LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By John Cooper
To the Editor:
I am writing to challenge certain statements made in an Op-Ed published in the Greenwich Sentinel on July 22, 2022. I am specifically responding to Chief Heavey’s statements made in the following paragraphs taken directly from the Sentinel’s pages.
The next layer of enforcement is the Bike Patrol, which is made up of a team of specially trained officers on electric bikes. The bikes were a gift to the town and have given officers a greatly enhanced degree of mobility. The bike unit performs the duties of patrol officers: they respond to reports of suspicious activity or crimes in progress as well as medical emergencies. When vehicle and pedestrian traffic volume is high, these officers can also direct traffic.
(Note that when an officer is directing traffic, he or she is not able to respond to other calls — even if an assault, robbery, or medical emergency occurs right in front of him or her. This is because once officers are positioned to control traffic, they cannot abruptly leave their post without causing a confusing and potentially dangerous situation. These officers are relegated to notifying police headquarters of an incident and having another officer respond.)
The last sentence in paragraph one is important, as for many hours of every day the intersection of Greenwich Avenue and Elm Street has high volumes of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. I have never witnessed a bicycle officer step into that intersection to help. Can and do are very different things.
Second paragraph, … they cannot abruptly leave their post without causing a confusing and potentially dangerous situation. With all due respect to Chief Heavey, this is exactly what now exists for both Greenwich residents and out of town visitors 24/7, 365. Lewis, Elm, and Arch are incredibly busy intersections daily, but NO ONE oversees them.
Finally, and this may be an anecdotal determination as I have no data for it, but having three uniformed Greenwich Police at those same intersections has for decades been the first line of policing in Greenwich. It’s strong physical and visual presence has acted as a deterrent to crime without lifting a finger. In a town, dare I say city, with an annualized budget of $465MM to attribute the cut to lack of funding, or even as a waste of valuable manpower, doesn’t cut it. Please re-consider protecting our citizens in the best manner possible and put patrol officers back on the Avenue.
