Monday, December 9, 2013

BREAKING NEWS - After Many Months Of Waiting, Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Audit Publicly Available Now


Last Monday I asked when will the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department (PSD) Audit, originally scheduled to be released in July 2013, be made publicly available?

Today, an answer was received and it is today.



According to RIOC:
Now available on the RIOC website is the PSD Operational Audit Report, which both the Board of Directors and RIOC believe will serve as a valuable tool in the reorganization of the Public Safety Department. Many of the recommendations given by the consultants have been or are in the process of being implemented. We all look forward to working with the community to accomplish our mutual goal of ensuring a safe and secure environment for our residents.
Here is the link to report.

The report was prepared by T&M Protection Resources.

I just received the report so have not read it yet, but here is an excerpt (Page 4):
... It should be noted that during the course of T&M’s audit we interviewed stakeholders who indicated that some of the outspoken critics of the RIOC PSD are exaggerating the problems associated with the PSD and that there is in fact a “silent majority” of Roosevelt Island community members who do not share many of the critical statements and demands that have been presented as they relate to the PSD. In line with that, T&M would like to state at the earliest opportunity within this Report, that while the RIOC PSD clearly requires improvement in many key areas, the PSD is comprised of many dedicated and experienced men and women who do their best to provide professional public safety services to the Roosevelt Island community. While in fact the PSD may have been as a whole, an overly enforcement oriented organization, the vast majority of the individual officers perform their duties in accordance with the direction and training they have been provided. T&M is confident that this Report and the findings and recommendations contained herein, will serve to assist the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation in providing an enhanced level of service in a more efficient and effective manner....
Will have more on the PSD Audit after reading it.

We have seen many positive changes at the Roosevelt Island PSD following the appointment of new RIOC President Charlene Indelicato and Interim PSD Director Jack McManus. The public release of this report is another one. 

Here's video of Mr. McManus speaking before the Roosevelt Island Residents Association Public Safety Committee about the status of the PSD.

1 comments :

CheshireKitty said...

This very useful report recommends "a paradigm shift [so as to] ... adopt a more community service oriented model..." instead of "Strict Enforcement, "Letter of the Law" Arrest, Traffic and "C" Summons Activity".

It is nice to see that the audit vindicates what the community was complaining about, complaints that, unfortunately, RIOC was deaf to for many years, until the Jones beating of 1/13/13 finally brought the intolerable and unjust situation to a head, resulting in the departure of former PSD Director Keith Guerra in June, and the appointment of Interim PSD Director McManus less than a week later.

So far Indelicato and McManus seem to be doing the right things, with complaints down following the beginnings of the implementation of a more community-oriented approach. However, the audit contains many pages of findings and recommendations that should be addressed if not adopted by RIOC and PSD: The audit is a good blueprint on which to base a thorough overhaul of RIOC-PSD.

The audit should also be sent to Governor Cuomo so that he is aware of what became of RIOC PSD under the current RIOC Board. Cuomo can take the audit under consideration when he makes his decision to either re-appoint or replace the present Board members, all of whom are continue to serve although their terms of office have expired.