ocean ridge police department - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T04:48:52Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/ocean+ridge+police+departmentOcean Ridge: Lifesaving training; Town Hall, Ocean Ridge — Feb. 1https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-lifesaving-training-town-hall-ocean-ridge-feb-12024-02-28T16:29:41.000Z2024-02-28T16:29:41.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12390427492,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12390427492,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="12390427492?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Ocean Ridge Police Officer Jimmy Pilon, a paramedic, trains residents Lisa Ritota and Tim Osborn on CPR and how to use automated external defibrillators and stop bleeding. Twenty residents took part in a program sponsored by the Starbright Civic Collective. The response was so positive, at least two more classes will be offered. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>Ocean Ridge: Police to get pay raise, Town Hall employees a one-time bonushttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-police-to-get-pay-raise-town-hall-employees-a-one-tim2023-08-30T15:09:16.000Z2023-08-30T15:09:16.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Larry Barszewski</strong></p>
<p>When it comes to salary considerations, Ocean Ridge commissioners decided they don’t have to treat Town Hall workers and Police Department employees exactly alike.</p>
<p>At an Aug. 15 budget meeting, the commission approved a $2,500 pay increase for the Police Department’s 19 employees, which will be added to their base salaries Oct. 1, while agreeing to a $2,500 one-time stipend for six Town Hall employees.</p>
<p>“What you’re telling the town staff is that this commission does not value them and the fact that their cost of living has gone up equally to the same cost of living as the PD,” Town Manager Lynne Ladner told commissioners.</p>
<p>Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy disputed that depiction.</p>
<p>“You are putting words in our mouth. That is not what we’re saying and we’re done talking about the police and can we move on and just talk about the staff,” Cassidy said after agreeing to award the police pay boosts.</p>
<p>“How are police not staff?” Ladner asked, to which Cassidy said: “That is a political view. That is not what we’re talking about.”</p>
<p>While the Police Department has had difficulty filling positions, Town Hall has also lost three employees during the current fiscal year, according to town records.</p>
<p>Mayor Geoff Pugh said the police salary increases are warranted because of the critical services police provide.</p>
<p>Commissioners are trying to address “how we’re doing the pay for the Police Department in order to get more employees to stay here for the Police Department and bring in police so we can have a Police Department,” Pugh told Ladner, who became town manager in April after serving as interim manager since September. “And being that you haven’t been here for a long time, it’s hard to understand how valuable this Police Department is to the town of Ocean Ridge. </p>
<p>“Actually, without a Police Department, we kind of lose our identity a little bit. So that is a very, very important staff, not to say that our other staff is not an important part.”</p>
<p>Commissioners approved raising the starting salary for police officers by $4,000, a 6.5% increase, to $66,000. They also agreed to a $5,000, 10% increase in the starting salary for police dispatchers, raising that minimum pay from $50,000 to $55,000.</p>
<p>Commissioner Ken Kaleel said Police Chief Scott McClure presented data showing the town’s police and dispatcher salaries were not competitive with those in surrounding communities, but the commission had no comparable data for the half-dozen other town employees under Ladner.</p>
<p>Two of those employees — Town Clerk Kelly Avery and Public Works Supervisor Billy Armstrong — received $7,500 raises in March at the same time commissioners gave similar $7,500 raises to all of the town’s certified police officers.</p>
<p>Vice Mayor Steve Coz said his proposed one-time stipend would put money directly into the pockets of the Town Hall employees. And all employees — police and others — are eligible for merit raises up to 5%.</p>
<p>“Yes, people are spending more on their groceries. Here’s some money to help you out as inflation comes back under control and you get a 5% [merit] raise,” Coz said. “I don’t see that that’s not valuing” town staff. </p>
<p>The salaries are part of the proposed town budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. The commission will hold its public hearings on the budget Sept. 5 and 18.</p>
