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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| The city of Flint levies 2 mils for "Neighborhood Policing". Is the money actually used for this, or is it just dumped into the general fund? If it's not used as stated on my tax bill, should it be discontinued? I can't find any line item in the proposed budget that addresses this. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:07 am |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
The city of Flint levies 2 mils for "Neighborhood Policing". Is the money actually used for this, or is it just dumped into the general fund? If it's not used as stated on my tax bill, should it be discontinued? I can't find any line item in the proposed budget that addresses this.
Do you see any community policing effort?
It was just renewed a couple of years ago with overwhelming support. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:41 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| I'm asking because I've been told by an officer that the coming layoff will eliminate community policing. That, and not being able to find any item in the proposed budget for it. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:36 am |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
I'm asking because I've been told by an officer that the coming layoff will eliminate community policing. That, and not being able to find any item in the proposed budget for it.
Community policing has not been happening here for sometime....
The budget that is available online is just a general overview of the actual budget. They do not provide the detail online.
The police department is part of the General Fund (101). We would need to see the detail in order to see how much revenue is realized by the community policing millage. But, just because they eliminate the concept of community policing does not mean that they are going to stop collecting on that millage. It will still appear as a line-item in the budget. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:23 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| I know of a couple people that are saying if the millage is not being used for the purpose it s assessed for, then it should be terminated. There's a possibility these people could push it in court. I am NOT one of those, nor are any of them candidates for office. I heard about it & thought I'd look into it a bit. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:29 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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It's kind of a catch 22.... we passed a millage based on the assumption that we were going to get community policing... but getting rid of it would force the ouster of another 20-25 officers....
The City has some major issues to deal with.... so we need to make sure that whomever we elect to office is going to be capable enough to handle it. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:05 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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Josh, in one post, you say: "The police department is part of the General Fund (101). We would need to see the detail in order to see how much revenue is realized by the community policing millage. But, just because they eliminate the concept of community policing does not mean that they are going to stop collecting on that millage. It will still appear as a line-item in the budget."
Then: "It's kind of a catch 22.... we passed a millage based on the assumption that we were going to get community policing... but getting rid of it would force the ouster of another 20-25 officers.... "
I get the impression that community policing has been eliminated, but the millage for it is still being collected & used for something else. Also, if there is no community policing, why would more officers be laid off? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:50 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
I get the impression that community policing has been eliminated, but the millage for it is still being collected & used for something else. Also, if there is no community policing, why would more officers be laid off?
The millage is a defined revenue source... so it is itemized in the budget. Though there is a line item that shows how much money is being collected by the millage.... that does not mean that the money is being used for what it was intended.
I suggested that if you got rid of the revenue provided by the community police millage, you would have less officers on the streets. And here's why:
They are proposing to have 118 Police Officers in their Personnel Summary. Of those 118, perhaps (and I am guessing) 25 of them are funded by the Neighborhood Police Millage. Though they are not doing the actual work (neighborhood policing),, that is how they are paid for. So if you drop that millage revenue from the budget... you would only have 93 funded positions.
The Neighborhood Police Millage money is in name only. It helps to fund the department though it is not used for what it was intended.
I hope I am not too muddled. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:23 pm |
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BAH836
F L I N T O I D
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Community police officers basically turned into general patrol officers several years ago. They still had their own office and were given access to the various mini stations in the city, but because of call volume, they generally ran radio calls the same as regular patrol officers. The community police officers were still assigned to attend various community meetings and similar activities. Community officers were generally dispatched to handle neighbor trouble, barking dog, abandoned vehicle and service type calls (cars in lawns etc.), before patrol officers, but this was not always possible due to call volume. Basically, if there were 50 calls pending, community officers would respond to shootings and domestics just as patrol would, because they were priority calls. Second shift community officers actually worked 7p to 3a for awhile (and still might, not sure). How much community policing activity can be done after 10pm??
When the last community police millage went to vote (2005 i think), the department said 40 layoffs would result if it didn't pass.
I'll agree with Josh, from what I saw, community police was money was in name only. Lots of community police officers tried to do what they were intended to do, but were unable because of call volume. |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:30 pm |
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rapunzel11
F L I N T O I D
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Gary Hagler was asked to try two millages one for regular policing and one renewal for community policing.
He did not attempt a regular policing millage worried both would fail.
Using community policing millage funds for regular policing is a misuse of funds.
We currently have NO community police officers.
Weed and Seed grants supplanted some community police activities.
Some of those grants have ended.
New grants in other areas are pending.(not Eastside)
I believe many of the stimulus grants require that the city fund the officers and then get repaid. Meaning that we have to have the up front funds which we do not.
Peace,
RAP |
_________________
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
John F. Kennedy, speech at Vanderbilt University, May 18, 1963 |
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Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:48 pm |
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