Budget and Police in Chico

Here I go again. I’m mad…again….still…. This time, I’m mad about the complexion of public safety in our community. I’m going to put my thoughts down here because the ER will only allow me 250 words, and the majority of the City Council will delete the letter when they see its from me. I’m prompted now by the recent news of the City of Chico’s fiscal condition, and the additional news about the related proposed impacts on our local Police Department.

Budget

Having been exposed to and experienced the process of managing the City’s budget, I’d like to say that I’m surprised at the news that is now coming out….but I’m not. I don’t know enough about accounting to challenge the awards regularly received by the City Finance Department for their high level of competence, but I do know that some of the things I experienced when I managed a $22 million budget for the City did not pass the smell test. I also know that I shared my concerns with both elected and appointed leaders (my bosses) about the absence of checks and balances in budget management since the City’s last Budget Officer was ushered into retirement. Well, I guess we now know what’s really been going on. Its bad. So bad in fact that the “B” word is being used (bankruptcy), and there is talk of the need for the City to get a loan to make it through the fiscal year that has not even started yet. That’s really bad. In fact, I would concur with those who have characterized this condition as “dire.”

So what do we do when things are dire? Do we try to keep all the balls in the air (as City Councils have for years) or do we as citizens assert strong opinions about what the priorities should be and deploy our new team of hired guns (who have no real investment in the City) to make stuff happen. I would suggest we do the latter. But…..I would also suggest that as a community we make it clear that safety is our top priority. Specifically, that an adequately staffed Police Department is our priority. In the event that the Council can actually get this, maybe they will direct the hired guns to make it happen.

The Police

Where do I start? The Council and appointed leadership have been warned for years about the impacts from the failure to maintain a Police Department that is staffed adequately for a community our size with the activity we have. Well, now it’s all coming home to roost. The warnings have consistently been disregarded. The Council’s eyes glaze over when their appointed leadership in policing repeat the warnings….and instead of talking about what to do, the majority elects to focus their discussion for hours and hours on end about climate action plans, plastic bags, and funding for paper mache’ horses to run down the middle of Main Street every October….and other equally ridiculous, non-priority stuff!!

Well….now we are in the midst of a perfect storm, and the safety of our community and the overall culture of our community is in jeopardy. We have the opportunity right now, as a community, to avoid becoming a Salinas or a Vallejo…..or, God forbid, virtually insuring that we will be the next similar community. The perfect storm is based on a convergence of several factors:

1.              The repeated disinclination of leadership (Council) to actually deal with the budget problems.

2.              The repeated disinclination of leadership to make the real difficult prioritization decisions.

3.              The repeated focus by leadership on non-essential, low priority, feel-good initiatives (like plastic bags), instead of core and foundational issues like public safety.

4.              The failure to increase the size of the police department in proportion with community and activity growth. This has now resulted in a Police Department that is horribly, grossly understaffed to keep up with the demands of the community.

5.              Increased crime, and increased violent crime….things are so bad that as a joke the Police Department has a placard in the briefing room indicating how many days its been since a stabbing. It was all the way to 5 days….until today….back at zero!

6.              And here is the biggie….the one thing that almost totally changed the complexion of safety in California: AB 109, the Prison Realignment bill. They call it realignment, but what really happened is that, with very little warning, the State washed its hands of any responsibility for many people who belong in prison….and then delegated that responsibility to the counties….with very little money, and almost no available jail space. Ya, the article in the paper this week said Butte County is handling the impacts well….but relative to what? Ask any cop what’s really going on: violent and sexual offenders are on the street, and it’s virtually impossible to send somebody to jail.

7.              Of course, the sad state of the economy is a component of this perfect storm.

All of these things have come together at one time, and the result is bad news for our community of Chico.

Chico has always bragged about being a “safe community.” Relatively speaking, this had been true for many years. But times are a changin’! In order for a community to be safe, one of the most essential components, like it or not, is a robust and well-staffed police department. Notice I said “one of the components”? I don’t believe for a minute that police are the answer….but if there is no police, or if what you have can’t do the job, it is an absolute foregone conclusion that that quality of life in a city will diminish.

What is a well staffed, robust police department? Its one that has the ability to maintain order, while at the same time the ability to give attention to specialized needs. The core order maintenance piece is Dispatch and Patrol. They are the guys and gals who answer the calls for service 24/7. Beyond that, the unique problems of a community must be taken into consideration. Gangs, crowds, alcohol problems, juvenile problems, neighborhood quality of life problems, traffic….these are all the kinds of issues that require specialized resources. Patrol officers can’t keep up with all the calls, AND provide these kinds of specialized services. Chico used to have specialized units to deal with all these issues. Now, not only are those units gone, but the Department can’t even staff enough people to cover all of their Patrol shifts.

