Photo: CBS 12
The recently appointed West Palm Beach Police Chief says he's been getting a good level of response from residents when it comes to ideas to make the city a safer place.
Tony Araujo hosted a community meeting this week, with dozens of people in attendance.
“Everywhere we’ve gone, whether it’s a community meeting or business development meeting, everybody’s engaged. They want to see West Palm Beach maintain what it is and become even better.”
Residents voiced frustration about crime, including drug activity happening in broad daylight. They also want something done about the continued homelessness issue in the city.
The chief says there's no overnight fix for that.
“Whether it’s an unsheltered person, somebody that might be addicted to drugs, that has a mental illness or a combination of all of them, the biggest thing that we have a challenge with is trying to influence that population to take the help.”
Araujo touts his agency's Real-Time Crime Center, which uses cameras to monitor activity in high-crime areas remotely.
The city also uses ShotSpotter technology to detect where gunshots come from, which brings down police response times.
One thing he pointed out is that homicides and other violent crimes are down in West Palm Beach.
During his presentation to residents, the chief said he is working to implement a co-response model, which would pair cops with mental health clinicians and social workers to better support individuals in crisis situations. It's similar to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Mental Health Unit. Araujo was brought to West Palm Beach from PBSO, where he was a colonel.