i believe it was that the police were too busy answering domestic calls, 911 calls and hang ups....with only 2 officers per 12 hr shift. also, business owner in 400 block Locust St said they have NEVER seen a police officer on a bike, walking or stopping in to ssay hi at any of the businesses on that block. the Mayor said....they'd like to. problem is...this town has wsy too many rental properties that are destroying our town. guessing its getting closer to 1,000 properties now. what has to be done is this. the Code Dept MUST focus on rental poroperties, no cutting the owners any slack,stay on top of them, keep hitting them with instant citations, clean up ALL the eyesores i town. if the codes dept can't do it...DON"T hire more code officers. start at the top and replace. the boro can't afford more, and it can't afford to hire a arborist full time. or better yet-WHY NOT ENFORCE ALL THE ORDINANCES ALREADY ON THE BOOKS????? your famous for spending more taxpayer money to write new ordinances. clean house. council is a J O K E.
Cole, as the first post stated....maybe if the existing police force weren't constantly being called to certain areas for domestic violence/911 calls/etc constantley, the police chief and mayor would have the luxury of being able to provide a foot patrol officer for the downtown business district. If someone could easily find a way to subsidize the salaries for (2) more police officers as easy as the way some renters find subsidized $$$$ for themselves, well then you may be able to have your foot patrol. It is a sad state of affairs in a lovely hometown. Rental units and the transient folks that take advantage of these opportunities are whats really at the core problem of this town. We need to put an end to it once and for all. Unfortunately, Columbia is not Mayberry anymore.
Doesn't anybody remember that THIS is exactly why the "3 strikes and you're out" came from? There was a study done several years back that determined the police were spending 70% of their time on calls to rentals, most of them being repeat addresses. I know for fact that they are not citing on each and every call, so it makes you ask yourself why? Well, maybe the cops don't want to take the time doing the paperwork, maybe they see that if they DID write up the citations that eventually those repeat trouble makers would be gone then the police would have less calls, which would substantiate less overtime for them!!!! Yes long winded but I think you get my point.
Foot patrols are fine if you are within walking distance of an officer when you need police assistance. But what are the odds of that? No, I'm sorry, but officers need to be available to offer aid to the entire town (and surrounding areas) when on duty. When the shit hits the fan, you need them to respond as fast as possible. They can't do that if they are taking a stroll along the empty storefronts of Locust street. They need cars. Let's be real.
If a foot patrol was going to be a "luxury", the mayor never should have said we were going to have it. Do not promise things publicly that you cannot deliver, or at least choose your words carefully.
The police are not just paid to break up fights and the mayor should watch what he says it sure does not look good for Columbia and we are always getting a bad name about time we try to turn this town around and make it town people will want to move into
I find it amusing that locust street is the "main drag" of our town and also part of the historical district. Has anyone looked at the condition of the buildings on locust street? Horrible!! But yet there are people who own houses in the historical district trying to fix their properties up and have to jump through a million hoops to do so. Why not allow people to beautify their homes and worry about the landlords who let the it buildings fall down or the landlords who don't upkeep their buildings!! Then you have the SVCC that is supposed to promote Columbia businesses bringing outside vendors in and promoting them for 4th Friday events. What happened to Columbia pride????
Sorry folks, I MUST disagree with these statements. Having a beautiful downtown does NOT make Columbia great AND it does NOT make people come. Ask any realtor "what is most important to a person/family looking for a new home?" answer=JOBS. Then ask "What is the second most important thing?" answer=Schools. STOP wasting your effort on lower priorities. FIX these 2 things (JOBS and SCHOOLS) and the other issues will start to go away. The solution to the “too many rentals” is not to enforce codes. The solution is to improve property values so Landlords can not justify paying a high price. IT IS low property values that bring Landlords. Improving JOBS and SCHOOLS will lift property values. Increased code enforcement will most likely lower property values and bring more bad Landlords. WHY? The good landlords will leave and you will be left with the bad ones AND home owners will leave because they will also be ticketed. Columbia can not just ticket one group (Landlords and not home owners). Already, I am seeing the good Landlords leaving. Sad. Lastly. Stop bashing Landlords. It's getting really old. You ’r just looking for a scape goat. I can name many owner occupied homes that are worse than investor owned properties. If you want to improve Columbia, it will take money. Investors (Landlords) have money. Bashing them is like saying we want Columbia to go down the hole. Instead work with Landlords to provide win-win situations. Improve the Landlords return on investment AND improve Columbia with some policy changes (WIN-WIN).
