Jamestown City officials, City Council members announce public safety initiatives (May 9, 2022)
City of Jamestown officials announced new investments in public safety, including more police officers and firefighters in addition to purchasing a second ambulance.
Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the three police officers hired would be part of a new Gun Violence Unit and also focus on quality of life issues, “The City saw 19 shooting incidents last year and there are already seven this year. Unfortunately, we’ve lost three people and have had seven injuries as a result of these shootings. The Police have seized, held, or recovered 90 guns last year, which more than doubled from 2020. This year, 25 guns have been seized, held, or recovered.”
Public Safety Director and Police Chief Tim Jackson said the Police Department is taking additional measures to combat violent crime including working with local state and federal partners, as well as the FBI, “Many of our recent shootings have been committed by non-residents and are involved in narcotics trafficking. Those shootings, I want to emphasize, are targeted and are not random. Also, we will be using added Jamestown Police Officers including our new K-9, Grim, to investigate and arrest those for using or possessing illegal firearms.”
Sundquist said the four firefighters would be used to man the second ambulance to respond to EMS calls.
City Council had previously tabled approving the Jamestown Professional Fire Fighters Association‘s contract in December 2021 that included the hiring the additional employees. They then voted down that contract in February 2022.
Council President Tony Dolce said the resolution for the new employees should pass this time, “It was tied in with the contract and so this would be separate to that, so I think that they would be more amicable to adding those officers. The other thing, just to go off what the Mayor said about the funding and the money, I think we’re going to be looking at other grant sources as well. So there are some other monies that are out there. I know the big concern is the sustainability. What happens when this money is done three, four years from now?”
Funding for the new initiatives will come from American Rescue Plan monies. Mayor Sundquist said the exact amounts were not determined yet but had stated at the press conference the investment amount was in the “millions.” He said the administration does plan to bring forward resolutions on these initiatives to the City Council’s work session on May 16.
Leave a Reply