Where are the Police? Part 1
July 24, 2020
Below is an email sent to the WPB Police, Keith James and City Commissioners from Mr. Carl Flick who obviously believes if you see something, say something. My belief is if the city has a problem bring it to their attention so it can be corrected. Mr. Flick did exactly that with his email. I removed Mr. Flicks email address and phone no.
I first noticed missing police officers during the Feb; 2020 Peace Walk when the officers were pulled from the security detail walking with the marchers in the most dangerous areas of the north end. A story was written and below is an excerpt from the story.
“The last walk was in February when the Carona Virus hit and everything changed. This walk was also different because it was the first time we walked without a police escort in one of the most dangerous area of the city. At the next City Commission meeting I complained about the lack of police presence. Mayor said “I have nothing to do with the police and their schedule.”
https://wpbwatch.com/2020/05/city-hall-fails-its-most-vulnerable-residents/
Carl Flick
To Chief Frank Adderley F [email protected], Deputy Chief Rick Morris – WPB Police [email protected], Lt Tomeca West – West Palm Beach Police [email protected], Vice Chief Anthony Spatara [email protected], Patrol Captain D Wrobbel [email protected], Kelly Shoaf [email protected], Keith James [email protected], Officer William Dames [email protected], Assistant Chief Sarah Mooney [email protected]
To: West Palm Beach Police Chief Frank Adderley
From: Carl Flick, President, Northwood Shores Neighborhood Association
Re: Increased crime in the North End observed by residents and business owners – We need increased police patrols
Dear Chief Adderley:
The residents and business owners in the North End have noticed a marked increase in prostitution, illegal squatting, and drug dealing in several areas of our community. In addition to my own personal observations, I am getting phone calls from fellow residents and business people who are worried that the West Palm Beach Police have significantly reduced their presence in 2020. Many have urged me to write you. We ask that you reverse course and increase patrols.
The results of this void are predictable. Over the last six months we have seen along North Broadway (in the vicinity of 54th Street), a significant increase in prostitutes, vagrants, squatters in unoccupied homes, and illegal drug dealing.
In Vogelman Park, located at 48th Street and Pinewood Avenue, an entire encampment of people are living inside the confines of this city-owned space. Squatters regularly walk between Vogelman Park and the rear yard and carport of the adjacent abandoned home located at 4719 Pinewood Avenue. I have repeatedly called Code Compliance and the West Palm Beach Police in order to clear the rear of this property of 10 or more individuals. Sometimes this has succeeded with city staff responding. Most times not. This empty, boarded home is held by the bank in pre-foreclosure. So now it presents a fire hazard and crime magnet for adjacent residents. A single woman lives next door and regularly witnesses all types of activity, all of which are illegal. She feels deeply threatened. But her phone calls to the city result in no effective help.
In Currie Park, vagrancy is significantly up. Residents who live in the Portofino Condominiums situated immediately adjacent to Currie Park’s northern perimeter regularly observe prostitutes and their johns having sex. They witness public urination and defecation in the boat trailer parking lot. The entire parking lot reeks of urine as you walk on the North Flagler Drive sidewalk. If you take your dog into the park, you have to dodge discarded condoms.
Portofino residents sitting on their balconies regularly smell marijuana being smoked by individuals who reside semi-permanently inside Currie’s boat trailer parking area. The historic gazebo marking the entrance to Currie Park is crowded with unfortunate individuals. Their belongings are piled high. This is what visitors to the North End now see. The homeless desperately need the city’s compassionate help and social services. Please tend to them. Don’t wait any more.
In the streets traversing the cleared adjacent Currie Corridor (owned by Palm Beach resident Jeff Greene), you’ll find people living in their cars and in dilapidated, stranded RVs. It is, in every respect, an encampment.
If you travel after 9:00 PM along North Flagler Drive – as it borders Currie Park and the Martin Luther King Memorial, you will see a line of parked cars with people living inside them. Windows are fogged. Some cars have families with kids. These have become mobile dormitories of individuals who are hiding for the night. They have no place to go.
Can you imagine this same scene occurring inside the City’s South End parks and common spaces? Actually, you can’t. It’s not allowed by city personnel.
The illegally entrenched drug supermarket that exists in the 700 block of 53rd Street is continuing without any checks from Police patrols. I have been writing your department about this uninterrupted problem since 2011. They are actively selling at this very moment in Butterfly Park (located at Manning Avenue and 53rd Street).
A drug dealer regularly parks his SUV on the city’s grass swale situated on the west side of the intersection of Pinewood Avenue and 53rd Street. One quick method of discouragement for this persistent seller would be to simply give him a parking ticket for illegally parking his vehicle on the city’s grass swale. Why not be creative as you address our issues?
Because we are not able to attend the currently suspended monthly North End Mayor’s Meetings at City Hall (due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis), we are no longer privy to the latest police crime statistics. With this email I am asking that you email me the last three months of police crime statistics. I’m confident that they will back up what we have already observed. We are awash in crime, once again.
The city’s law enforcement officers have an obligation to protect surrounding residents from harm. It’s obviously why we have a police department. Open drug dealing, unchecked illegal drug sales, public urination and defecation in parks and on private property, are unacceptable. Would you tolerate them where you live? Why would you apply a different standard to West Palm Beach’s North End? By not adequately patrolling here, you are essentially enabling and fostering our neighborhood’s rapid decline.
I could go on with many more details regarding the noticed increase in North End crime. But I’ll end here with a formal request that you increase patrols in the North End, once again. We are aware that officers are genuinely concerned about contracting COVID-19. We are also aware that officers must take effectively measures to protect themselves against infection. But this does not mean reducing police patrols from our community is the correct response.
We believe we are witnessing differing police enforcement applied to the city’s wide range of neighborhoods. Consequently, we are calling out City Hall on this inequity. We pay our taxes. We expect the same equitable amount of municipal services.
Our police department must not abdicate its role to keep us safe. It is your department’s responsibility to adequately address crime issues. As you know, this problem has been persistent in the North End for years.
We don’t want the coronavirus pandemic to become a new excuse for the police withdrawing from our neighborhoods. We need and request your help. Please increase your patrols and increase your enforcement. Our community’s vitality begins with your sustained presence.
Sincerely,
Carl Flick President Northwood Shores Neighborhood Association
cc: North End residents and business owners