<p>The commission expects to hold the tax rate at the same level as the current rate — $5.50 for each $1,000 of taxable value — if not lower it. Several commissioners want to approve a reduction, but they are waiting for additional information from Ladner given changes to the budget that were made at the Aug. 15 meeting. </p></div>Along the Coast: Gulf Stream hires away Ocean Ridge’s police chiefhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-gulf-stream-hires-away-ocean-ridge-s-police-chi-12023-03-01T17:38:12.000Z2023-03-01T17:38:12.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related story: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-three-top-officials-leaving-in-latest-town-hall-turmo">Ocean Ridge: Three top officials leaving in latest Town Hall turmoil</a></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>Richard Jones will leave his job as Ocean Ridge’s police chief by May 11 to take the same position in nearby Gulf Stream.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10978371463,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10978371463,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="107" alt="10978371463?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Gulf Stream town commissioners approved the new hire Feb. 10. His two-month-old contract with Ocean Ridge requires him to give up to 90 days’ notice, Jones said.<br />“I have already started to look for a replacement to fill the position that I am vacating so I can move that process along as quickly as possible,” he said. “I could potentially start sooner depending on what type of replacement I have and what kind of transition we think is necessary.”<br />Jones, who wore a business suit to the Gulf Stream meeting rather than a uniform, said he would solve the problem of recurrent vacancies in Gulf Stream’s 14-officer police force by building morale and making it “the go-to law enforcement agency in the county.”<br />“We should be the agency that everyone else is looking to, not only to see what we’re doing operationally and with our vision, but also what we’re doing with our technology and how we treat our staff,” he said.<br />He would boost morale, he said, “through a method that I believe in — being a worker, not just a police chief.”<br />“I believe in putting my feet on the ground and doing what I ask my officers to do, to demonstrate to them that I’m with them every step of the way. … It makes them realize that there’s value in their leader and I’m not asking them anything that I’m not willing to do.”<br />Jones, whose duties in Ocean Ridge include being police chief for Briny Breezes, also said he would be proactive in recruiting and expand Gulf Stream’s searches for potential hires to military veterans and law enforcement agencies beyond the local area.<br />Commissioners unanimously approved Jones’ hiring.<br />“We’re delighted to have you and congratulations on your appointment,” Commissioner Thom Smith said.<br />Mayor Scott Morgan said he spoke with Ocean Ridge Mayor Susan Hurlburt “and while they are sorry to lose him, she could not have been more enthusiastic in her praise of his skill, his vision, his energy, his administrative skills and his ability to take Gulf Stream, as she said, and move our Police Department legitimately into the 21st century.”<br />Jones, whose departure came as a shock to Ocean Ridge officials, said he was not actively looking for a job until he learned that Gulf Stream planned to look outside its department for candidates to replace retiring chief Ed Allen.<br />Jones, 42, is coming to Gulf Stream with 25 years of experience, the last eight in Ocean Ridge, where he rose from road patrol to chief and in 2020 was named the town’s employee of the year.<br />He and his wife, Erin, make their home in Port St. Lucie. They have two sons: Michael, 22, a Marine veteran, and Matthew, 17, a high school student.<br />Ocean Ridge gave Jones a three-year contract on Jan. 9 after he had been its chief for more than 16 months. His pay there is $115,763 a year. His salary in Gulf Stream will be negotiated.<br />Allen, who worked in Gulf Stream almost 35 years, announced in early December that he would leave the department on Jan. 31. He was paid $143,771 annually.<br />Town Manager Greg Dunham said that he received inquiries and résumés about the job from a Palm Beach County sheriff’s command officer in Wellington, a Delray Beach police lieutenant and a Gulf Stream police sergeant. He explored hiring a headhunter firm for $25,000 to $35,000 and using the Florida Police Chiefs Association for a $10,000 or $20,000 search.<br />As he did that, the town was approached by Jones. Dunham, Morgan and Assistant Town Manager Trey Nazzaro met with Jones for about two hours, Dunham said.<br />“I found the chief to be intelligent, motivated, experienced and creative with a high level of integrity, diplomacy and sensitivity,” Dunham said. <br />Jones’ résumé package included thank-you notes and letters of commendation dating back to 1999 when he was a public safety dispatcher in Clewiston.<br />In 2015 his predecessor, Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins, commended Jones for performing a plainclothes surveillance at Oceanfront Park after a number of cars had been burglarized.<br /> “Based on your tenacity, caring and dedication to duty, you effectively apprehended a subject responsible for a small wave of crime at the Boynton Oceanfront Park, thereby enhancing the safety of the public,” Hutchins wrote.<br />And in 2021 John Mitchell stopped by the police station for help gathering details surrounding the death of his mother, Ocean Ridge resident Eileen Pettus, after a car accident in Melbourne.<br /> “I was fortunate enough to meet with Lieutenant Richard Jones who offered me, not only his heartfelt condolences, but invaluable insight into how I might proceed. ... Never in my 50 years have I encountered an officer so kind and empathetic, while offering such incredible help,” Mitchell wrote. Jones started the week of his new hiring by persuading the Ocean Ridge Town Commission on Feb. 6 to approve one-time pay raises and benefits increases for his 15 officers for the rest of the year in an effort to attract more officers and retain current ones.<br /> Jones made the request after compiling a survey that showed Ocean Ridge’s officers made drastically less in salary, benefits and health insurance than those on other coastal police forces in Palm Beach County.<br />Each officer will get a $7,500 salary bump the rest of the year, a $5,000 lump-sum vehicle reimbursement payment and a 50% health insurance match. Money for the changes will come from $213,186 that was freed up by freezing two vacancies. </p>
