Chief Chuck Hasty presented the plan to city council this afternoon as part of the panel's upcoming fiscal year budget deliberations.
While City Manager Joseph Scherer said he does not have proposed numbers in place, he did confirm he is preparing the budget by “not figuring any tax increase.”
(The next budget session will be next Thursday, April 14, at 4 p.m. in the first floor conference room of city hall where parks and recreation and human resources will make their requests. A related story can be found at this link)
In his outline for the PACE team, Hasty is requesting $149,500 for salaries covering two patrol officers and one investigator, who would report to the captain of criminal investigations.
The points of concern areas, Hasty said, have been generated by citizen complaints and officer observation. “The PACE officers can supplement the patrol squads by working these points of concern areas,” Hasty told council. “The squad has seven officers on each squad and it has been like this since the 1990s. The police department averages over 2,200 calls per month which limits the time they can dedicate to points of concern areas.”
PACE officers would work on street-level drug dealers in those areas and “work in getting more drunk drivers off the streets. In 2014, 97 were arrested; in 2015, 74 were arrested.”
The PACE investigator, the chief said, would work cases involving drugs, larcenies and break-ins.
A criminal interdiction team, such as PACE, Hasty said, “put themselves in a position to increase their odds of finding menaces before they strike by increasing their contacts and honing their skills. The proactive officer learns the indicators of criminal activity and deception so that they will recognize them when they see them.
“A patrol officer armed with the desire to make an impact coupled with the skill to detect indicators of criminal activity can be a career criminal's worst nightmare. An officer practicing criminal interdiction keeps an open mind to the possibility that every call and every contact can lead to a major criminal arrest.”
That is because, Hasty said, “They are not looking for some one thing on a call or contact — they're looking for everything on a call or contact. The officer practicing criminal interdiction will make many field contacts and vehicle stops for a variety of violations. Every contact becomes a short-term investigation. By using disarming dialog, an officer can determine numerous things about the occupant of a vehicle.”
If funding for the officers and $140,500 in equipment is approved, Hasty said, “This will give the department much needed resources to handle the growing problems related to drugs, drug use and the other crimes related. This, in turn, will make the city a safer place to live and work.”
Councilman Ernest Bobbitt asked Hasty about possibility of grants to fund the program.
“We're looking at grants,” the chief replied. “They may pay the first year. We're always exploring those options.”
Hasty, among other requests including a vehicle impound at public works, is looking to buy seven new Ford Interceptors and is requesting $290,000 to do so.
He told Councilman Wayne Smith he would check with local dealers to see if they could piggyback on the state contract price, which is typically less and comes with the police package.
