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A majority on the City Council support a workshop on how aggressive and uniform the fight against crime is.
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council member John Bryan wants to know whether the Police Department is tough on crime.
On Tuesday, he asked police Chief Chuck Harmon and his staff for a "comprehensive Police Department overview regarding their crime enforcement efforts." Bryan said he proposed a televised City Council workshop because some residents believe the department is not aggressive enough.
"I don't know that we are or not," Bryan said of aggressive enforcement. "I assume we are, but I want the Police Department to put it on the table. I want to know exactly what they're doing to fight crime."
Bryan has the majority of council votes necessary for the workshop. During a meeting Thursday, council members are expected to schedule a two-hour session in April.
The request comes at a critical time for the Police Department. The city has had three police chiefs in less than six months. Residents wonder whether officers are aggressively enforcing drug laws citywide and whether enforcement is uniform in all neighborhoods. There's a contract stalemate between the city and rank-and-file officers.
And, citywide, violent crime rose 8.6 percent last year.
Bryan said he talked with Mayor Rick Baker about having the workshop, and the mayor supported it. Baker was in Tallahassee and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Harmon, who met with Bryan on Tuesday, said the request is fair and not micromanagement.
"What he was talking about is council becoming familiar with police operations," Harmon said. "I'm in favor of information sharing."
But some council members wonder what the city will gain.
Council member Bill Foster said he would support the workshop, but he is skeptical about what the department will tell him.
In 1999, Foster and then-City Council member Kathleen Ford voted in favor of an outside management review of the Police Department. The measure failed by a vote of 3-5.
A year later, Foster proposed a review of how well then-police Chief Goliath Davis III was running the department. That fizzled too.
During both calls for a review, council members had heard from residents about an increase in prostitution and drugs, slow police response times and an understaffed department.
Council members acknowledge that the City Charter prohibits them from setting police policy. Policy decisions are up to the mayor and chief.
Still, council Chairwoman Renee Flowers said she would favor a workshop because the dialogue would better inform council and residents.
Council member Jay Lasita said an information gathering workshop about the Police Department is "overdue."