Public Safety

​​Portsmouth is blessed with many beautiful, historic and diverse neighborhoods.  The citizens of all  neighborhoods want the same things.  They want to feel safe in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and schools.  In fact without the security of safety, nothing else can get accomplished.  Our professional public safety departments (fire, rescue and police) have the awesome task of protecting and serving.  But they need our help.
Police, fire and rescue departments need dedicated, well trained public safety professionals with the most up-to-date equipment available.  It is up to our city leaders to provide these departments with just that.  We must recruit and retain the finest professionals to ensure that services will be available when we need them.  This means competitive salaries and benefits, a retirement and health care plan that will be there when our public safety officers need them. It means making sure that the police and fire departments have the equipment they need to do their job. It means that our budget must reflect these priorities, even if it means cutting other areas. Public safety must be a high priority.
But public safety is also dependent on establishing trust between communities and the police and fire departments. This means we must support efforts at community outreach by our police and fire departments. City leaders must also develop relationships with public safety professionals at all levels.
When elected, I commit to working on behalf of our neighborhoods and our police, fire and rescue departments to make Portsmouth a safe place to live work and play. Public safety is one of the three pillars of a vibrant city and I will work tirelessly to ensure Public Safety remains a priority.