden. I would suggest metal ones with a small opening on the top (to prevent the disposal of household trash) or the compactors as found in neighboring communities (Everett, for example). Why more barrels? Well, one of the reasons Malden has crime is that it looks like the sort of place where that behavior is tolerated (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory for more information). While there is some need for the city to clean up the streets (trash is far too out of hand for individual residents to make a significant dent), the addition of trash barrels at major intersections would likely reduce the amount of litter; maybe I'm giving people too much credit, but I do believe that many people who have littered would have instead used a barrel if convenient (assumption is that it's laziness, not a desire to trash the city, that has led to the trash issue). This also relates to the issue of dogs in public parks; I believe that many people walk their dogs in and around where children play because these are the only places where there are barrels available, and no one wants to carry bags of waste around for more than a block or so.
To recap:
-Good job on having police actually show up to a call last night, this is a definite step in the right direction.
-but what we need is to have these areas patrolled, regularly and in random patterns, to make these areas no longer suitable for criminal activity.
-we also need barrels
Rather than moving in the direction of more high tech or car-bound surveillance, there should be more emphasis on community policing. I can't remember the last time I encountered a police officer on foot, (except those on private detail at stop and shop or at a national grid worksite). Though I am sure they are there from time to time, in my 28 years living in the city, I have never seen a police man or woman in the Malden Sq T station. Or walking down the sidewalk on Pleasant Street or Main Street or Salem Street. Picking up on the "broken windows theory" referenced above, there could be a powerful psychological benefit to seeing officers at ground level, greeting and making eye contact with those passing by, establishing a visible presence and personal relationships within the neighborhoods. Without that presence, there is the underlying impression that the community is not safe enough for the Police to walk around in. And I agree there should be more patrols in the parks, but those should include some friendly, walking patrols during the daylight hours.
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