Tampa Adult Entertainment: Annexation efforts questioned

September 17, 2009

In a response to a request from Commissioner Rodney Woods, Police Chief Lester Aradi expressed comments about the negative effects of annexations in writing to city officials and also at the commission meeting Sept. 15.
Annexations over the past year, and in previous years, have had a cumulative and substantive draining effect upon police department resources, Aradi wrote.
He pointed out the problem of annexing properties that immediately deplete available resources and divert police service, such as some mobile home parks and apartment complexes.
All of these large density annexations have required immediate, continual large-scale responses and attention from the police department. Low income housing and the transient nature of the residents can often result in noticeable increases in illegal narcotics activity, domestic violence, gang activity, thefts, and code enforcement issues, Aradi wrote.
Plans to annex an adult entertainment complex will divert undercover law enforcement resources away from existing drug and vice investigations, he wrote.

See the full article from “Tampa Bay Newspapers”



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