<p><em>Joe Capozzi contributed to this story.</em></p></div>Ocean Ridge/Briny Breezes: Police collect hurricane relief for Hendry County deputyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-briny-breezes-police-collect-hurricane-relief-for-hen2022-11-02T16:10:15.000Z2022-11-02T16:10:15.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10861075480,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10861075480,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10861075480?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong>Ocean Ridge Detective Aaron Choban, Police Chief Richard Jones, Hendry County Sheriff Steve Whidden, Clewiston Chief Thomas Lewis and Ocean Ridge Sgt. Richard Ermeri. <strong>BELOW RIGHT:</strong> The truck was loaded with donations. <strong>Photos provided</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10861075888,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10861075888,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="10861075888?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>By Joe Capozzi</strong></p>
<p>A Hendry County sheriff’s deputy who lost her home and car during Hurricane Ian received a trailer-load of supplies and $3,600 in cash from donations by residents of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes. <br /> Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones delivered the supplies on Oct. 26 to the Clewiston Police Department, where Hendry County deputies distributed the items later that day to the deputy, a mother of four children who lives in Fort Myers. <br /> Ocean Ridge police started collecting the donations at Town Hall a week after the hurricane, with initial plans to send them to a small law enforcement agency in or near Lee County affected by Ian. <br /> Unable to find an agency, Jones said, he saw a post on the Clewiston Police Department’s Facebook page about Hendry County Sheriff’s Deputy Maria Aguirre, a Fort Myers resident who lost four dogs, her vehicle and everything in her home in the storm.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10861080654,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10861080654,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="216" alt="10861080654?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>The social media post sought donations for Aguirre, her husband and their four children: two teenage boys, a teenage daughter and a 9-year-old son.<br />Jones, who worked as a Hendry County sheriff’s deputy and a Clewiston police officer before coming to Ocean Ridge, decided to donate the supplies to Aguirre.<br /> Jones shared Aguirre’s story at the Oct. 27 Briny Breezes Town Council meeting to show “how our positive impacts can go obviously much further than the boundaries we are used to working in,’’ he said.<br /> “None of us knew this deputy or her family. It truly was us being able to help someone that none of us knew.’’<br /> Clewiston Police Chief Thomas Lewis, in an interview with <em>The Coastal Star</em>, thanked Jones and the residents of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes for their generosity. “There was a ton of stuff in that trailer,” he said.<br /> The Clewiston Police Department posted a photo of Jones and supplies on the agency’s Facebook page with the following caption:<br /> “Want to know what a brotherhood/sisterhood looks like? Chief Richard Jones and the members of the Ocean Ridge Police Department saw a post on Facebook about a Hendry County Deputy that was severely impacted by Hurricane Ian.<br /> “Although they never met the deputy before, members of his agency didn’t hesitate to raise $3,600.00 and additional donations that filled a small trailer. Our town is small, but our law enforcement family is large. Thank you to the Ocean Ridge Police!’’ </p></div>Celebrations: Gifts for Abuse Victims Crown Colony, Ocean Ridge — Dec. 21https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/celebrations-gifts-for-abuse-victims-crown-colony-ocean-ridge-dec2020-12-29T20:13:58.000Z2020-12-29T20:13:58.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361964284,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361964284,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8361964284?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em><strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p>Crown Colony Club residents and the Ocean Ridge Police Department teamed up to provide dozens of toys and packages to Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse for use at its shelter in Delray Beach. The packages included clothing, makeup, diapers and other essentials. The facility is one of only two shelters in the county that provide this kind of service. </p></div>Along the Coast: New and old technologies contribute to storm readinesshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-new-and-old-te2011-08-03T15:44:28.000Z2011-08-03T15:44:28.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960339664,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" width="360" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960339664,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960339664?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p> Globalstar's GSP-1700 satellite phone sells for about $499.</p>
