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Police chief meets with Clearwater-Largo Road residents
By JOE WISINSKI
Article published on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 |
LARGO – Residents of the Clearwater-Largo Road corridor gave Largo police Chief Lester Aradi an earful at a recent meeting to discuss issues affecting the area.
About 40 residents met Feb. 24 with Aradi and several of his problem-oriented police officers at Ted’s Luncheonette on Clearwater-Largo Road. Crime issues topped the list for both residents and the police chief.
Andre Fecteau, a resident of 13th Avenue Northwest, said he’s only lived in Largo since September, but has had to call Largo police on numerous occasions.
“I already know half the police force and half the detectives,” he said.
Someone robbed Fecteau’s house two months after he moved to Largo, but he had praise for the police department’s response when he called.
“When you call, officers are very proactive in taking care of the problem,” he said. “I’ve found them to be very responsive every time I’ve called them.”
Not everyone praised the police department, however.
Some at the meeting said the police do not take crime complaints seriously and that dispatchers ask too many questions when residents call in a complaint.
But Aradi defended his officers.
“The perception is that we’re sitting in a Dunkin’ Donuts and don’t want to get up, but it’s like a hospital with a triage unit,” he said. “It’s a matter of priorities. There are only so many officers in the city.”
Aradi also said that even though a dispatcher may be asking the caller a lot of questions, a police officer is already on their way to handle the call.
Some residents said they wished they had the closed-Clearwater-Largo substation back. But Aradi said there weren’t enough officers to staff the substation.
“It was window dressing with no substance behind it,” he said.
Aradi said someone once parked his car at the substation, walked across the street to rob a gas station, and returned to the substation for his car.
About two-thirds of the residents raised their hands in response to Aradi’s question of whether they have seen an increase in patrols in the last two months.
“In the last two months there have been no prostitutes (near my business),” said Shirley Rigler, owner of Florida Inspection Associates. “Something good is happening.”
Aradi said he is working with the state attorney’s office to see if a system called redlining can be implemented in the city. With redlining, if police arrest someone for prostitution, the police could seek a court order keeping the accused prostitute from returning to the area. If the alleged prostitute does return, he or she could be arrested again and face a more severe penalty.
To residents who complained that the department was unresponsive to their concerns or failed to adequately solve the district’s problems, Aradi said, “for those of you who feel that we’ve let you down, I deeply apologize.”
Aradi meets with residents of the Clearwater-Largo Road corridor annually to listen to residents’ concerns.
“The best part of being a police officer, especially a police chief, is going out and meeting with citizens,” he said.
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Article published on Wednesday, March 2, 2005
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