Kyle Riley Announces Public Safety Plan, Including Adding 50 New Police Officers to the Fall River Police Department
Fall River, MA – Fall River Mayoral Candidate Kyle Riley released his plan for public safety today, including plans for adding fifty new officers to the department over the next 4 years. Riley had the following remarks regarding his plan: “As a lifelong resident of Fall River, in the recent years, especially this year, I have seen my community riddled with crime. We have had multiple stabbings, and yesterday we had yet another shooting in our city. Our citizens need to feel safe and our businesses need to know that it is safe to conduct business in our city, and for too long we have ignored the needs of our police officers. I have noted on multiple occasions, that our city cannot move forward with a bold agenda of economic development, combat the opioid crisis, and restore integrity to our city government if our residents do not feel safe.”
Riley also stated, “While the police department continues to work hard with the limited resources they have at their disposal, the reality is that our police department is woefully understaffed. Crime stats continue to rise while our department operates with only 3 officers handling sex crimes, 1 officer handling missing persons and financial crimes, and the VICE Unit operating with only 9 officers. Additionally, the department continues to run a 10 car patrol on most days to patrol 273 miles of roadway in our city.” Riley’s plan for public safety is headlined by adding fifty new full-time officers over the next four years. These new officers will focus on major crimes, community outreach, public safety, and supporting the existing officers of the force. Riley stated that “the City needs to shift its internal priorities and reallocate resources to better support the staffing and equipment needs of the department. We must begin earmarking the 3% impact fee that the City will be receiving from community host agreements over the next five years from recreational marijuana companies and the 3% sales tax revenue from sales on recreational marijuana.” Additional appropriations will be brought forward to fix inadequate police cruisers, develop a consistent plan to replace vehicles and for proactive opioid programs. Riley also stated, “Upon taking office, I will immediately direct the finance team to begin building the phase in of the 50 new police officers in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget. With an anticipated 26 weeks of a police academy and roughly 8 to 12 weeks of field training, there will be a delay before we can truly see an impact on these officers and I want to make sure we do not delay that process. I also want to begin analyzing what functions at the police department can be handled by civilians so that we can begin the transition of getting civilians hired and shifting those officers that are assigned to desk duties back to policing our community.”
Kyle is a lifelong resident of Fall River, and an education professional. He has served in various leadership positions in education and the judicial system including the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. Growing up in Fall River, Kyle has first-hand knowledge of the struggles that working families face. He puts a strong value on public education, and public safety and has worked most of his professional career to fight for the values of working people.
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