More favorable updates for you. Please feel free to reprint on other forums you visit.
From Havasu News (online)
By TONY RAAP
Monday, March 10, 2008 10:29 PM MST
The question sounds like one of those lame jokes you find on the inside of a Laffy Taffy wrapper: How many police officers does it take to change a light bulb?
Only there’s no punch line to this question. As the annual deluge of spring breakers converge on Lake Havasu City, law enforcement officials and college students alike are wondering: How many officers will it take to police the Bridgewater Channel?
Authorities say the answer will depend entirely on the situation on the ground, or in this case, the water. Police Chief Dan Doyle says his officers will be more flexible in how they patrol the channel, an area popular among boaters. Yet that doesn’t necessarily mean the police presence will be scaled back.
“Our main directives for channel staffing this year are for an appropriate, measured response to whatever conditions exist,” Doyle said in an e-mail.
“The channel environment will be constantly evaluated and staffing will be based upon many factors including the number of boaters and pedestrians, number of violations of law occurring, day of week and time of day, weather conditions, etc. Our goal is to implement flexible channel staffing based upon these factors.”
Put simply: How heavily the channel is policed will depend on how unruly it becomes. Authorities say if there aren’t as many instances of violence or drunken debauchery, then there won’t be as heavy of a police presence.
The issue has been a hot topic, particularly among those in the hospitality sector. Some industry members are concerned business could be off because of a perception that the city is a “police state” following media reports on an ordinance targeting rowdy behavior in the channel. It’s an issue Doyle says the Police Department is trying to resolve.
“We have listened carefully to the feedback from the community and wish to support the efforts of our hospitality industry toward increasing tourism,” he said. “We will do so while remaining cognizant of our responsibility to enforce the laws of our state and maintain a safe environment for our citizens and visitors to enjoy.”
Lt. Rich Sloma, a police spokesman, said the department’s decision to be more flexible in how it patrols the channel wasn’t done to placate tourism officials. Rather it was a move rooted in practicality.
The number of arrests in the channel has fallen dramatically, from 558 in 2006 to 312 in 2007, a 44 percent drop.
“Law enforcement’s response has always been based on the need,” Sloma said. The number of officers patrolling the channel will depend largely on how rowdy spring breakers behave.
Sloma pointed out that Saturday, the first day of spring break for several area colleges, was relatively quiet.
“It wasn’t busy, so officers went about their business,” he said.
Regardless of how many officers patrol the channel, authorities say the Police Department will not be as visible this boating season. Its portable booking station, normally placed on the beach just a few feet from the water, will be moved farther back in a less prominent position.
“We’ll still have the golf carts and the quads on the sidewalk,” Sloma said, “but we’ll downgrade our visibility.”
Todd Headlee, executive director of the Lake Havasu City Marine Association, said that should help soften the image of a police force criticized for perhaps being too heavy handed at times.
Headlee has met with several officers in the weeks leading up to spring break, working as a liaison between the two groups. Most of the complaints, he says, center on officers being rude to boaters.
“What I think would make this a friendlier, more inviting environment would be a friendlier police officer, not a more lax officer,” Headlee said.
Still, he understands why officers get a bit testy at times. “If I had to work a 12-hour day in 110-degree weather, I’d be a little edgy, too, especially if I had to deal with some of the people they have to deal with,” he said.
All of that aside, progress has been made on the issue of how much is too much in terms of police presence, Headlee said.
“I think they’re doing the right thing,” he said of the decision to be more flexible in how the channel is policed. “They’re human beings, too. I think they realize there was some disparity in the past. I think their efforts are going to speak for themselves come boating season.”
You may contact the reporter at
raap@havasunews.com.
VIP Member