I agree 100% with everything you wrote. Dumb little things like closing an alley and trying to push homeowners to keep their properties historical and all the nonsense does nothing for the town. There are some people that act like grade school bullies to try to push their own agendas that the real problem is ignored. Yes let's focus on jobs and school to start because those are the important issues. Without the things that make a town thrive the other issues that some people are coming up with are completely irrelevant
only bashing the SLUM landlords. We have some who are great! But not enough :( especially when you have people snatching up 60 or 70 properties. DO you really think these properties are up to codes????? i think not
The Mayor should never make statements that he cannot keep. I recently saw 3 cop cars respond to one call, for one man that was sitting in a parking lot area. Why couldn't one of the 3 cops be on foot? This town is small they can get around fast enough. Someone permitted Wagon Werks, so who's to blame? Is it zoning?
That's just a stupid thing to say. No one expects the officers will be running across town to answer calls. I agree with parking the vehicle and walking around a different area each shift. Don't just walk in the problem areas, include all sections on a rotating basis.
So the officer is ALWAYS in his car? Never on a call in a third floor apartment, how long will that take to get downstairs to the car? What was their response time leaving Columbia Family restaurant? Walking around a block or two will not be any different then being across town with a car, even with lights and sirens they still must use caution. In example, say a call comes in at Wagon Werks and one of the cops is out at Linden Street in a car and another cop is walking on South Fourth with a parked car a block away, I'm betting the one on South Fourth is getting to Wagon Werks first or at the same time. Point being calls are unpredictable. They will rarely be right there immediately.
The cops would never have to run or walk that far. Walking around town would not mean leaving the car behind at the station, but rather parking and walking around a block or two. This "presence" would enable the officers to interact more with those they are sworn to serve. Depending which way one travels, it is 2.2 miles from Devonshire Place to Wagon Werks.
I think the cops do a pretty good job with what they have to work with. People need to police themselves and stop ALL the nuisance calls they have to answer and maybe they could do more foot/bike patrols. I remember a post sometime ago where a cop stopped and played basketball with some kids. I'm sure they would love to have the time to interact with the public more.
I would put our Police Department up against others in the county. Its just a shame, there are not more of them. As for the Mayor's comments, well, since Mr. Long records every meeting, he can't back out of it and can't wait to hear his words on the comments. Maybe like Mr. Beury, he should step down.
Every post on here proves one thing, Cola is too small to provide the services its residents need on its own. This is why it made sense to sell the sewer system, & its why we have to merge with another entity for our schools, police, & municipal services. Its the only answer to these problems. Its deffinitely not the easiest answer but the only one that will work & can be done. We need the collective worlings from the mayor, council, & school board .
So the officer is ALWAYS in his car? Never on a call in a third floor apartment, how long will that take to get downstairs to the car? What was their response time leaving Columbia Family restaurant? Walking around a block or two will not be any different than being across town with a car, even with lights and sirens they still must use caution. For example, say a call comes in at Wagon Werks and one of the cops is out at Linden Street in a car and another cop is walking on South Fourth with a parked car a block away, I'm betting the one on South Fourth is getting to Wagon Werks first or at the same time. Point being calls are unpredictable. They will rarely be right there immediately.
i believe it was that the police were too busy answering domestic calls, 911 calls and hang ups....with only 2 officers per 12 hr shift. also, business owner in 400 block Locust St said they have NEVER seen a police officer on a bike, walking or stopping in to ssay hi at any of the businesses on that block. the Mayor said....they'd like to. problem is...this town has wsy too many rental properties that are destroying our town. guessing its getting closer to 1,000 properties now. what has to be done is this. the Code Dept MUST focus on rental poroperties, no cutting the owners any slack,stay on top of them, keep hitting them with instant citations, clean up ALL the eyesores i town. if the codes dept can't do it...DON"T hire more code officers. start at the top and replace. the boro can't afford more, and it can't afford to hire a arborist full time. or better yet-WHY NOT ENFORCE ALL THE ORDINANCES ALREADY ON THE BOOKS????? your famous for spending more taxpayer money to write new ordinances. clean house. council is a J O K E.
