A surprise may be in store for Kevin O'Brien. You remember O'Brien. He was the director of the Key West Art & Historical Society who, in a fit of pique, abruptly fired longtime Assistant Director Joe Pais last December. That action set off a firestorm of protest. O'Brien himself resigned in May to return to his native Indiana to assume the directorship of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association.
But guess what? A reporter for the Lafayette, Indiana,
Journal and Courier is an annual visitor to
Key West and a subscriber to Key West The
Newspaper. He pulled some of the stories about the firing
scandal off KWTN's website and passed them along to the arts editor. Can you imagine O'Brien's surprise
when he's asked to sit for an interview and the first question is, "Why did you fire Joe Pais?"
A lot more Key West police officers are on the road instead of in the station thanks to a new employee— the community service aide. Raymond Bloodworth has been on the job for about two months, handling routine matters that do not require the services of a fully certified police officer. He takes reports on lost property, stolen bicycles, abandoned cars, and found property turned in at the station. He also can be seen around town checking on city property and the beaches, transporting abandoned bicycles, routing traffic around fire or ambulance calls, taking witnesses back to a crime scene, and attending to minor traffic accidents.
Bloodworth was a parking enforcement officer for three years and he can still issue those citations. He is also trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid.
"We've been wanting to hire a community service aide for many years," said Lt. Frank Sauer, day watch commander. "Sometimes an officer can be tied up for as long as 45 minutes waiting for a car to be towed. Now Raymond can respond to such calls. We need more community service aides."