In the waning days of 2013, I want to take a moment to share a few thoughts. First, and foremost, I wish each of you a blessed Christmas and holiday season. I hope this holiday for you is enriched with the blessings of close families, meaningful fellowship, and true joy.
To our police officers, firefighters and communications staff who will be working during the holidays, thank you for your commitment and dedication to the safety of our community and to that of the visitors who travel to and through our capital city.
This has been a challenging year with a persistently sluggish economy, an increase in violent crime, and the loss of some significant personnel among our member agencies. At the same time, it also has been a year of accomplishments and progress. We landed a new City/County EMA director and additional key staff to build a jam-up EMA.
We are being ushered into the social media world by a new employee in my office who is doing a great job of incorporating social media into our communications, even with an old fogey like me! We have had three Fire/Rescue classes this year, including 28 additional firefighter positions (thanks to a federal grant), which has raised our firefighter numbers to 459.
Plus, MF/R continues with outstanding response times and action on scene. We have had three police academy classes this year, placing officers in much-needed areas. MPD excels in too many areas to mention, but most notably has achieved a homicide solve rate of almost 90 percent, when the national rate hovers in the range of 60 percent.
At Emergency Communications, our staff members work tirelessly as “the Heart Behind the Voice”; and although we have struggled to achieve full staffing, we have begun to receive state funding which eventually will completely fund that department and allow us to be fully staffed.
At the Montgomery Department of Public Safety SouthCentral, almost all work is completed and the grand opening is scheduled for next month. What a great new facility for Police and Fire/Rescue to operate from in serving our city!
The Montgomery Department of Public Safety is alive and thriving, delivering exceptional public safety services to the capital city. Through our work every day we are making our community a safer place, and we are doing so with pride and professionalism. Within MDPS we have much to inspire our pride and gratitude in 2013, and I look forward to continuing our work together to serve and protect Montgomery in the New Year.
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