This upcoming budget year, the City manager is proposing staffing levels for our Police Department that are the lowest in recent memory. In the past six years, crime went down while the police department was experiencing a rise in budgeted sworn police personnel. Is this just a lucky coincidence, I think not. The Rand Corp. released a study last year that simply states, having more police reduces crime. Long Beach is the perfect example that proves the Rand Study true.
This year, staff is proposing budgeted police staffing levels at 87 sworn officers below 2009 levels, add to that the fact that we have not been at "budgeted" levels in a while and we are looking at having an all time low of 893 officers, boots on the ground, by the end of 2010.
That is a whooping 127 sworn officers below the 2009 levels!
Crime may have gone down citywide, but if you live in Central, West or North Town you know that sexual assaults and shootings have gone up. Where is the Mayor's promise for 100 police officers? Where is the Mayor's pledge of a city where West Long Beach, Central and North Long Beach get to share in the promise of "One City"?
Eventually, other parts of town will suffer too. As crime creeps up, police will be taken off traffic duty, loud parties, parking complaints, accidents and nuisance calls to address more violent priority one calls that will take precedence, and soon the citizens will ask why we don’t have enough police to protect or serve.
The City Council of the City of Long Beach has been asking a question that has gone unanswered since the departure of Chief Tony Batts, "How many police officers do we need for a city this size to keep our city safe?" Our present police Chief refuses to answer this question but this was a question that Chief Batts did not shy away from.
I wonder why the Department head of the largest city department refuses to answer the question. Is he afraid that the mayor or city manager might think the new Chief in town is rocking the boat?
Or is he primed to accept yet another contracting out scenario that inevitably is the city's misguided answer to cutting costs? Either way, I prefer my Police Chief to be straight forward and protective of his men and women who put their lives on the line on a daily basis.
We better start planning now for the future and provide our young folks the opportunity at a job, a slot in the upcoming police academy, because I for one, do not want the sheriff's department doing the job we hired our Chief to do.
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Why is it that the Mayors office is always looking to cut from the bottom and never from the top? Last year all the union's agreed to halt overdue pay raises to help this budget. What did our Mayor and the employees on the top floor get? That's right a raise...... Was that ever metioned in all these publicized budget meetings NO... The out sourcing is what kills me speaking from the standpoint of having a husband in the public works section....Out sourcing is no less expensive that having people working for the City do these jobs. Where is the price comparrison there? Why isn't that published along with the companies that will do it soooo cheap? Why are there so secrataries making 80K a year. Who read the newspaper for the first 2 hours of a work day. When there are people who are actually working hard to make this city beautiful and provide services for its residents, why are they always on the chopping block? but the city hall people have job security.. My husband took this job because it was a great oppurtunity, what happened to the great oppurtunities this City had to offer? maybe it is time for new management cause this current one is not improving it.....
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