Update on Police Department’s ‘Direct Contact’ Program
During the large gathering in front of Coronado’s police station a couple of weeks ago, a ‘direct contact’ proposal was discussed at length, and Playacommunity volunteered to be the focal point for gathering the data for this new ‘direct contact’ list. Following that gathering, Superintendent Rumbo sent Playacommunity a brief power point presentation with a very general overview of how the ‘direct contact’ program would work along with a list of the data that the police would require in order to implement the program. After reviewing the presentation, Playacommunity decided to ask the police representative to come to a meeting to explain the project and to give a few more details. The meeting was held on January 20th at 11:00 at del Chef. A few key people were invited to attend including Richard and Lise Burkat, victims of the publicized attack, Esteban de Leon, Administrator for Coronado Residents’ Association, Oscar, Chief of Coronado Hotel Security, and Bonnie Geise, president of CSA (Coronado Social Association). Most of the meeting was in Spanish and Joyce Moore translated.
Officer Edison Sanchez, who is in charge of the electronic devices of Panama West, represented the police. He explained that the objective is to implement 2 separate systems:
1) Direct Contact System
2) Surveillance System
These systems are intended to minimize the response time and maintain direct contact with the citizens.
Direct Contact System
Presently, the telephone number to call when you require the police is 104. (911 is for medical emergencies only.) The 104 call is first routed to Panama City, then transferred to Chorrera, and then finally routed from Chorrera to Coronado. This call routing can take up to 6 minutes before the final station gets the call. To eliminate the obvious delay of using the 104 number, the police are suggesting the following for local residents:
1) Citizens will be supplied with a number that they will program into their phones under favorites.
2) The local police station will be supplied with a cellular phone that will receive these emergency calls.
3) Each household will supply its coordinates which will be entered into the police phone giving the police the immediate address of where they are needed.
4) The local police station’s dispatcher will radio this information directly to a patrol car for investigation. The citizen will not even have to speak to the police.
This is very similar to a process that existed a few years ago with the CSA. The only difference is that with the CSA system, the call would show the phone number of the person that called and not the address. Unfortunately, that system never worked well; the phone was often not charged or simply not answered. Possibly, new officers were not trained as it was not an ‘official’ task.
Since this is now an initiative of the Police Department and is supported by Superintendent Rumbo, we are told that the cellular phone will be monitored properly and employees will be trained accordingly.
However, it was noted that a major problem with this system for Coronado is that there is no proper address system; many streets do not even have signs. The police response to this comment was that the community would have to resolve the urbanism problem in order for the police to help protect the homeowners.
A map of Coronado, issued by the District, does exist, and it lists both the lot number and the zone. However, the Residents’ Association would have to verify that none of the information is duplicated and that no 2 ‘addresses’ are the same. It was suggested that maybe that data could be considered the ‘address’ versus a number and a street name. There could be a separate list that would contain various information such as name, telephone number, clear directions on how to get to the location, etc.
A question was asked of Officer Sanchez: “What guarantees do we have that the police will respond and in what kind of delay?” Officer Sanchez admitted that the Police Department was having problems in the human resource department and could only say that the Senior Officer has made a commitment to this program and wants to make it a success. It was suggested that maybe an office clerk could do the monitoring thus freeing up an officer if he needed to go out on a call.
Presently there are 2 vehicles that are assigned to patrol Coronado and the surrounding area. If called, they will be dispatched to areas in the immediate proximity (Gorgona, Coronado and all areas up to San Carlos). Officer Sanchez also explained that motorcycles that the police have are not used in any of the areas in the evening/night due to the danger that evening driving can entail: poor visibility, poor roads, easy targets, etc. The Police Department is working to increase the number of vehicles, but a few details need to be ironed out to make them available. One of these details is access to fuel when needed.
The above is the proposal for Coronado. If another area wants the same process implemented, the citizens are to approach their local police station and Superintendent Rumbo and request that it be started. Superintendent Rumbo is spearheading this project and will approve it for each station.
Surveillance System
Basically, the surveillance system would consist of an infrared camera system that would be monitored at the police station. This system would need to be purchased by the citizens and would be monitored 24 hours a day by an employee at the station. The approximate cost of such a system with 16 cameras averages around $20,000. This funding for this system is something that would need to be proposed to either the area developers, Coronado’s Residents Association, merchants, etc.
The meeting finished with the attendees thanking Officer Sanchez for his suggestions and his sincere attention to the problems with crime in Coronado and the surrounding areas. Following this meeting, Playacommunity is committed to ascertaining how many people want to participate in this pilot project and gathering the information needed regarding costs for implementing the ‘direct contact’ program. These costs would include the purchase of the cellular phone, monitoring of the phone, input of each citizen’s data, upkeep of the database, etc.
Keep an eye on Playacommunity….there’s more news to come!
