Facebook pays city for its own officer
Facebook, the social network giant, has agreed to pay the city of Menlo Park where it’s based more than $200,000 a year over the next three years for their own police officer. According to a report by CBS San Francisco station KPIX-TV, the officer will work out of a new substation near the social networking giant’s headquarters in Menlo Park and serve the surrounding neighborhood. Facebook also provided $200,000 to build the new substation. Last year, the Belle Haven neighborhood had the highest number of burglaries and aggravated assaults in the city.
t is a win-win-win . . . but it’s a win for the broader community as well.” Menlo Park PD Chief Bob Jonsen.
“It is a win-win-win … but it’s a win for the broader community as well,” Chief Bob Jonsen of the Menlo Park Police Department said at the meeting. The deal is considered the first of its type in the U.S.
Officials said the officer would focus on helping schools and businesses in the Belle Haven neighborhood, which has a big problem with gangs, drugs and shootings. The officer will create public safety plans, conduct emergency drills and work with at-risk teens.
With Facebook picking up the tab, some wonder whether the company will get special treatment. When asked about any possible conflict of interest, Mueller said, “The only way that you would have a conflict of interest is if somehow someone tried to exert influence over our police force. That’s not going to happen.”
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