<p><span><b>By Steve Pike</b></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The saying “Technology is great as long as it works,” couldn’t be more true than in the aftermath of a devastating storm or hurricane. </p>
<p>How do you spell relief? T-E-X-T. Indeed, texting might seem the bane of Western civilization to some people, but it could provide valuable information and even save lives in a post-hurricane environment.</p>
<p>The reason is as simple as stocking up on extra supplies during Florida hurricane season. That is, according to Kelly Layne Starling, spokesperson for AT&T’s south and west Florida markets, text messages go through faster than regular phone calls because they don’t take up as many network resources as a regular phone call.</p>
<p>“Texting has become such an important part of people’s lives, this is just one more example,” Starling said.</p>
<p>That includes citizens and emergency workers. The Ocean Ridge Police Department, for example, recently acquired cell phones that use text messaging.</p>
<p>“With text messaging you have a better chance of getting through the storm,” said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, who has worked through Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 and Wilma in 2005. “I wouldn’t endorse any one product (his department uses Verizon), because a lot of it depends on how quickly the towers can be repaired, even temporarily.”</p>
<p>While texting certainly is nothing new to most people, it ranks down on the list of post-storm communications alternatives. According to a Sachs/Mason Dixon poll released this past June, only 8 percent of Americans said they would rely on text messaging in a disaster. The poll, commissioned by Tallahassee-based National Hurricane Survival Initiative, reported more than half of Americans would rely on a cell phone or landline phone to communicate during and after a disaster.</p>
<p>The poll also said that 45 percent of Americans who currently belong to some kind of social network, such as Facebook or Twitter, would use it to communicate post-disaster. That sounds good, but again, one must remember that the electricity and cell towers needed to use the social networks might not be operational for days after a storm.</p>
<p>So what’s the next-best alternative? Although it’s more expensive than a smartphone or cell phone, a satellite phone is an effective way to communicate if all other lines of communication are down. Satellite phones could be particularly effective along the coastal areas of Palm Beach County that don’t have a lot of obstruction from high-rise buildings.</p>
<p>Satellite phones, such as InmarSat’s handheld IsatPhone Pro, can be found for as low as $549. Globalstar’s GSP-1700 satellite phone sells for around $499, but the company says its network currently is operating at only 40 percent capacity. </p>
<p>The satellite phone of the future could be AT&T’s TerreStar Genus smartphone — touted as the world’s first integrated satellite and cellular smartphone. Selling for as low as $799, service is available in the continental United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska.</p>
<p>That’s the good news. The bad news is the TerreStar Genus smartphone currently is available only to government and business accounts. </p>
<p>The most interesting form of post-storm communication, however, might be among the oldest. That is, amateur radio — or ham radio, as it is best known. </p>
<p>Actually, when it comes to local ham radio operators and emergencies, there is nothing amateur about them. Members of the Boca Raton Amateur Radio Association (<a href="http://www.goldcoastrc.com/brara">www.goldcoastrc.com/brara</a> home.htm) help at Red Cross shelters and hospitals.</p>
<p>Each member, according to BRARA President Nelson Winter of Hypoluxo, is trained in Amateur Radio Emergency Service by the Amateur Radio Relay League. ARES members also take courses taught by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, which teaches each one where he or she fits into the federal management system.</p>
<p>“What we do is coordinate with Palm Beach County,” Winter said. “The county is divided into four regions: North, Central, South and West. We have a coordinator who assigns people to various positions within the district.</p>
<p>“Our role is to be the link of communication of last resort. So when the telephones stop working and communications systems aren’t working, they [shelters and hospitals] can still communicate using an assigned amateur field operator.”</p>
<p>The field operator, Winter said, communicates directly to the county’s Emergency Operations Center. People who have radio scanners can listen in on the communications, but can’t communicate directly with the operator.</p>
<p>“When we get notice, we have all of our equipment ready to go,” Winter said. “We know what we’re supposed to do when we arrive and we know where we’re supposed to fit into the paradigm of the emergency management <br /> system.” <span>Ú</span></p></div>