An Anonymous Patron writes “EDP24 News reports Gorleston Virginia Library will be the first of nine across Norfolk to offer police services in a pioneering experiment.
Norfolk County Council information centre staff, based at the library, will be trained to provide a range of services, from accepting reports of lost and found property to issuing and receiving completed application forms for firearms.
The public will also be able to report crime and seek advice about police matters, including issues such as anti-social behaviour.”
In my city the library and city hall are already too close for comfort…
I thought they already did
Lost children
Obscene Web browsing
Mens’ room shenanigans
Lost property
Neighbor complaints
Thats just this week 🙂
Seems like a good idea, but…
Judging from the news site, I think this is about Norfolk, England, not the one in Va. At any rate, I like the idea of citizens being able to get some services taken care of at the library, so long as it’s in the form of a separately-staffed area, like a mini-police station. On the other hand, if the librarians were expected to do this on top of everything else, I don’t know how I’d feel about having “deputy city clerk” added to my list of duties.
Library to offer police services – What’s next?
How does a police substation fit any library’s mission? Perhaps, they could locate the City Pound out back?
i’d love it!
The police substation is not such a bad idea–public libraries in cities can probably use show of law enforcement, and librarians can provide people with info about the law. Works for me!
I sense trouble ahead
Oooooo! Police/Librarians! Does that mean I get to carry my gun on the job? Do I get a badge? Nahh, we’re librarians, we don’t need no stinking badges.
This may be a good idea, but the goals and responsibilites should be clearly spelled out. I’ve had a couple issues here where I had to convince administrative types that just because I hold high ranking in a few martial arts doesn’t mean I’m going to step into a brawl between two patrons. I looked at my paycheque a few weeks back, and nope, there’s not enough money there for me to take a punch or a kick or worse. And no matter the case, when you step into a fight, one or both sides are going to think you’re just another opponent.
So it should be made very clear that, just because someplace is taking police reports doesn’t mean that the staff are police officers.
Still, an AR-15 under my desk would probably deter some of our more hostile patrons.
Re:I sense trouble ahead
What gives you the impression that some librarians don’t carry guns at work. In Florida the regulation of concealed weapons is reserved to the state, so counties and cities cannot ban them from their libraries. Some Florida librarians do carry guns at work legally.
Re:I sense trouble ahead
Hrmmmm…. Really? Interesting… It’d sure make handling overdues far less combative!
If the state didn’t get slammed with hurricanes more often than a 100 pound guy in a mosh pit at a Rammstein concert, then it might be worth considering! I mean Hurricane Ivan is like, what, the third this month?
That’s why I live in the Pacific Northwest. No hurricanes (or typhoons since it’s the Pacific), no really major earthquakes (at least not for a while), and no tornados. Just a volcanic eruption every 10,000 years or so. I can live with that.
Police Substation in Library
I think it depends on one’s definition of a substation. In Memphis, one branch will have an actual police substation in it, after renovations are completed. I’m not sure who’s idea it was, but I bet the library staff will be happy to have a police presence on site to discourage any unruly behavior from patrons!
http://www.memphislibrary.org/about/libraries/holl ywood.htm