Portage Police endorse Snyder not Olga

Press Release from Jim Snyder campaign, announcing that the Police in Portage have endorsed him against the sitting Democrat mayor. From my personal perspective, she's in trouble.


Jim Snyder for Portage Mayor
Contact Information 219-331-1448

For Immediate Release to the Press: 04/21/2012

We are grateful and humbled by this endorsement. It is my belief that the men and women in blue here in Portage are the backbone of our city. It should be clear to the people of Portage that these officers believe that we have presented a strategy to better help our law enforcement “protect and serve Portage.” Some might say that for this organization to support a challenger for Mayor is taking a risk. But these fine men and women take great risks everyday in making our city a safe and wonderful place to live. They are used to taking risks. We are indebted to their bravery and commitment each day.

While my administration will always be looking for ways to consolidate and conserve your tax dollars, never will it be done in a hurried or rushed way that will jeopardize the safety, protection, and financial security of this city. Before this administration signed on the dotted line, moving the Portage 911 dispatch to the county, they should have done their homework and ensured that the public safety and the safety of these officers would never be jeopardized.

The legislation passed, regarding the need to consolidate, gave us another 3 years before it needed to happen. There was no need to rush this move.

Recently, a study showed that when the Portage 911 dispatch center was moved to Valparaiso, it put each resident, business, police officer, and firefighter in the city in harm’s way. That same study also implies that what we were told was savings will end up costing us through another tax or taxes.

This is a quote from the analysis: “Most dispatchers interviewed indicated that they have been instructed that they must follow the questions of Pro Q and A exactly, or they will receive a bad EMD evaluation. This makes some dispatchers ask all questions first, prior to sending the call to be dispatched. This can result in a serious time delay when the call is high priority (such as someone is not breathing).”
Portage had a dispatcher with over 25 years experience who could have noticed this issue had she been sent to the county operation to observe for one hour.

Another concern in the report was the "time taken to dispatch calls." Another quote was, "....the delays seem to stem from the current process of one person taking the call, and it being sent to another person for actually dispatching the call." "This is also a safety concern in that oftentimes, the sooner an officer gets to a call often results in the officer being better prepared to respond to whatever dangers they may face."

Let me read you another. "While the calls for service went up exponentially with the addition of Valparaiso and Portage, the two largest municipalities in Porter County, the number of personnel to handle these calls for service not only did not keep up pace, it decreased."

There is a strong disconnect between what we are reading in the report commissioned by the county and what our city leadership is telling its residents.

One of our captains delivered over 16 complaints to the county dispatch center a few months after the move took place. Recently, our officers were dispatched to the wrong Walgreens for a possible child abduction. Less than a month ago, they were dispatched to a shooting in progress at a toll road rest area and were not told which side of the toll road to go, as that is vital information. These are instances where we are grateful no one was hurt. It is clear that we should have studied this matter more carefully before we moved the 911 dispatchers.

During the course of the general election, we will have no problem not only demonstrating how bad the decision was, but also how detrimental it has been to the safety of the residents of Portage. Never has the public been notified that for the first time in 46 years, our police department closes like a bank or the BMV. The Portage police department is closed during peak crime times and most of the weekend - that is not public service! Concerned leadership would have made this clear so a distressed resident would not have rushed to a closed police station when in trouble.

On March 30, 2009, the mayor expressed 4 issues she was concerned about in an editorial to the Times.
1. Ensuring an adequate back-up service is provided. The report gave us a “High Liability - High Frequency” rating which in plainer terms is an “F.” The current Porter county 911 director had budgeted almost 1 million dollars to allow Portage to house the county backup instead of La Porte being our second PCAP.
2. That personnel are available at the station during off-hours for emergency-related visits from the public. The police station is closed completely during off-hours.
3. Consideration is considered to job retention for existing dispatchers. The fine Portage dispatchers lost their seniority and pay.
4. Protocols match with existing levels that Portage provides. The report gives us an “F.”
(Please note in the paragraph above bold represents Mayor Velazquez quotes)

Maybe this is why Mark Vittetoe stated on behalf of the firefighters union, "If we sacrifice service and public safety, we are not going to stand behind it. We can’t support any loss of service or public safety.”

Assistant Chief Calhoun resigned, saying, "A lot of it comes down to communication and the lack of communication. I feel I am a professional and I had a lot to offer. But my voice wasn’t heard and often I was left with the aftermath of dealing with a wrong decision; I needed to get out to maintain my sanity and my integrity.”

The police and fire departments openly and aggressively asked that the process be slowed down, many to the demise of demotions and resignation. The council was never given a voice in this matter.
My administration and those you elect to help me lead will listen to those who spend each day keeping your and my children safe.

We have heard over and over that these are tough times and that there have been tough decisions that have had to be made. We are aware times are tough, but tough times are not the time to make poor decisions.

This report recommends hiring 12 new dispatchers. Portage must insure an adequate number of these dispatchers are familiar with Portage terrain. Another recommendation was a single standard used for all of the dispatchers. Portage must make sure that the standard meets the level of performance Portage had when it maintained its own dispatch.

In the end, this decision to outsource the 911 Dispatch out of Portage will cost each of us more than if we had analyzed and listened to these fine public servants. As we have analyzed the budgets of this city, there are many areas we can conserve and save the taxpayer’s money. Never will it be done at the risk of your health, safety, or protection.

The city of Portage has the opportunity to listen to these fine public servants this election. They have spoken, and they have spoken with one voice. No number of ride-a-longs or meetings will allow me to understand or appreciate what they do for us on a daily basis. That is why it is imperative that we as citizens and I as a candidate for mayor, listen and respect their understanding of the greatest challenge Portage faces each day - SAFETY. My team and I will work hard to spread their message of a need for new leadership in the mayor's office. As a resident and businessman in Portage, I am indebted to these fine officers. Today, my debt grew deeper, and I accept your endorsement and pledge not to let you down. Thank You.