Mayor Riel Publicly Criticizes Officer for Speaking out Against Him

Written by: the_rebel_16701 (BradfordPA.Info User)

On WESB 1490 News, Riel publicly criticized an officer that has been speaking out against not getting public opinion on the decision to move the Bradford City Police dispatching to the 911 Center in Smethport.

Officer Lucco, along with other officers, has spoken out against the plan.

Over the past couple weeks, Riel has released several statements to the Bradford Era about his stance on the subject, and has even been quoted at a city counsel meeting as stating that the matter is not up for debate, that it is his decision, and that public opinion doesn’t matter.

Isn’t it the Mayor’s job to be the voice of the people that he represents?  If the overwhelming majority of citizens want to keep the dispatch at the station, then why isn’t that what should be done?

Riel said today that Lucco’s response to Riel’s own article in the Era, was “little more than foolish, selfish, misleading, and unfortunately,  yes, even childish”.

How is an officer wanting to make sure public opinion is heard foolish, selfish, misleading, or childish?  What statements has Riel ever made that weren’t misleading.  He stated before he was elected, and even posted signs saying that the Bradford Fire Department was crooked and needed actions taken.  Has anything been done about the fire hall?

The mayor also says that putting another officer on the street is “simple math”.  The problem is, is that Bradford is anything but simple.  There are a lot more complex issues involved in changing the dispatch than just the math.  We all know that 0 + 1 = 1, but Riel fails to notice that there are other factors in that equation.  He says that taking dispatching duties from the police station will cut down on overtime.  Yes, it might, but that means that officers will have to come in off the street, earlier than they would normally.  The paperwork involved in running the station is mainly handled by the dispatch officer.  Without the dispatch officer, the officers would have to come in anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour and a half, sometimes more, just to do their paperwork.  This means less officers on the street at key times during the day.  This also means that near shift change, Bradford City will be nearly lawless for a period of time.

Back to Riel’s old claims of the fire department being corrupt.  Did they just stop being corrupt when Riel was elected? Doubtful.  He has stated in the Era that all surrounding cities have 911 do the dispatch for the police, well, how many of those cities have paid fire departments?  How much does the fire department cost the city?  Actually, the number is near $300,000.  Volunteers can do the exact same thing, except that the bulk of the money would be provided by fund raising events that Bradford City does none of.  Bingo is just one example.

Riel has also publicly said that all city departments would be suffering losses due to the budget shortfall.  What other department is getting cut back?  NONE!  The fire hall has not experienced a single cut, yet the police continue to.

EVERYONE against this move needs to go to the next city council meeting and voice their concerns.  Tell the mayor that public opinion does matter.