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Pensacola CRA hears community-policing report: warrants, arrests and humanitarian response during winter storm
Summary
Sergeant Salon of the Pensacola Police Department’s CRA unit updated the CRA board on enforcement, arrests and the unit’s humanitarian response during the winter storm, and answered board questions about downtown thefts and car-noise enforcement.
Sergeant Salon of the Pensacola Police Department’s Community Redevelopment Area unit briefed the Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency on recent public-safety activity downtown, reporting warrants, arrests, ordinance warnings and a shift to humanitarian assistance during the winter storm.
The report matters because downtown public safety affects residents, businesses and visitors in the CRA districts and informs the CRA’s priorities for safety, event staffing and traffic enforcement.
Sergeant Salon summarized enforcement statistics since November, saying, “We have initiated 14 warrants, which almost all of those have been served on various issues within the, CRA area. 9 direct arrests. ... 46 documented city ordinance violation warnings, for more serious violations of ordinances downtown.” He described patrols on foot and bicycle, targeted radar enforcement on Cervantes and the Gregory Street–Bay Bridge corridor, and overtime details focused on parking garage issues.
Salon described several incidents that drew attention. He said CRA officers responding to a New Year’s Eve report located “a juvenile with a firearm in his possession. The firearm actually had a switch on it. So, and he was a runaway from Jacksonville.” He also noted arrests tied to a fight in the Jefferson Street parking garage and traffic enforcement that resulted mostly in citations rather than arrests.
The sergeant told board members the unit had temporarily suspended enforcement of camping and some sidewalk ordinances during an extreme cold spell, shifting to a humanitarian role: “More of went into a humanitarian role, gave people rides and assisted the CRS staff in handing out blankets and sleeping bags as needed.” He said officers also assisted with traffic control during the winter storm.
Board members asked about a social-media report of multiple ATM-related followings and subsequent vehicle break-ins. Salon said he believed a number of incidents occurred north of downtown but recalled downtown reports near the Holiday Inn at Main and Palafox. He cautioned he did not have offense-report database access at the meeting and could not confirm counts from memory.
On noise and car-meet enforcement, Salon described a November overtime detail that produced 11 traffic stops “mainly enforcing of, the car noise and, issues with vehicles downtown,” with citations issued on most stops and no arrests. He said CRA officers monitored reported car meets and used overtime to supplement patrols during busy spring and summer weekends.
Board members pressed for continued attention to parking-garage safety, vehicle noise and weekend crowds during spring break and summer; Salon said the department plans heightened Thursday–Friday night enforcement and continued use of overtime as needed.
The presentation closed with the CRA board thanking the department for the update and asking the police to continue reporting specifics that would help the CRA match public-safety investments to hot spots.