ReplyDeleteCodes issues have reached critical mass. Time for drastic measures.
DeleteWhere are the police foot patrols the mayor promised several months ago?
Cole, as the first post stated....maybe if the existing police force weren't constantly being called to certain areas for domestic violence/911 calls/etc constantley, the police chief and mayor would have the luxury of being able to provide a foot patrol officer for the downtown business district. If someone could easily find a way to subsidize the salaries for (2) more police officers as easy as the way some renters find subsidized $$$$ for themselves, well then you may be able to have your foot patrol. It is a sad state of affairs in a lovely hometown. Rental units and the transient folks that take advantage of these opportunities are whats really at the core problem of this town. We need to put an end to it once and for all. Unfortunately, Columbia is not Mayberry anymore.
DeleteI agree....... I only seen one police officer taking a bike ride since our mayor made the said would happen. what a joke.
DeleteDoesn't anybody remember that THIS is exactly why the "3 strikes and you're out" came from? There was a study done several years back that determined the police were spending 70% of their time on calls to rentals, most of them being repeat addresses. I know for fact that they are not citing on each and every call, so it makes you ask yourself why? Well, maybe the cops don't want to take the time doing the paperwork, maybe they see that if they DID write up the citations that eventually those repeat trouble makers would be gone then the police would have less calls, which would substantiate less overtime for them!!!!
DeleteYes long winded but I think you get my point.
Foot patrols are fine if you are within walking distance of an officer when you need police assistance. But what are the odds of that? No, I'm sorry, but officers need to be available to offer aid to the entire town (and surrounding areas) when on duty. When the shit hits the fan, you need them to respond as fast as possible. They can't do that if they are taking a stroll along the empty storefronts of Locust street. They need cars. Let's be real.
DeleteWell said!
DeleteIf a foot patrol was going to be a "luxury", the mayor never should have said we were going to have it. Do not promise things publicly that you cannot deliver, or at least choose your words carefully.
DeleteLOL, ya gotta love it!
ReplyDeleteThe police are not just paid to break up fights and the mayor should watch what he says it sure does not look good for Columbia and we are always getting a bad name about time we try to turn this town around and make it town people will want to move into
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we could see a police log, we would really know what the police are doing.
ReplyDeleteFill out a "Right To Know" and ask for a copy of the police log.
DeleteI find it amusing that locust street is the "main drag" of our town and also part of the historical district. Has anyone looked at the condition of the buildings on locust street? Horrible!! But yet there are people who own houses in the historical district trying to fix their properties up and have to jump through a million hoops to do so. Why not allow people to beautify their homes and worry about the landlords who let the it buildings fall down or the landlords who don't upkeep their buildings!! Then you have the SVCC that is supposed to promote Columbia businesses bringing outside vendors in and promoting them for 4th Friday events. What happened to Columbia pride????
ReplyDeleteSorry folks, I MUST disagree with these statements. Having a beautiful downtown does NOT make Columbia great AND it does NOT make people come. Ask any realtor "what is most important to a person/family looking for a new home?" answer=JOBS. Then ask "What is the second most important thing?" answer=Schools. STOP wasting your effort on lower priorities. FIX these 2 things (JOBS and SCHOOLS) and the other issues will start to go away. The solution to the “too many rentals” is not to enforce codes. The solution is to improve property values so Landlords can not justify paying a high price. IT IS low property values that bring Landlords. Improving JOBS and SCHOOLS will lift property values. Increased code enforcement will most likely lower property values and bring more bad Landlords. WHY? The good landlords will leave and you will be left with the bad ones AND home owners will leave because they will also be ticketed. Columbia can not just ticket one group (Landlords and not home owners). Already, I am seeing the good Landlords leaving. Sad.
