Re: Neighbors say hookers, junkies on the rise, May 9.
I feel bad for the Lealman residents who have seen a rise of these types of crimes in their neighborhood and feel that their calls to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office have fallen on deaf ears. A large law enforcement agency like the Sheriff's Office is quick to point out the advantages of having such a large agency for policing the county.
Lealman residents are seeing one of the disadvantages: accountability to the community. I am not suggesting that deputies don't care about the community.
The Sheriff's Office has a different policing philosophy from the philosophies of municipal departments. This philosophy starts from the top and filters down to the street deputy. Community policing is not a priority to the sheriff's administration.
As you drive south on 34th Street, you can see that the prostitutes work south of 62nd Avenue to 38th Avenue. This is the unincorporated county area known as Lealman.
Why do the prostitutes stay south of 62nd Avenue? Because it is south of the border of the city of Pinellas Park. Pinellas Park police use community-policing philosophies to address community problems and are held accountable to the community by the chief of police and city government.
In Pinellas Park, the code enforcement officers are part of the Police Department and work with officers to address problems.
There are other ways to address prostitution and drug dealing than busts with undercover detectives.
Using police patrols in conjunction with city ordinances and building codes to address the locations where the perpetrators of these types of crimes congregate causes them to move to a location that is more beneficial for their trade. Also, unlike the Sheriff's Office, in Pinellas Park, if you have a complaint and call the Police Department, you talk to a person.
The sheriff's policing in unincorporated areas often seems to take a back seat to the contracted cities. Because these cities are under contract, there is accountability to the city. These cities are policed just like municipal police departments. These deputies respond to all calls for service, i.e. noise and barking dogs, unlike the deputies in unincorporated areas.
Deputies in unincorporated areas are also pulled from the area and assigned to contract cities when they are short on manpower.
The residents of Lealman would benefit from joining a city like Pinellas Park. I know that many of the citizens are afraid of losing their identity as a community. I'm sure that a mutually beneficial arrangement could be worked out between the city and the residents of Lealman. Perhaps labeling Lealman a historic district with signage at the borders. Their community's security would certainly benefit.
-- Tony Motley, Pinellas Park
Shuffling the problems around
Re: Neighbors say hookers, junkies on the rise.
Good luck to Donna Ford! We have had the same problem in our neighborhood for over two years. And make sure you don't call the 911 number - they never show up; always use the nonemergency number. The whole story about Ford and her neighbors could have been written about me and mine.
The outcome of the problem? Yes, we did get them out. The sad part is the police really couldn't do anything to stop it, and they (the hookers) are now working someplace else.
So where do hard-working people bring up their children when all we do is keep moving the problem from one neighborhood to the next? I think we need to start changing some laws to help save all of our neighborhoods. Whatever happened to the three strikes law? Ask a cop - it doesn't apply here. Let's start holding homeowners who let this happen responsible - three strikes, you're out!
-- Martin K. Roche, St. Petersburg
First Pier was right side up
Being a transplanted 61-year-old Midwestern retiree who has chosen to live here, I guess I shall live to see Pier Three, according to your reports.
One of the reasons I chose this area to live is due to the fond memories of the first Pier, which I visited annually beginning at age 9 while staying out on St. Pete Beach. What a treat it was for this prairie person to see people with humongous fishing rods catching sharks, sea turtles, and stingrays from the deep dark waters surrounding the Pier.
Guess I never made it to the ballroom on the top, but I spent a lot of time walking inside the big open building where the outlying walls were lined with shops selling miniature orange crates with oranges inside the size of marbles, glass paper weights with sand dollars and starfish inside that said St. Petersburg, Fla. (not Made in China), or alligators made of rubber and handy to scare little sisters.
I remember the entire floor filled with chairs surrounding a piano with a player and singer in the middle and everybody singing songs like I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover and parking was full. I boarded a real submarine and other naval vessels docked at the Pier.
I got married and came back to the beach and the Pier on my honeymoon and wondered who came up with the inverted pyramid as an improvement. Yuck!
And every year on my annual visit, I noticed substantial occupant and management changes as it appeared she was trying to find her new identity.
Well, here we go again. Don't shorten it, and remember some of us eventually moved here because of the neat things St. Petersburg had and was famous for like Webb's City, Albert Whitted Airport and the Million Dollar Pier. Good luck and God bless the next commission. I hope the next version will be right side up and more fun again.
-- Charles C. Barnett III, Oldsmar
Don't feed the beggars; they'll move on
I use the interstate exit at 22nd Avenue several times a day and I am greeted by the sight of people with cardboard signs, stating everything from "Homeless please help," to "Stranded please help," to "Vietnam veteran please help," to the only honest one, "Why lie, I need a beer."
I see these people with their signs while driving to and from my work and I think of the people that come to our city and this is, many times, the first thing they see of St. Petersburg.
I called the police only to find out they are protected by the First Amendment for "free speech." I believe in the rights of the people under the First Amendment, but begging should not be a right.
A good way to stop this blight on our city is very simple: Stop giving these people money. No money and I bet these beggars will go away; like any business, the beggars will relocate to a more fertile collection spot.
For those who disagree, look at the way these people dress: nice shoes and clean clothes, and they are homeless? Where are they when the rain comes? Aren't these people still in need of money, especially in rainy weather?
It's like feeding wild animals: The more you give the more they want. No money, no bums.
Keep our city clean. Don't fertilize the weeds. Starve them and they will move on; feed them and they will stay a blight on our city and ourselves.
-- Delmar Preston, St. Petersburg
[Last modified May 19, 2004, 01:00:42]
