Page 10 - CRCCE0425

President’s Message continued

Historically we get many complaints about lack of police deterrents and effective crime solving tools. According to Flock
presence, which led us (and other east Fort Lauderdale Safety liaison A’Daisha Allen, the LPRs are still in permitting at
neighborhoods such as Sunrise Intracoastal, Rio Vista, and the City of Fort Lauderdale:
Bermuda Riviera) to create the security patrols manned by “Hi Tim,
our excellent off-duty officers. We know the FLPD is actively
recruiting to fill vacant positions which will potentially increase Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. As discussed,
presence, but we inquired about whether we are getting I have followed up with the permitting manager to obtain the
adequate regular patrols. Here is the response we got from additional details you requested. Additionally, I’m working
FLPD Assistant Chief Patrick Hart (with the assistance of with our deployment specialist to identify alternative locations.
Amanda Foor of Commissioner Herbst’s office): I will be in touch soon with answers to your questions.”
“Hello Amanda, We are installing six LPRs in strategic locations. But we have
many points of ingress and egress, far more than 6 – and
We continue to patrol Coral Ridge Country Club with patrol there are as many as 30 ways in and out of CRCCE. To get
officers, the community support unit, the off-duty detail officers, more LPRs installed we have asked Commissioner Herbst for
and Action Plan officers. All four components are being used matching funding, as we believe this is really a municipal
to focus on the HOA and specifically the problem areas responsibility, and we are paying more than our fair share of
that have recently occurred within the HOA. We have never taxes. The Board has discussed creating an incentive program
stopped patrolling that area with regular patrol officers or that would encourage homeowners to band together and get
our community support officers. Off-duty detail officers do not one installed on their streets if they want. The cost is about
supplant our patrol, they are an addition to our patrol officers. $2500 per year for an LPR, which includes maintenance and
The most recent action plan specifically lists the 35th Drive monitoring. So, for example on a canal street that might have
area and adjacent business locations that may spill over into 20 homes, it could cost around $250 per house per year to
the HOA. get one on your street, assuming 50% participation and no
To be clear, we have not stopped patrols since the HOA incentive. As we see with the Security Patrol, many homes
began the off-duty detail. We have increased the personnel elect not to participate – only about 25% of our 1250 homes
patrolling that area by bringing the above components to that are members. If we could increase our membership to 50%,
area. If there are any other questions or anything have not we could get twice the Security Patrol coverage and/or install
answered, please let me know. Hopefully, this will reassure the more LPRs.
residents we are doing all we can.”
Development
We have requested data for other similar neighborhoods, The Development Committee (Chairman Bruce Quailey,
e.g. Coral Ridge, The Landings and Rio Vista to allow us VP Karen Polivka and me) spend a lot of time monitoring
to better analyze trends in our neighborhood vis-a-vis those development applications around the fringe of the
neighborhoods. When we receive this data, we will update neighborhood, mostly along Federal, Commercial and
and publish the numbers in an upcoming issue.
Oakland Park. New development and redevelopment can
To ensure an immediate response to a crime, if you see impact us in many ways, with cut-through traffic and clogged
an issue, call 911. The Security Patrol number, (954) 256- arterials among the most obvious.
4248, is a non-emergency number. Keep in mind the police About 1000 new residential units are in the works along
are on duty 24/7, but we only get about 5 hours per day of Oakland Park Boulevard between A1A and Federal Highway
Security Patrol based on our current membership, which is on the Down Under, Shooters, Bokampers and Crexent sites.
why we need more members. The $550 annual voluntary And more are coming.
HOA fee, which now includes both Security Patrol and HOA
membership, is a bargain, and far less than the monthly fee On February 19, Bruce, Karen and I attended a Fort
at most mandatory HOAs. Considering everything else Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board meeting and objected
the HOA does, membership is a very fair deal, especially to a proposal to add two (2) stories and 26 more units to a
considering single family homes in CRCCE now start at previously approved project there. The project was approved
about $1,000,000. in a narrow vote, 4-3, with Chairman Mike Weymouth, an
appointee of Commissioner Herbst and a resident of the Coral
To augment the regular patrols and the Security Patrol Shores neighborhood just south of Oakland Park and west of
Program, the Board is funding the installation of six (6) Federal, casting the deciding “Yes” vote. P&Z Board member
License Plate Readers (LPRs). The police believe LPRs are both Shari McCartney, who lives in CRCCE, voted “No”.

8

3/20/25 7:43 PM
CRCCE 0425.indd 8
CRCCE 0425.indd 8 3/20/25 7:43 PM