(PENSACOLA, FL.) --- The Eastside Redevelopment Agency approved allocating 5% of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) district budget for the Pensacola Community Policing Program there.
The approval aligns with the July presentation to the CRA by Police Chief Eric Winstrom, who detailed the need for the staff funding switch between the city department and the CRA.
Photo: July presentation regarding splitting CRA funds for community policing among Urban Core, Eastside and Westside regions
The proposal includes 90% from the CRA and 10% from the General Fund, with the 90% split among the three CRAs to expand the community policing program into all three regions.
This time, Sgt. Richard Ghigliotty addressed officials at the August 18 meeting, confirming the need for more police presence in Pensacola’s Eastside neighborhoods.
“We didn't want just to come in here and throw a PowerPoint at you and say this is what we're going to do, because that doesn't really model how community policing works,” Ghigliotty said. “The idea is that we communicate with the citizens in the community and identify the needs from the community.”
Photo Credit: Resident Eliza Rose telling the Eastside Redevelopment Board the district does not need more community policing
Eastside resident Eliza Rose says her community does not need community policing, which does not reduce crime. Rose called out the police department’s “lack of organizational leadership” with Sgt. Ghigliotty right next to her.
“Why are we not already building community relationships?” Rose asked. “It makes me feel like you want extra money to do your job.”
Sgt. Ghigliotty said community policing is effective, specifically noting “downtown is where we currently work.”
While community policing includes talking to business owners and residents, Sgt. Ghigliotty added, “At the end of the day, we are still police officers, so we respond to calls for service like other officers.”
“We have the benefit of not being assigned a beat to where we are taking every single call,” Sgt. Ghigliotty said. “So we can spend more time identifying the issues, coming up with a solution, and implementing those.”
The biggest issue downtown is the unhoused population, according to business owners and residents.
“We have community response specialists that have spent their entire careers with us identifying resources for those unhoused,” Sgt. Ghigliotty said.
Resident Jeannie Rodin also disagrees with the staff funding coming out of CRA money, requesting that the funds allocated for community policing be redirected to the Chappie James Museum.
“We've got people coming from all over the country to visit the museum, and we don't have air because they just don't have the money,” Rodin said. “So if we can redirect some of these funds for something like that for maintenance.”
Photo Credit: Resident Jeannie Rodin and Pensacola Police Department Sgt. Richard Ghigliotty discussing community policing in the Eastside district
While Board member Zachary Lane said he would “like to get input from city staff to see what funds are allocated and how repairs are in maintenance so the Chappie James,” Board member Tommy White made it clear it would not happen August 18.
“We would have to do a proposal and a motion like right now, and we can't just do that right now,” White said, before asking his own funding questions for the sergeant regarding community policing at events.
Photo: Eastside Redevelopment Board Member Tommy White questions the new community policing budget at the August 18 meeting
“Will we always have it earmarked?” White asked.
In so many words, the answer is no.
Sgt. Ghigliotty said, “That's not the majority of what happens. “
“There is an overtime budget allocated by CRA that currently entirely funds weekends at night,” Ghigliotty added. “And that's because it's the core problem we're having with violent crime right now.”
Additionally, the sergeant said, “We're gonna set aside these funds to pay for these officers to do like these special patrols and things.”
The officer’s answer was enough for the board to approve the staff funding from the CRA, with staff assuring the board that “Eastside dollars stay in Eastside.”
Photo Credit: Sgt. Richard Ghigliotty explains community policing to the Eastside Redevelopment Board at the August 18 meeting
The OpGov.News platform also covered other board matters, including $35K allotted for a Hollis T. Williams Park oral history study needed for the future, with concerns "raised about the transparency and criteria for procuring the consultant" for the study.
Additionally, board members "expressed a preference for seven single-family detached units over a mixed-unit (townhome/single-family) approach to maintain historical aesthetic for affordable housing infill development on Martin Luther King Drive."
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at angela.u@lead4earth.org.
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