Police Chief Timothy Jackson addressed the issue of police presence in the city after a question from a city resident during the public safety committee meeting. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

A city resident has approached the City Council’s Public Safety Committee about any possibilities to increase the police presence and availability throughout the city.

Rachel Vanderwheel spoke to council members asking if the Jamestown Police Department could organize itself similar to the Jamestown Fire Department with smaller stations spread through the city. She said on her way into the meeting she spoke with the officers who manage the check-in to city hall, who told her there was not enough manpower to do something like that, but that there used to be something like that.

“So, if there would be a way that we could make that possible, that maybe these ladies here would have faster response time, or anyone else would have a faster response time for police, because it would seem that when these people are on foot, they are running around our city but it’s causing problems and they’re getting away and not getting confronted,” Vanderwheel said.

Police Chief Timothy Jackson said he did not remember a time when there ever were precincts in the city, and Councilman Bill Reynolds, R-Ward 5, said there used to be a community unit with a trailer that would move around.

“There definitely isn’t the manpower, because right now there’s only three or four officers on the road,” Jackson said. “So, you wouldn’t have anyone in the precincts.”

Right now the police department has 57 officers, with six required per shift, which Jackson said means the desk officer, the jailer, a supervisor, and three patrol officers on the road. Vanderwheel asked how the city could get more, and Jackson said even if the city had the budget for 100 officers, there simply is not enough interest.

“We can’t go to the academy and I can’t hire 50 officers because there’s not 50 certified police officers to hire,” Jackson said. “Right now, at our academy there’s six recruits to fill 20 vacancies for Chautauqua County. That’s for the entire county.”

Jackson said he did not know the reasons why there was a lack of interest, only his own personal beliefs. Another major issue that is spreading the police presence thin in the city, he said, is the amount of condemned housing. This is something that Jackson said has become a major issue, and something the committee noted would most likely increase in the next few months as people seek shelter from the weather.

“The condemned housing is putting a real crimp in our law enforcement,” Jackson said. “We’re going from condemned house to condemned house clearing it, and that takes a lot of time.”