Public safety in Ormond Beach: what fire and police had to say

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Though 75% of the OB Life attendees at the workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 25, disclosed they always lock their cars at night, Ormond Beach Police Capt. Chris Roos said 81% of the burglarized cars to date this year were left unlocked by their owners.

The Police Department reported 54 stolen cars in the city from both residents and visitors from Jan. 1-May 15, 2018. Of that number, 91% of the vehicles had keys inside.

"Our biggest crime in the city is car burglaries and car theft," Roos said.

Roos presented these statistics near the end of his presentation during the latest OB Life workshop, which revolved around the topic "Public safety: police, fire and emergency preparedness." About 57 people attended the workshop, which is the fourth installment in a six-part civic engagement effort by the city of Ormond Beach. The series is meant to gather resident feedback on key issues to aid the City Commission in updating the city's strategic plan.

Aside from Roos, Police Chief Jesse Godfrey and Ormond Beach Fire Chief Rusty Sievers spoke on the topic. The Police Department's presentations explained the structure within the Department, as well as showcased the various outreach programs OBPD offers, like Coffee with a Cop, National Night Out and the 5-0 Club — which provides an opportunity for officers to reach out to middle school students.

On the Fire Department, Sievers said that 60% of the call volume received in 2017 came from emergency medical calls, most of which came from residential homes. He explained the Fire Department is built to respond to those incidents first, and although the Department has 28 firefighters who double as paramedics and 17 firefighters who double as emergency medical technicians, they are not licensed to transport.

Sievers said the current average response time for the Fire Department is four minutes and 52 seconds.

"We're doing our end of it, and what we can control," Sievers said. "And what we can control, we can only take care of. What we don't control is a little bit more difficult."

During audience questions, it was asked what the city could do in fixing the turnover rate in both the fire and police departments. Sievers said one way to retain employees is to hire people who have grown up in the area. On the police spectrum, Godfrey said they're working on implementing more specialized units to create opportunities to grow within the agency. Some of the people who leave the Police Department either retire or choose a different profession, Godfrey said.

The next OB Life workshop is scheduled for Oct. 23 at the Calvary Christian Academy Kids Center, located at 1687 W. Granada Blvd. It will speak to the topic of leisure and culture in the city.