Message from Sheriff Ric
Bradshaw:
As we enter the New Year in
Palm Beach County, I want to wish everyone good health, happiness, and
prosperity.
At the Sheriff’s Office, we will
continue meeting the public safety requirements for our large and complex county.
Despite the tough economic conditions, rest assured that we are addressing new
and ongoing law enforcement and corrections issues with innovative and
successful approaches.
With hundreds of associated county
deaths in recent years from drug overdoses, eliminating the prescription drug
black market has remained a top priority. My investigators, along with our
partners, have shut down many illegal “pill mills,” and we are going to make
sure the rogue doctors and pharmacists are punished. We will also be working
with groups like NOPE Task Force to educate youth and their parents about the
dangers of abusing drugs.
Other priorities for 2012 will
focus on our continued effort to dismantle gangs and return many neighborhoods
back to their residents. We have taken down six of the top 10 most ruthless
gangs in the county in the past four years, resulting in a 25 percent drop in
violent crime and a 50 percent reduction in gang-related homicides.
But the economy being the way
it is, our resources have been stretched in handling white-collar crime,
homelessness, and abandoned-home issues. Still, we’ve been able to keep our law
enforcement and corrections staffing intact to tackle these challenges. That’s
partially the result of our hardworking civilian volunteers who log more than
350,000 hours every year. They enable my deputies to concentrate on being in communities,
investigating crime, and working on solutions to keep our streets safer.
This year, I am also going to
keep advancing our local homeland security initiatives, including the state-of-the-art
epicenter to oversee any security and emergency operations. As chairman of a domestic
and homeland security task force for the entire region from Martin to Monroe
County, I am in a position to gain new equipment and staffing in combating the
threat of terrorism and handling major emergencies in our area, including Palm
Beach County.
Taking on all these important
initiatives and responsibilities takes resources, of course. So yet another
goal of mine is to better educate the community on what we do at the Sheriff’s
Office and why our services cannot be subjectively reduced, such as closing a
recreational facility or reducing library hours. Local taxpayers need to
understand that the economic downturn has put additional conditions on law
enforcement. Demand for public safety services, for instance, has gone up
because of population growth in Palm Beach County over the past decade.
No matter what, our mission
in 2012, just like in past years, is to safeguard the lives and property of the
people we serve, to reduce crime, and to enhance public safety while working
with our diverse populations to improve their quality of life.
We’re looking forward to a
great year at the Sheriff’s Office. I wish the same to all of you.
