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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad May 23, 2006 EDITORIAL Openness needed in new era at APD Ashland Police Chief Mike Bianca is officially retired. Despite the controversy surrounding his tenure at the helm, few would deny he loyally served the community of Ashland and the people for a highly significant period of time. He worked his way up through the force, built a reputation for kindness in a job that often doesn’t value it and forged a successful career in a town he loved. Many are chagrined at his departure, but his immediate supervisors, Former City Administrator Gino Grimaldi and Mayor John Morrison, lost confidence in his ability to lead this force through a time of division and uncertainty. Bianca clearly disputes this, but like all employees, someone else makes the final judgement. With sincere appreciation we say goodbye to Bianca the chief, pleased that for a time at least, he will remain a part of our community as Mike, the decent man who is loved by many. Other opportunities may take him elsewhere, but Bianca will not have to worry about coming to town and not seeing many supporters, friends and appreciative peers. The immediate challenge he leaves behind is to build bridges of trust between the police and the local community. Newly hired interim police chief Ron Goodpaster will play the role of clearing the air from the conflict and confusion that has plagued the department for more than a year. Some simple steps are advised: • Explain plans to deal with specific problems and what the public can expect. Pedestrian stings were effective in calming traffic, but people knew what was happening. Statistics of effectiveness were released to the public. Problems such as aggressive panhandling, vandalism and others can be equally addressed. • Make information more available. Accurate statistics made available to the public are badly needed to separate the anecdotal from the fact of what types of problems we have in town and how fast are they in fact growing. • Improve relations with the local media. The cloak of secrecy that shrouds decisonmaking at the APD effectively blurs the line between reality and rumor, causing the department and the community more grief than necessary. Instead of letting the court of public decision be colored by political spin, work to clarify the debate through open communication and with statistical reports. • Incidents of serious crime need to be released to the public. Too many believe Ashland is free of real problems, but many offenses go unreported. • Invite a community coalition to help evaluate and monitor resident complaints. Make general statistics available and publish steps taken internally to address these complaints fairly. If police officers are conducting themselves professionally in public, as we suspect in great majority they are, then give that information out so the stories of isolated incidents are not allowed to stereotype all who wear a badge. True community policing is effective in reducing crime and improving relationships among police and the people they protect and serve. True community policing starts with openness and accountability. Now is a good time to do both, which while flying in the face of most police departments unwritten rules, will go a long way to starting a new, productive and appreciated era of the APD. The Tidings gives priority to letters on local and regional topics of current interest. It seeks to encourage thoughtful, well-reasoned letters and to discourage personal attacks, repetitive messages and personal disputes. Form letters are not published in the Tidings, nor are letters identified as having been published in other publications. Contributions to the Opinion page should be e-mailed in text-only format to [email protected]. Please include your address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached for confirmation. Letters are limited to 250 words. At Length submissions are limited to 400 words. Submissions may be edited for length, content and clarity. See www.dailytidings.com for our expanded letters and opinion section. . Leave a Comment: --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.