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Mayor Donovan outlines bolstered policing, new outreach and traffic enforcement plans
Summary
Mayor Donovan described steps to increase police and fire staffing, add traffic enforcement, expand undercover drug enforcement and embed a nurse practitioner with outreach teams after a year of understaffing and concentrated crime activity in the North River commercial area.
Mayor Donovan said Mount Vernon is increasing police and fire staffing, restoring traffic enforcement and expanding outreach after a year of understaffing and a concentrated public-safety emphasis in the North River commercial area.
The mayor told attendees that public safety is a top priority and that the city has recruited officers and added resources in response to resident concerns and recent crime activity.
Mayor Donovan said the city recruited and swore in six new police officers last year and has “a couple more in the pipeline” as it works to reverse a staffing level that matched 1996 budgeted positions. He said the city added 57 new public-safety cameras and focused an enforcement effort in the North River commercial area that produced about 70 proactive cases and 98 citations or arrests covering offenses from stolen property to drug-related arrests. “Public safety is a priority for me,” Mayor Donovan said.
The mayor described four people charged with controlled-substance homicide tied to overdoses, and said undercover drug buys and additional enforcement activity are planned to “hunt down drug dealers and higher level traffickers.” He said the city has begun to restore a dedicated traffic unit: one traffic officer was moved back into traffic control with another officer joining that unit in June and a third expected in the fall.
Mount Vernon also added a nurse practitioner to its integrated outreach services (iOS) team, Mayor Donovan said, allowing the team to treat people in the field and reduce hospital transports. He described the iOS model as social workers embedded with police “to help people get connected to the resources that they need.” The mayor said the city is not seeking to “arrest our way out” of homelessness but to couple enforcement with treatment and outreach.
The mayor credited coordination with county partners and public-health personnel in targeting crime and connecting people in crisis to services. He said the police and fire departments had been “woefully understaffed for a number of years” and emphasized adding personnel and resources as part of broader efforts to improve safety and support local businesses.
Looking ahead, Mayor Donovan said more undercover operations, increased traffic enforcement and continued staffing additions are expected, and that those steps are intended to improve residents’ and visitors’ sense of safety and help local businesses thrive.
