Paradise OKs police services agreement, approves city secretary

The Messenger
By Brendan Marchand 
September 27, 2023

The Paradise City Council approved an interlocal agreement with Bridgeport Police Department Monday that will bolster the law enforcement presence within Paradise, providing added patrol hours and improved response times through the use of Bridgeport PD officers.

According to Paradise Mayor Amanda Black, the city previously used the resident deputy program, but due to staff shortages, it has been difficult for the city to have members on patrol. 

When the agreement with Bridgeport PD is put into place, Paradise will have an officer on patrol eight- to 12-hours per week, allowing for multiple days of police presence. The variable hours are due to increments of patrol being split into shifts of either four, eight or 12 hours, depending on each city’s call load and available staffing.

“We can actually send patrol down for a couple of hours to do neighborhood patrol, community service related services, business contacts and we can get that on a more regular basis with the four, eight or 12 [hours],” said Bridgeport PD Lieutenant Horace Langford.

Citations written by Bridgeport will go through Paradise’s municipal court, Langford confirmed, adding that all funding through those citations will go into Paradise.

Bridgeport PD will not provide animal services or code enforcement, but will provide law enforcement, criminal response and traffic control. Langford added that Paradise citizens will have the same access to the police department’s communications center as Bridgeport residents do.

In other business, the council approved the mayor to make the next steps necessary to accept a land donation of 20.59 acres to the city to be used as a park. The donor of the tract of land, near Sunflower and School House Road, is prepared to finalize the transaction in October, Black said.

“It would definitely be good to use as a park of some sort,” the mayor said. “In the meantime, until we do something about it, it can continue to be hayed … until it’s time to get ready to develop it into a park.”

The council also unanimously approved an ordinance approving Alisha Whitten as the city secretary. Whitten has served as interim city secretary since Teresa Moody’s departure from the position in March.