By Steve Plunkett
Richard Jones, the town’s new police chief, kept busy in his first 30 days on the job: alerting residents to a purse-snatching and stolen vehicle, setting guidelines for investigations of officer-involved shootings, and being feted in a meet-and-greet session at Town Hall.
“It should be noted that every stolen vehicle reported to Gulf Stream Police Department since 2019 involved an unlocked vehicle that contained keys,” Jones wrote in an April 28 letter that he labeled “Release to Residents Only.”
The car was reported stolen around 11:30 a.m. April 15, a Saturday, from an open garage on Banyan Road. The victim had been getting ready to leave but reentered her house with a package that was just delivered. When she returned to the garage her vehicle was gone, Jones wrote.
That night at 9:27 p.m. a woman’s purse was snatched from her shoulder after she pulled into her garage on Old School Road and got out of her vehicle. She was not harmed or threatened, the chief said.
“I am actively and directly working with staff to generate leads and/or suspects in these cases as your safety is our primary concern,” Jones wrote.
As for officer-involved shootings, Jones told town commissioners on May 12 that such incidents “aren’t common and they’re not prevalent in our community.”
Nevertheless, he asked them to approve signing a “memorandum of understanding” with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that he called “a best-practice MOU related to any type of in-custody death that could potentially take place.”
“That could be an in-custody death relating to someone who’s potentially suffering from a drug overdose situation but happens to be in our custody, which could be as simple as a traffic stop, or it could be more elaborate to an officer-involved shooting incident that takes place,” Jones said.
The chief made the request after realizing his new department did not have an agreement in place. It “definitively defines” what agency has what responsibility, he said.
“And it also sets out a specific guideline that allows for transparency so there’s no question about us typically investigating ourselves in an incident like this and then covering up or hiding something,” Jones said.
After the commission meeting the town held its meet-and-greet, with residents having been invited via postcards in the mail. About a dozen people showed up to nosh on the array of pastries, coffee and juices in Town Hall’s lobby, meaning plenty of leftovers for town staff.
“We’ve been eating well this week,” Town Clerk Renee Basel said later.
In other business May 12, commissioners:
• Approved on first reading an ordinance that requires that all property owners within 600 feet be notified of any construction project that needs Level II approval by the Architectural Review and Planning Board or Level III approval or a special exception or a variance to the building code from the Town Commission. The current code requires notification to neighbors 25 feet away for Level II and 300 feet for Level III and variances.
• Tabled the idea of allowing the property owners on private Little Club Road to deed the street and its maintenance to the town. Town Manager Greg Dunham said Gulf Stream will be busy enough with 18 to 20 months of construction starting in August or September in the core area.
He also said a grant writer thinks the town might qualify for a Resilient Florida grant for the roadwork and drainage portion of the work, part of Gulf Stream’s capital improvement plan that will also replace water mains in the core.
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