As Evanston officials try to close a $3.5 million budget gap, National Public Radio is reporting on a study by the Police Executive Research Forum that says the average budget cut this year among 600 departments surveyed was seven percent.
As Evanston officials try to close a $3.5 million budget gap, National Public Radio is reporting on a study by the Police Executive Research Forum that says the average budget cut this year among 600 departments surveyed was seven percent.
Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the group, told NPR that dramatic decreases in crime rates across the country in recent years has largely been the result of smarter policing techniques rather than increasing the number of officers on the street.
But he voiced concern about the impact of possible future layoffs on crime rates.
He suggested that compromises on pay and pension benefits by police unions may be needed, as well as some reductions in the type of calls police respond to. He suggested, as an example, that some departments may ask people involved in traffic accidents where there were no injuries to file a report at the police station, rather than having an officer respond to the accident scene.
Don’t cut our police!
That’s all I have to say on this matter.
Please cut these redundant
Please cut these redundant survices. I cannot pay property, water, etc, etc, taxes anymore.
Cut everything
Instead of going one by one . . . libraries, police, this, that, the city should require every department to come up with 10% cuts (like happened in my workplace). Departments or divisions that want to make a case that they cannot do this should have a chance to make their case in a public meeting. ONE public meeting where each department gets 5 minutes to talk.
Then after these brief presentations the city council can vote on which departments (if any) can get an extra 1% or 2%.
Boom. Done. Managers that cannot do it for their department get fired. Hire someone cheaper who will fulfill the objectives.
Half-way there
The city manager directed all the department heads to propose 5 percent reductions in their budgets for the coming year. Details on what they came up with should be available when the manager releases his proposed budget on Friday.
— Bill
good plan
good plan. Look forward to seeing it. Then make them stick to it.