untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Perhaps Flint should not have accepted this grant. We had to commit to 2 shifts of foot patrol, meaning this officers were not available for regular patrol. The grant paid for 8 officers and 1 Sgt. Flint has to foot the bill for the other officers. If Flint violates the terms of the grant, it may have to be repaid.
I understand Flint is already violating the Prosecutor-South Side Task Force grant. These officers are routinely sent to the North side.
Mayor admits foot patrols off to a rough startUpdated at 06:06 PM today
Tags:flint, police, dayne walling, local, lori dougovito
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Lori Dougovito
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FLINT (WJRT) -- (05/20/10) -- Foot patrols were pitched as a way to save Flint police jobs, a way to put officers back on the street to build relationships with residents in every ward in the city.
More than two months later, even Mayor Dayne Walling admits the department's foot patrol program is struggling to get off the ground.
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation gave the city $1.1 million to fund nine positions.
The money was in place starting March 1.
A spokeswoman there says there's no concern on their end, but at least one city councilman is concerned, and so are residents.
"I hate to say this but I actually watch now," said resident Marianne Cicaolo.
Her favorite spot? Her front porch swing.
"I feel nosy. It's better to be nosy than to play dumb," she said.
Cicaolo says her south side home was broken into before Christmas, so she watches.
She says she hasn't seen any officers on foot.
Neither has her neighbor Charles McKamie. "I haven't seen nobody."
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling announced more than two months ago that foot patrols were back.
"I didn't think it would work because I didn't think we would have enough people to staff patrol," said Flint Police Officers Association President Keith Speer.
Forty-six police officers were laid off in late March, and it's not working, said Speer. "After roll call, they're checking into their cars and their just answering 911 calls because we have so many. We don't have time for them to walk their neighborhood."
"I think probably the administration has to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to make it work," City Council President Dale Weighill said.
"In the past, the city has accepted grant money and we've not spent it properly. If foot patrol is what the grant is supposed to be about and there is no foot patrol, my concern is we might have to pay the money back; either all of it or part of it at the end of the 12-month period."
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