NORTH WALES, U.K. – The North Wale s
police force will be placing rainbow stickers on the front of their desks in the police stations to make gays and lesbians feel more comfortable about reporting crimes. According to the London Daily Mail, adding the recognizable symbol would reinforce the department’s strong stance on breaking down anti-LGBT crimes.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The righ t
wing Indiana Family Institute were upset when they found out that, for the first time, the Indiana police force will march in the city’s gay pride parade.
According to television station WXIN FOX-59, Ryan McCann of The Indiana Family Institute warned:
“The majority of Hoosiers and probably the majority of folks in Indianapolis if they actually went to the gay pride parade and see the activities that goes on there would be shocked to see our taxpayer dollars going to have our men and women in uniform through the police and fire department march in that kind of a parade.”
IMPD spokesperson Linda Jackson says the department doesn’t think having officers march in the parade is controversial. “I don’t think it’s an issue of the politics or an issue of anything like that. This is a parade that we would participate in.”
By Bob Kecskemety
WILTON MANORS, FL – Last month, Paul O’Connell took over the duties of Chief of Police for the City of Wilton Manors. O’Connell replaces interim Police Chief Sharon Anderson, who replaced Chief Richard Perez who resigned last October.
Perez, who was hired as Chief of Police for Wilton Manors in 2006, was suspended by City Manager Joe Gallegos for 30 days without pay after being accused of sending what appeared to be chain emails containing derogatory comments about blacks, the homeless and President Barack Obama from his office computer. Perez resigned from the police force just days after beginning his suspension.
Chief Sharon Anderson, former Assistant Chief of Support for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, agreed to come out of retirement and work with the City of Wilton Manor as interim Chief until a permanent replacement could be found. Anderson told the Florida Agenda at that time that she had no interest in becoming the permanent Chief of Police for Wilton Manors.
O’Connell started with the Pompano Beach Police Department in 1978 after graduating from Northeastern University in Boston. In 1999, the Pompano Beach Police Department merged with the Broward Sheriff’s Office. In BSO, O’Connell worked in the Strategic Investigations Division, Organized Crime and with Internet Crimes Against Children.
“Of all the work I’ve done,” said O’Connell, “the Internet Crimes Against Children was the most rewarding.”
Then, for 18 months, he worked as watch commander for BSO in Oakland Park. In 2004, the BSO merged with the Police Department in Parkland where O’Connell was transferred and became Executive Officer and later promoted to District Chief until he came to Wilton Manors in April 2011.
O’Connell also has a Masters Degree in public administration from Saint Thomas University and a law degree from Nova Southeastern University. He passed the Florida Bar in 1992.
“I was looking for a new challenge,” said O’Connell when asked why he decided to apply for Wilton Manors Police Chief. “The things I’ve accomplished at BSO, which I’m very proud of, had the lowest crime rate in Broward County three years in a row 2008 through 2010.
I want to bring those skills to a department that really needs some help.”
O’Connell is well aware of some of the problems inside the Wilton Manors Police Department in the past and says that his goal is to “captain the ship and send it in the right direction.”
“When I transitioned with Chief Anderson,” said O’Connell, “the one thing she emphasized more than anything else is that this department has a great relationship with the community. The Wilton Manors community loves its police department and I found that to be refreshing. Everything I’ve seen since April 18th forward seems to support that.”
O’Connell has already been to several homeowner association meetings, meetings of the Dolphin Democrats and a meeting of the Wilton Manors Business Association. “Back in Parkland,” said O’Connell, “I went to about a dozen civic association meetings every month. Trying to maintain a bridge between the police and the community is of critical importance to me.”
O’Connell says that the challenge is to take a very small department and properly utilize the staff to tackle the problems. The department currently has 35 police officers and O’Connell is looking to fill two vacancies. The city has also received a grant for a community police officer whose job will be to monitor the activities on Wilton Drive.
O’Connell is pleased that, compared with 2009/2010, day-to-day crime in Wilton Manors is down by 15%; but if
you compare the population of Wilton Manors to other cities in Broward County, he admits there is still more work to be done. He said the majority have to do with property crimes, car and residential burglaries.
“In such a small geographical area such as Wilton Manors,” said O’Connell, “it’s really hard to pinpoint any type of pattern. In March and April, we had a significant number of car burglaries in the northwest section. Three arrests were made and the burglaries subsided. When we see a trend like that, we target the trend and develop and operation plan and it worked.”
O’Connell likes and appreciates the diversity of Wilton Manors. “I think what impressed me most when I came here is how tolerant that rank and file is in the police department to the lifestyle which is Wilton Manors. They understand that it’s different and it’s us that has to adjust.”
O’Connell said that part of the flexibility he has given the officers is to try to accommodate the Wilton Manors lifestyle. He admits that pedestrian jaywalking is a problem but, because Wilton Drive is so small and it’s such an intense entertainment district, it is probably more noticeable than it is in downtown Fort Lauderdale. He said he could have his officers really crack down on the jaywalkers, but he feels it would have more of a negative impact. “You always try to balance education with enforcement and I know the officers are out there engaging with these folks and trying to educate them. We’re trying to use a carrot instead of stick.”