ReplyDeleteLastly. Stop bashing Landlords. It's getting really old. You ’r just looking for a scape goat. I can name many owner occupied homes that are worse than investor owned properties. If you want to improve Columbia, it will take money. Investors (Landlords) have money. Bashing them is like saying we want Columbia to go down the hole. Instead work with Landlords to provide win-win situations. Improve the Landlords return on investment AND improve Columbia with some policy changes (WIN-WIN).
I agree 100% with everything you wrote. Dumb little things like closing an alley and trying to push homeowners to keep their properties historical and all the nonsense does nothing for the town. There are some people that act like grade school bullies to try to push their own agendas that the real problem is ignored. Yes let's focus on jobs and school to start because those are the important issues. Without the things that make a town thrive the other issues that some people are coming up with are completely irrelevant
Deleteonly bashing the SLUM landlords. We have some who are great! But not enough :( especially when you have people snatching up 60 or 70 properties. DO you really think these properties are up to codes????? i think not
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor should never make statements that he cannot keep. I recently saw 3 cop cars respond to one call, for one man that was sitting in a parking lot area. Why couldn't one of the 3 cops be on foot? This town is small they can get around fast enough. Someone permitted Wagon Werks, so who's to blame? Is it zoning?
ReplyDeleteOk. How long to get from the Wagon Werks to Devonshire Place on foot? You run it, and I'll time you.
DeleteThat's just a stupid thing to say. No one expects the officers will be running across town to answer calls. I agree with parking the vehicle and walking around a different area each shift. Don't just walk in the problem areas, include all sections on a rotating basis.
DeleteAnd now the officer is a block or two away from his car. That adds to response time. Still stupid.
DeleteSo the officer is ALWAYS in his car? Never on a call in a third floor apartment, how long will that take to get downstairs to the car? What was their response time leaving Columbia Family restaurant? Walking around a block or two will not be any different then being across town with a car, even with lights and sirens they still must use caution. In example, say a call comes in at Wagon Werks and one of the cops is out at Linden Street in a car and another cop is walking on South Fourth with a parked car a block away, I'm betting the one on South Fourth is getting to Wagon Werks first or at the same time. Point being calls are unpredictable. They will rarely be right there immediately.
DeleteThe cops would never have to run or walk that far. Walking around town would not mean leaving the car behind at the station, but rather parking and walking around a block or two. This "presence" would enable the officers to interact more with those they are sworn to serve. Depending which way one travels, it is 2.2 miles from Devonshire Place to Wagon Werks.
ReplyDeleteI think the cops do a pretty good job with what they have to work with. People need to police themselves and stop ALL the nuisance calls they have to answer and maybe they could do more foot/bike patrols. I remember a post sometime ago where a cop stopped and played basketball with some kids. I'm sure they would love to have the time to interact with the public more.
ReplyDeleteI would put our Police Department up against others in the county. Its just a shame, there are not more of them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Mayor's comments, well, since Mr. Long records every meeting, he can't back out of it and can't wait to hear his words on the comments. Maybe like Mr. Beury, he should step down.
Every post on here proves one thing, Cola is too small to provide the services its residents need on its own. This is why it made sense to sell the sewer system, & its why we have to merge with another entity for our schools, police, & municipal services. Its the only answer to these problems. Its deffinitely not the easiest answer but the only one that will work & can be done. We need the collective worlings from the mayor, council, & school board .
ReplyDeleteSo the officer is ALWAYS in his car? Never on a call in a third floor apartment, how long will that take to get downstairs to the car? What was their response time leaving Columbia Family restaurant? Walking around a block or two will not be any different than being across town with a car, even with lights and sirens they still must use caution. For example, say a call comes in at Wagon Werks and one of the cops is out at Linden Street in a car and another cop is walking on South Fourth with a parked car a block away, I'm betting the one on South Fourth is getting to Wagon Werks first or at the same time. Point being calls are unpredictable. They will rarely be right there immediately.
ReplyDelete