June 4, 2001
(NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla.) – The public safety department in North Palm Beach does triple duty, handling police, fire and ambulance calls for the bedroom community on the east coast of Florida.
Eight of the department employees have triple certification as police officers, trained firefighters and paramedics, and many others have two certifications. There are about 60 employees altogether, including 37 sworn police officers, seven assigned as firefighters and 12 paramedics, as well as a “strong volunteer organization” of firefighters, said Capt. George Warren, the operations commander.
“In a small jurisdiction such as ours, it works quite well,” Warren said.
North Palm has about 10,000 residents, mainly retirees and people who work or own businesses in the area. Some “snowbirds” spend the winter in the village but not enough to force the hiring of additional seasonal officers. The village is on the west side of Lake Worth, north of West Palm Beach, and protected by Singer Island from the Atlantic Ocean.
While U.S. 1 crosses the village, most tourists are just passing through since the only attraction is John D. MacArthur State Park.
The police department spends most of its time on property crime and traffic enforcement, Warren said.
“We do get our share of just about anything,” Warren said. “We do get murders from time to time but if we get one every six years we think we’re busy.” Most of the officers who are certified as paramedics are on ambulance duty, Warren said. They work 24- to 48-hour shifts with eight hours of that time on the road.
The department tries to use some of their waiting time productively. North Palm has two GMC Suburbans equipped to handle life-support calls. But the vehicles are also equipped with radar, and the officers monitor traffic speeds until they are needed to respond to a medical call.
“We think we have one of the best departments in the world,” Warren said proudly.