Hold-up on B'way

The police blotter has not been updated yet to reflect the stick-up of a young B'game woman at an ATM machine on B'way on Monday that was followed by a police chase and the capture of the robber.  The recent discussions at City Council meetings on the benefits of having our own PD verses a merged PD were evident in the quick response time, the effective chase and the prompt ID and arrest of the suspect.

Kudos all around and a sigh of relief that no one was hurt.

Comments

[JROC]

So the assumption is that a merged PD would have been slower to respond? I am sure you have tons of data to back that statement. Big leap!!!!

[Joe]

No, that is not the assumption. Speed of response is just one issue. As the Times reports:

After the crash the suspect ran away and was arrested in the front yard of a home on the 2000 block of Forrest View Avenue in the neighboring town of Hillsborough. The suspect, who as later identified as Daniel Thomas Cassidy, 24, of Burlingame, was taken into custody after fighting with officers, police said.

Cassidy was booked on robbery, hit and run, evading and resisting arrest charges.

Whenr I did a "ride along" with the BPD a couple of years ago, I saw first hand how well two small departments (B'game and Hillsborough) worked together because the officers knew each other pretty well from working together. They knew the neighborhoods--not just the streets, but also the alleys, little paths and some of the residents. When you blend in a huge force like SMPD, you might lose that local knowledge. I say "might" because I don't have that kind of data--but neither do you :-)