I have seen an officer there on numerous occasions.  Obviously it was not meant for them to camp out there, but as a place to go to do reports, take a break, etc. instead of going all the way to the Hwy. 31 station, which would take them out of the area for a good 20-30 minutes, depending on traffic.
 
I think we are very grateful for having the sub-station, which is what we asked for back in September.
 
That having been said, there are still a couple of outstanding issues.  The first is the "30 Beat" geographic area.  A big area for one officer to cover, which has not been addressed yet.  The second is the traffic enforcement priorities by the HPD.  Although the major arteries through Bluff Park are *sometimes* covered, the way they are being covered is overkill (letter of the law vs. spirit of the law), while the inner parts of Bluff Park are being ignored.  There is still rampant running of stop signs, which usually get the violator nothing but a warning IF they get caught.  Lame.  
 
Finally, we're still not seeing the interaction of HPD with the average BP resident.  Hey, guys and gals, park that Tahoe and walk Shades Mountain Plaza sometimes!  Meet the people you're protecting.  We promise we won't bite you.  And if we do, we've all had our shots.  Go up to the community center and get out of the vehicle.  Meet the kids.  Believe me, they would like to meet more than just the SRO at their school.  You guys overall don't have a very good reputation with the youth.  Change that!  All it takes is putting the vehicle in Park and getting out and mingle.
 
Just some thoughts.
 
 
 

Yes, appreciate your thoughts...
 
Let me address them, one by one, starting with "I think that the people of bluff park think this substation is a bigger deal than it really is.  I don't want an officer in that substation, I want him or her out on the street patrolling.  Reports can be done in the vehicle with computers now days. "
 
It's refreshing to know that you could sit in your vehicle for eight hours at a time, including writing reports.  Assuming you have to take a break for either the restroom or food, it's good to know that you would skip it to "continue patrolling".  Are you aware that these guys (and gals) are human beings and cannot be stuck in the vehicle for eight hours straight?  Now, stay with me for a minute, lets say that they do get a five minute break (you would give them that, right?).  Would you want them to go all the way back to the Lorna Road sub-station or would you want them to stay in Bluff Park?
 
Next point:  I also think that the police beats all across hoover need to be split up because they havent been in a long time, They have added patrol units that are considered "float" cars that go all over the city to back up officers but that just isn't enough.
 
Couldn't agree with you more.  Spot on.
 
One thing i think is really important would be for every one to call the city and try to get a stop sign placed at the intersection of Mountain Drive and Valley Street before there is another really bad accident at that intersection.  
 
At this time, a moot point for a couple of reasons.  First, according to Tim Westhofen, that intersection will cease to exist in less than a year.   That intersection will get changed as well as the Tyler Road/Fancher intersection.  Besides, getting the city to put up a stop sign takes an act of Congress with a two-thirds majority and then only with an Executive Order.  
 
I think we need to understand that police are only human and can't do everything we want.  If they are at walking around Shades Mountain Plaza then they aren't patrolling your street and making sure people are not running that stop sign right in front of your house.  We as a community need to decide what is most important for our police officers to be doing.
 
This sort of contradicts your very first point since you think they should stay in their vehicles for eight hours at a time without a break, which is almost humanly impossible.  I'm not asking them to spend the entire afternoon at Shades Mountain Plaza, or even an hour for that matter.  I'm asking them to get out of the car for fifteen minutes and meet the people.  They're not patrolling my street anyway, choosing instead to stay on the main arteries (Park Ave., Chapel Road, Tyler Road, Alford Ave.).  Your final statement amuses me in a way.  You say "We as a community need to decide what is most important for our police officers to be doing."  So far this topic has only received a response from you and from me.  Neither one of us is "the community", yet we seem to have opposing views on "what they should be doing".  How do we solve that issue and how do we convey that to the powers that be?  Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying I'm right because I may be the only one who feels this way about the interaction between the HPD and the BP residents.  The rest of the residents may share your point of view, but until they speak up, we won't know and we'll be at an impasse in this matter.

Fair enough on all the clarifications.
 
