On Tuesday evening, April 24th,
Commissioner Stuart held the second Neighborhood Leadership Forum,
this one focusing on Public Safety.
The evening began with participants mingling with City staff from
the Orlando Police, Fire, Emergency Management, Code Enforcement and
Neighborhood and Community Affairs Departments. They were able to
ask specific questions and gather information.
Then, Commissioner Stuart
introduced Mayor Dyer who reiterated the fact that the City Council
has committed to put 75 new police officers and 45 new firefighters
on the streets over 3 years. He said that 25 new officers will be
added to our force this year and they have just recently completed a
new training facility so that all OPD officers are also the most
well-trained. He also mentioned that 100% of the dollars that the
City received from higher property values last year went toward this
public safety initiative. The Mayor also mentioned one of the
recommendations that has already been implemented and that is the
City’s new graffiti hotline, 407-254-GRAF. Please call the
hotline when you see graffiti in the City of Orlando so that we can
work together to keep our City free of this form of vandalism that
has been proven to lead to more serious forms of crime entering our
neighborhoods.
Commissioner Stuart then
introduced the forum’s keynote speaker, Dr. Stan Stone,
Vice-President for Human Resources and Diversity at Valencia
Community College and the Chair of the Mayor’s SAFE Orlando
Taskforce.
Dr. Stone focused his speech on
the recommendations of the SAFE Orlando Taskforce. In his talk, Dr.
Stone emphasized the fact that crime prevention is a
multi-jurisdictional issue that the City of Orlando cannot fix by
itself. He said we must focus on better communication between
government entities and government branches. He also mentioned that
the taskforce broke down their findings into three sub-categories,
which included prevention, enforcement and re-integration. Finally,
he spoke about the fact that he has asked the Mayor for permission
to extend the taskforce as they are ready to work even harder on
helping to find answers to the hard questions relating to crime.
Currently, Dr. Stone is working hard to educate the Orange County
School Board on the taskforce’s findings, especially as they relate
to truancy and juvenile crime. He is also currently working with
the news media to educate them on the effects of their mantra of,
“if it bleeds, it leads,” and help them to understand how they need
to be proactive in helping all of us to inform without glamorizing
as well as to show them how integral they are to helping us prevent
and solve crime. Please
click
here for the summary and full recommendation report of the
Taskforce.
After Dr. Stone finished his
remarks, Manny Soto, the Emergency Manager for the City of Orlando
gave a short speech regarding disaster preparedness since June 1st
begins the 2007 hurricane season. He emphasized that preparedness of
our community and citizens is vital, and that we all have
responsibilities when it comes to preparedness. Some of the key
points he made are as follows. The likelihood that you and your
family will survive a house fire depends as much on having a working
smoke detector and an exit plan, as well as on a well-trained fire
department. The same is true for surviving a hurricane, tornado, or
even a terrorist attack. He told the group that we must have the
tools and plans in place to make it on our own, at least for a
period of time, no matter where we are when a disaster strikes. Just
like having a working smoke detector, preparing for the unexpected
makes sense.
Get ready now. Do not wait
until the last minute. We can all do our parts by following these
simple steps.
1- Get a kit of emergency supplies.
2- Make a plan for what you will do in all different
types of emergencies (if there is a fire and everyone exits the
house in a different way, where should you meet? Or if there is a
hurricane and cell-to-cell calls in Florida are not an option, does
everyone have Aunt Linda’s number in Ohio so that she can serve as
the family liaison whom everyone calls?)
3-Be informed about what might happen.
4- Get Involved in preparing your community.
He then answered the question, how can we get
involved? The Office of Emergency Management is committed to
educating citizens when it comes to disaster preparedness. Disaster
preparedness education comes in many forms. Our office can support
community fairs, neighborhood meetings, and community events with
disaster preparedness information. As a community leader, if you
have an event where you would like to have information available on
disaster preparedness, please let us know. We will be more than
happy to support and attend any and all events that have a captive
audience. Another way of getting involved is through our Citizen
Corps volunteer programs, such as Community Emergency Response
Training (CERT), Citizen Fire Academy, Citizen Police Academy,
Neighborhood Watch Program, Citizen on Patrol or through the
American Red Cross chapter. These programs allow for citizens and
communities to get prepared and involved. Please
click
here to go to the Office of Emergency Management’s webpage
The final speaker at the forum was Orlando Police
Deputy Chief Val Demings. Please
click here to view
Chief Deming’s power point presentation. Please
click here
to go to the Orlando Police Department’s webpage.
Also, please find below important contact
information with regard to Public Safety.
ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT
Address: 100 South Hughey
Avenue
Orlando, FL 32802
Website:
Important Numbers:
Non-Emergency Number: 321-235-5300
Traffic Hotline: 407-246-2906
Citizens for Neighborhood Watch: 407-246-2369
Citizen Observer Program: 407-246-2461
Grafitti Hotline: 407-254-GRAF (4723)
District 3 Contacts:
Captain Frank D. Smith, Captain, North Patrol Division, 407-297-2075
Officer Kevlon Kirkpatrick, District 3 Liaison Officer, 407-246-2196
Orlando
Fire Department
Address: City Hall
PO Box 4990
400 South Orange Avenue, 7th Floor
Orlando, FL 32802
Orlando, FL 32802
Website
Important Numbers:
Non-Emergency Number: 321-235-5200
Public Relations: 407-246-3128
Contact: Chief James Reynolds, Fire Chief, 407-246-2390
Orlando
Office of Emergency Management
Address: Operations Center
PO Box 2846
Orlando, FL 32802
Website
Phone: 321-235-5437
E-mail:
Orlando.OEM@cityoforlando.net
Contact: Manuel “Manny Soto”, Emergency Manager, 321-235-5437
ORLANDO DIVISION OF CODE
ENFORCEMENT
Address: Orlando City
Hall PO Box
4990
400 South Orange Ave, 1st Floor
Orlando, FL 32802
Orlando, FL 32802
Online Services
Phone: 407-246-4444
Contact: Mike Rhodes, Division Manager, 407-246-3331
Dr. Stan Stone, Chairman of
the Mayor’s Safe Orlando Taskforce
Phone: 407-582-8075
E-mail:
sstone@valenciacc.edu
