Mayor presents public-safety booklet to council, highlights prevention and victim services, praises Public Safety Director

Mayor William S. Stimpson presented a new public-safety booklet to the Mobile City Council on Aug. 27 that outlines the city’s crime-prevention, victim-services, youth-intervention and disaster-preparedness programs and thanked Public Safety Director Rob Lasky and Deputy Director Curtis Graves for their work.

The booklet, Stimpson said, compiles services across agencies and departments and explains programs beyond traditional police and fire operations. "This shows how much the city is doing to serve victims of crime, local families, students, and the community as a whole," Stimpson said.

Stimpson listed several programs described in the booklet, including a victim services unit, a youth-matters group, a family intervention team, a youth-violence prevention team, a public-safety community facilitator program, a hospital-based violence intervention program, an underage-drinking detail, SCORE (Second Chance or Else), and Project Thrive. He also described resilience and sustainability work that falls under the public-safety director’s office: disaster preparedness and response, recycling and litter education, energy efficiency and hazard mitigation efforts, and a coastal-resiliency focus. Stimpson said the city runs an "SVP fellowship" to coordinate interagency response.

Council members praised Lasky’s accessibility to neighborhoods. Councilman Reynolds noted Lasky’s presence at recent community meetings, saying he had been available to answer residents’ questions in the audience.

A council member asked that the booklet be posted online and distributed to constituent newsletters and community centers so residents can reference the resources and programs listed.

The mayor said the booklet is available to the public and suggested it would also appear online; he urged residents and council members to review it to learn about the full set of public-safety services and prevention efforts.

Ending: The council did not take formal action on the booklet at the meeting; Stimpson presented it as informational and for public distribution.