Consider this recent posting from the wife of a Chico police officer:

“I just love worrying about my husband when their shift is so understaffed. No sleep for me again tonight. Four officers patrolling the streets of Chico. Four. At one point last night, due to something happening to one of the officers there were two people patrolling the streets for quite a while. TWO! For the whole city of Chico. I pray for the safety of the officers. This is just wrong. God forbid anything happen to any of them.”

Most people don’t know this officer, or his wife. As such, they may not really care about the individuals related to this message…..but…..wouldn’t you think, as a community, we would care that this condition is allowed to exist? I’m gravely concerned! A single call for service can immediately tie up every single one of these officers! And then what? I’ll tell you what: there are no cops on the streets of Chico protecting you!

At its high point, the Chico Police Department had 103 officers total – 103 sworn. Today, that number is in the low 80s. Of those, at least 4 are due to retire soon with no plans to replace them, at least 7 are off on disability with a likelihood that several won’t return, and at least 4 more are in the final stages of seeking employment elsewhere (why continue to work in a City where the top elected and appointed leadership does not support them?). This means that by year’s end, there will be 60-70 cops to protect the City 24/7. Do the math. This number of people gets eaten up very quickly!

While the fire service has clear national standards for staffing of fire departments, law enforcement does not. All law enforcement has is a study done by the FBI every year to compare law enforcement agencies throughout the nation to each other in relation to staffing. For more than a decade, CPD has been staffed below average for cities our size in the western United States. According to the FBI, the average staffing level in cities 50,000-99,999 in population is 1.3 officers per 1000 citizens. If you assume that CPD only serves the reported population of 88,000 in Chico, we should have 114 cops…..to be comparable to average. As we don’t, we are woefully below average!

City managers everywhere will tell you that the FBI standard is not a “standard,” and that communities need to staff police department’s based on a demonstrated need….blah, blah, blah….   If you compare the activity and/or crime in Chico to other communities our size, our cops have to handle much more.

I could go on and on about police staffing. In particular, I can speak for the specific need for all of the special units and employees that have been eliminated over the last few years to balance the budget. But to spare you (for the moment), I won’t…

What do we do?

That’s the question of the day! What has prompted me to compile my thoughts is the news reports of plans to further reduce staffing in the Police Department to offset a significant anticipated budget shortfall in the City. What that really means is that the various City departments are given a budget reduction target, in most cases it will be unrealistic, and the Council will then validate the department head’s proposals.

Folks, let me remind you: Things are dire budget-wise in Chico! What this condition necessitates, now more than ever, is that the City Council, before they rubber stamp these compelled plans, really evaluate the top priorities of the community.

There’s a lot of nice people that work for the City. I like a lot of them personally. Others were co-workers for many years, and I just don’t know them that well. My thoughts about what the City should be doing when faced with the most dire of fiscal circumstances have nothing to do with how I feel about those people as individuals….rather, it has more to do with the positions and the context of what are our core priorities as a community.

It is my perspective and opinion that as a city, Chico needs to start with a focus on its core priorities, and build from there. This means some of the things we’ve had for a long time won’t continue to exist if the Council and the Manager can really roll up their sleeves and make the hard decisions.

Here we go:

1.              One of the most feel-good positions the City staffs is that of Park Ranger. Do we really need them when we can’t staff the Police Department? Cops have to respond to all the serious calls anyway, we have a strong volunteer program in the Park….let the volunteers be the face of the City, and eliminate the Park Rangers.

2.              Everyone in City management will say: This position is funded out of a different account….I say, get rid of the management level public art position. Even though it’s funded out of a different area, you don’t have such a position when you can’t fund cops.

3.              The big reorganization included big raises for the remaining 5 department heads. As such, they can take on additional responsibility – even when the City Manager is out of town. Have one of them fill in when the CM is unavailable….get rid of the Assistant City Manager Position.

4.              Tree trimmers….do you know how many such businesses there are in town? Reduce the attention given to trees, delay the trimming, eliminate the staff, and hire private businesses when necessary.

5.              Parks Department – how many people does it take to clean toilets and empty trash in the park? Reduce to bare bones (1 or 2 people to do only what is absolutely essential).

6.              Road department – When circumstances are dire, you don’t get to have everything. Given the choice of being safe in my home or taking a couple minutes longer to get to my destination because of potholes, I choose safety….reduce to absolute minimum staffing. Delay filling the potholes.

7.              Planning, building and engineering – every article we read in the local news talks about the reduction in workload for these folks for the last several years. The jobs they all do are privatized by many local governments. Reduce to only 1-2 people to coordinate outsourcing, and get rid of the positions.

8.              Finance – 12 people….really? There is room for reduction here!

When things are dire, and you are hanging onto the edge of the cliff by your fingernails, these are the kinds of decisions you make to preserve a community. Yup….they are hard. Yup….they will hurt. But….eliminating these positions now, and preserving public safety will help to maintain a foundation that may allow us to return to the charming City we once were.

Was I not clear with where the money should go from eliminating these positions? To the Police Department. We need a robust, well-staffed police department in Chico….and we need our citizens to tell our elected Council this is what we want.