PBSO District 14 Cpt. Todd Baer “declined to elaborate” when asked to comment on, “It’s like the south doesn’t exist” in our City of Lake Worth.

Cpt. Baer declined to comment for a
very good reason.

You’ll learn more about that below from a Nov. 17th breaking news report by Palm Beach Post staff writer Olivia Hitchcock. It was another reporter from the Post, the current beat reporter here in the City of Lake Worth, Kevin Thompson, who asked Lake Worth’s PBSO commander a question and Cpt. Baer, “declined to elaborate” on Nov. 10th. Why?

Because exactly a week later we found out
why from Olivia Hitchcock.

You see, the men and women at PBSO were very busy at the time. But more about that later.

By the way, it was the same beat reporter here now in the City of Lake Worth who was sent to cover PBSO’s merge with the Greenacres PD two years ago and everyone is still waiting for an update, you know, to ‘elaborate’ on the situation in the fine neighboring City of Greenacres.

There’s never been a follow-up article on how things are going in Greenacres following the merge with PBSO. Wouldn’t you like to know? Interestingly, Greenacres also had issues with code enforcement as well two years ago, and we haven’t heard anything about that issue either. From the very same beat reporter who covered the merge with PBSO in 2015 came this news as well published in the Post:

     “Rivera [former Greenacres District 1 Councilwoman Lisa Rivera] is also concerned that many of the businesses in her district, which runs from the L-10 Canal south to the L-15 Canal, and from Military Trail west to South 57th Avenue, look like they should be in a flea market, with their garish colors and tacky banner signs.
     ‘It looks horrid,’ Rivera said.” [emphasis added]

Anyhow. From Friday, Nov. 10th is this from Thompson and below — exactly a week later — was the huge, breaking news from reporter Olivia Hitchcock everyone was glued to last week:

     Michael Ghrayeb, owner of All Import Car Repair on South H Street, said there are pockets of issues in the city.
     “The sheriff’s department only cares if you’re on 6th Avenue North,” he said. “Anything south is less cared for. You see a lot of people walking the streets at night, lots of hookers. It’s like the south doesn’t exist.”
     Todd Baer, sheriff’s office captain, said that is Ghrayeb’s opinion.
     He declined to elaborate.

Here is why PBSO Cpt. Baer “declined
to elaborate”:

From Friday, Nov. 17th is the breaking news report from Hitchcock with the headline, “BREAKING: PBSO says gang members arrested in killings linked to MS-13”:

     In the last two weeks Palm Beach County sheriff’s authorities, with assistance from federal law-enforcement agencies, have linked a string of killings, shootings and robberies in Lake Worth to MS-13, an international criminal gang based in El Salvador. By Friday morning, six of the suspects were behind bars facing charges in at least one of the city’s two killings, which happened Oct. 30 and Nov. 5 in one-half-mile radius south of downtown.

Near the end of the article by Thompson
on Nov. 10th is this as well:

     Frost [Craig Frost, owner of Art of Noise on South ‘H’ St.] said he hears and sees the sheriff’s office’s chopper weekly.
     “It’s kind of a running joke now,” he said. “People are saying, ‘It’s Lake Worth’s bird in the sky.’ We hear about it all the time, we see it on Facebook.”
     To protect his business, Frost said he has an alarm and cameras in the front. He said he also depends on fellow business owners.
     “We’re a tight-nit community and have been for a long time,” he [Frost] said.

Lastly, when trying to solve crime in any neighborhood or community in our City of Lake Worth it’s important to get the word out about Crime Stoppers and ways to help out, like volunteering with PBSO or maybe contacting the Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’ Council (NAPC).

However, in the Nov. 10th article by Lake Worth’s beat reporter from the Post, there was no information about any of those ways to help stop or solve crime here in this little City.

So. Here is that information to share with
everyone in your neighborhood:

Stay anonymous, solve crime, and be eligible for up to a $USD1,000 reward by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-458-8477.

Or click on this link for more information
about Crime Stoppers.

Volunteering for PBSO, “Walk The Walk” organized by the NAPC, and contacting Crime Stoppers has been proven to be effective. However, other crime-stopping efforts such as SEO and OITNB have been proven to be ineffective in cutting down on the crime rate here in the City of Lake Worth.

PBSO District 14 is located at 120 North ‘G’ St.
in Lake Worth. Main phone number is 561-586-1611
or contact by email: LakeWorth@pbso.org

Want to learn more about PBSO District 14?
Click on this link.