On the day of his swearing in ceremony as Chief of Police of the City of Beaumont, James P. Singletary pledged that he would strive to restore community relations between the police department and its residents and become more "citizen-friendly" overall. He has done that.

With all of the strife and violence occurring in many of the major cities across the country, our city has seen none of that. We have had some small peaceful demonstrations, but nothing like what has occurred elsewhere in the country. We also have had no calls to defund the police department.

This is most likely the result of Chief Singletary's tireless efforts, along with the entire police force, over the last eight and a half years to gain the trust and respect of local citizens. He explained that serving as a police officer has been extremely stressful of late, not only because of the nature of the job dealing with crime and family disturbances, but also dealing with Covid 19 issues. He is amazed at how his officers have been dealing with this stress.

A national report on police forces has indicated that at least 60% of the staffing of police forces should be on patrol in a well-functioning police department. Beaumont's police force stands at 71%. During Chief Singletary's tenure, 142 officers have separated from the force and 169 have been hired. The new hires go through an extremely thorough training program to be able to deal with the stress and dangers of the job. He is proud of Beaumont's officer training program and believes it prepares his officers to handle the job well.

Also during his tenure, the police department has met with and established relations with the NAACP, the 100 Black Men, and has established the Clergy and Priest Program (CAPP). It has met with churches, sponsored Public Safety Forums, and begun a number of youth programs such as the K-2 reading program, Cops and Kids Carnival, Santa in Blue.

The department has worked closely with IEA which stands for "Inspire, Encourage, Achieve," an organization that works with at risk youths age 10-17 that have been placed in detention centers or are out on probation. The department has met with the youth in parks providing Gatorade, water and basketballs.

The department sponsors a Citizen Police Academy, Police Explorer Scouts and a Canine Cadet Program. It also has plans to establish a Youth Advisory Committee.

In 2019, the Beaumont Police Department responded to 160,120 calls for service, which represents one call every three minutes. It made 6,903 arrests with zero complaints. All of the efforts described above probably account for the fact that the Violent Crime Rate in Beaumont has been on the decline over the last several years, which is what we all like to hear. Keep up the great work, Chief Singletary!