Uptown Safety Push Continues as a Veteran Inspector Retires

Novak's retirement was marked with a proclamation signed by Mayor Jacob Frey and presented by Council Member Linea Palmisano. Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer called him "smart, responsive, and good-humored" and credited him with helping the office navigate public safety across the ward, particularly in Uptown. A precinct inspector is the local face of the department, so a change at the top of the Fifth Precinct is felt across the ward.

The Uptown Safety Ambassadors program is set to launch in November 2026 with eight ambassadors dedicated to the district, following a pilot on East Franklin Avenue and East Lake Street. The model, used in commercial districts elsewhere, puts trained, unarmed staff on the street to offer directions, connect people to services and report problems, complementing rather than replacing police. Shaffer has held standing monthly multi-agency meetings at the Fifth Precinct to coordinate the city, county and other agencies that share responsibility for the area, and one such meeting previewed the ambassadors program.

Crime Prevention Specialist Faith Randal was named the department's Civilian of the Year at a ceremony at St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church. The office credited her with conducting crime-prevention assessments across the ward's 20 neighborhoods and standing up an Uptown trespass initiative in under two years. Civilian crime-prevention specialists do much of the work between police and residents, organizing block clubs and advising on building security.

The Ward 7 office has gathered community input on the ambassadors program through an online feedback form, a way of building local buy-in before the November rollout. Non-emergency concerns can be routed through the city's 311 service, and anything involving an immediate threat to 911.