Stakeholders, business operators and other community members attend the first Department of Public Safety town hall meeting on Aug. 18 at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Clement Bermudes delivers his remarks.
Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Chris Concepcion talks about the Garapan tourist district.
THE Department of Public Safety held its first town hall meeting for the Garapan tourist district on Friday, Aug. 18, at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center.
Stakeholders, business operators and other community members shared their concerns with DPS.
These included proper lighting for dark areas, traffic flow/crosswalks near school, truancy, speeding, stricter penalties for criminal violators, implementation of the anti-litter law, homelessness and water/sewage leaks.
Also discussed was the reactivation of the DPS bike patrol in Garapan.
“Our priority is the safety of the community,” DPS Commissioner Clement Bermudes said during the meeting.
“We want to know where we are short — we are not perfect. We want to know how we can improve policing and how we can make it better. The accuracy of information really is through the members of the community. You know your neighbors better than we do, there’s no denying that,” he added.
“This townhall meeting is important to us — this is our way of reaching out to the community. We have to ensure that we create a safe environment for everyone. The safer the environment, the more visitors will re-visit and see us a safe destination,” Bermudes said.
As for the DPS bike patrol, DPS Criminal Investigation Division Commander Jeff Olopai said they are implementing a different approach when receiving and investigating criminal complaints.
Olopai said “the bike patrol will be implementing what is called crime scene-to-courtroom type of approach.”
He added, “When there is a crime, and one of these police officers respond and you make that interaction/engagement with them, that will be the same officer who is going to take care of your case throughout the whole process. It will not be like the conventional way where you call 911, one of the uniformed officers responds, they take the complaint and they give you a number to call, and then you call and there is a different investigator.”
“We are trying to establish a more direct contact with the complainant, so that if an officer responds to whatever call you made, he/she will be the same person you will be communicating throughout the case, until we forward it to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution,” Olopai said.
“The complainant doesn’t have to be calling different people in the police department. It’s going to be officer ‘John’ from day 1 when you reported it — it’s going to be officer ‘John’ if you have any questions along the way until the case is completed. The complainant doesn’t need to call any other person in the department as you’ve already established communication and relationship with officer ‘John,’ ” Olopai said.
Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Chris Concepcion, for his, part thanked DPS for reopening the police substation and reactivating the bike patrol in Garapan.
“As we see tourist arrivals increase steadily, we are receiving reports from tourists informing us that police presence is needed in certain areas. And Garapan, as the main tourist district, is our focal point. The safety of our visitors and residents who frequent the Garapan tourist district is paramount for us. Safety is always on the top of priorities when visitors choose a location…. If…the Commonwealth is seen as a safe destination, they will usually bring their families. too…. A safe destination — we want to keep that reputation going, and with the beefed up police presence in the tourist district it’s going to make the area feel safer, brighter, and more easily accessible and navigable for our visitors,” Concepcion said.
He added, “MVA, stakeholders, and partners in the tourism industry are ready and willing to assist [DPS] as you expand your presence and begin to see some of the things that we don’t see every day. I know your officers are trained to see certain things. Please keep us in the loop, and if there’s a way we can assist going forward we’re here for you and other partners in the industry.”
DPS said it will invite other stakeholders to the next town hall meeting, including representatives from the AG’s office, the judiciary, the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, the Department of Public Works, and Precinct 3 House members so they, too, can provide information and answer inquiries from the community.
