The addition of Curtis Haynes was the breath of fresh air the Common Council needed to take a look at issues that the Grassroots Rubber-stamps would never even consider.
Kearns, Rivera, LoCurto, Fontana and Haynes added a resolution for a Joint Commission to examine police reorganization to the latest Council agenda.
The last time police organization was looked at was way back in 1991. The result, downsizing 14 precincts into 5 districts has never lived up to the hype. It was supposed to increase the number of police on patrol and reduce response times. Residents in the neighborhoods abandoned by Brown (most of them) know that its almost impossible to get police to respond to most calls and crime has increased steadily every year that Brown has been Mayor. Property and nuisance crimes have been completely ignored and are reaching epidemic proportions.
- 18,401 crimes (2009) in a city of in about 270,000 means that one of of every 15 people in Buffalo was a victim of crime last year.
- 453 crimes per square mile. That’s almost 1 crime per block for every block in Buffalo.
Kearns, Haynes, LoCurto, Fontana and Rivera believe that the District setup has made the City less safe and hindered its ability to utilize community policing. They are calling on Mayor Brown to join a Joint Commission to review the organizational structure of the Buffalo Police department.
Can’t happen soon enough if you ask me.