I am not quite sure how they are going to change the intersection of Mtn Drive and Valley Street, could you enlighten me on that?
Forget the part of changing it, but let me clarify as to why they won't put a stop sign there.  Back in 1998 we lived on Park Avenue, right past the church going towards Chapel Road.  On a nice June morning at 10 am a white Thunderbird was travelling down Park Avenue toward Chapel going approx. 70 mph.  My wife was pulling out of our driveway at the time.  When the T-Bird was passing the church, just by Rockland Drive he saw my wife's van was backing out and he locked his brakes.  The skidmark was 105 feet long and he hit her dead on.  My son, who was 8 at the time, and my daughter, who was just 2, were in the van with my wife, both in the rear part of the van and both buckled in (my daughter in a child seat).  I had just run up to the post office and by the time I got back the entire road was covered with fire trucks, police cars and ambulances.  I watched them carry my son in a contraption that looked like a golf bag and place him into an ambulance.  My wife was placed into another ambulance.  My daughter was not hurt, just shaken up.  The guy, who was drunk (at 10am!) was also fine.  The van looked to be totalled.  They took my wife to UAB and my son to Children's.  I followed his ambulance.  By the time everything was sorted out, all three were going to be fine, but the van not so much.
 
I tell you the story so I can explain my point about the stop sign.  I went on a crusade about putting a stop sign at the intersection of Rockland and Park Avenue (a 4-way) as this had not been the first time such an accident happened and the road tends to be blind when driving toward Chapel.  I went to council meetings, had Tim Westhofen do road surveys, and all kinds of stuff.  It ended up that by Alabama Rules (Code, whatever you want to call it), the road did not warrant a stop sign, so they didn't put one there.  I felt it did, but, of course, I was biased.  Now, just because you have a stop sign doesn't mean that anyone is going to heed it anyway.  I have a stop sign the size of a small car in front of my house and most people just zoom past it.
 
I would like to know why you feel that a stop sign is needed there, since two things have changed since 1998.  First, the rules may be different (I doubt it, but maybe they are) and second, we didn't have as many ways of getting our point across, if you get my drift.
 
You say they don't have time to mingle and patrol.  Perhaps, but I see them patrolling the same area over and over, leaving certain sections unattended.  What would I prefer that the officers do?  Patrol every single street in Bluff Park at least twice during their shift.
 
Please clarify for those of us who have been told otherwise what Beat 30 covers and what Beat 32 covers.  I have been lead to believe that Beat 30 (which was referred to as "30 Beat") is all of Bluff Park, but that was from the HPD themselves without being specific.  If you can shine a better light on it, please do.
 
As far as "speaking for the community", so far, unless someone else wants to join in, then yes, we are speaking for them.  Perhaps someone else would like to chime in?

Just wanted to let you two know that others are lurking!  You are both just doing such a good job arguing (discussing, sorry!) the various points that there isn't much to add!  
 
More police good.  Metting community good.  Sub station good.  
 
I must say that I have had to call HPD to send someone out ot take a report from me three times in the past several years and there has definitely been a huge decreas in the time it takes for them to get to me since the sub station has been in place.

Ok if it makes you feel better i am sure that beat 32 is much smaller than i described.  I just don't know excatly where the lines are drawn I am not sure if that information is something the PD would give out.  I don't see why they wouldnt.  But think of it from a positive light, if part if bluff park is in both beats then there are two officers patrolling bluff park.

While I appreciate the substation being close,  I am not sure it has really helped increase police presence. I may be mistaken but I think Robert's has been broken into at least once since the substation arrived.  
 
I too have been frustrated with system in general. A few weeks ago my husband was leaving for work around 6:30 AM and noticed what appeared to be an abandoned car at the curb by our house. As he passed by he realized there was someone in the driver's seat with it all the way reclined. Being cautious he called 911 (being in the car he couldn't look up the non-911 number for HPD) It rang 10 times or so and he hung up without an answer. He then drove up to the substation and no one was there. I realize this was very early so I doubted anyone would be there anyway. So he called me and I called the local HPD number in the phone book. I asked that they send an officer to check on this young man parked in front of my house at 630 AM. About 15-20 minutes later an officer showed up and I could tell she had a hard time awakening the young man.  Shortley thereafter another officer arrived. Well to make a long story short, the driver must have been in his teens because about 45 minutes later people I would assume to be his parents came and picked him up and drove the vehicle away. I guess he had too much to drink or was just plain too tired to drive any further. While I applaude his decision to pull over and not endanger any lives, it is frustrating to have to get the run around to track down an officer.
 
On a side note- perhaps we should extend an inviation to our patrol officers to come by the "yard sale" being talked about at the community center.  
 

Just to be clear.
The lady that called me back about the community center said that they do not allow yard sales in or around the area. So the yard sale will not be a part of the Party.