HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-02-15 Personnel and Finance *2016 Budget ReviewPERSONNEL & FINANCE *2016 BUDGET REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2.2015 5:00 P.M.
Committee Members Present: Karen White, Valerie Schey (AB), Derek Dieter (AB),
Dr. Fred Ferlic
Citizen Members Present: Valerie Mora -Kraus (AB), Charnelle Mayfield -Martin
Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Henry Davis Jr. (5:16), Dr. David Varner (AB),
Oliver Davis (AB), Gavin Ferlic
Others Present: Brian Pawlowski, Chief Ron Teachman, Kathy Cekanski - Farrand,
Chief Ruszkowski, Jennifer Hockenhull, Adriana Rodriguez,
John Murphy, Don Pinckert, Ken Nowacki, Jean Perrin, Bill Dunn
Agenda: 2016 Police Department
Personnel & Finance Committee Chair Karen White opened the fifth in a series of schedule budget
reviews. Karen briefly described the review process saying the respective department head would
present their budgets for 2016. In each case the 2015 goals and accomplishments would be displayed
before moving to the challenges addressed by the 2016 numbers.
Councilmembers and members of the public listen to the presentation before they ask questions.
Questions are either answered at the session or are recorded for a follow -up reply.
The Police Department budget was the subject of today's meeting.
Police Chief Ron Teachman had Police Pension Secretary Don Pinckert explain the 2016 police pension
budget. Don explained a $175 thousand increase for 2016 mostly attributed to increases in health care
costs and pay outs for retirees in the "drop" program. Don went on to enumerate the number of
officers eligible to retire in each retirement plan. He pointed out that the state covers pension relief
dollars; but the City was responsible for insurance costs and overhead to manage the pension fund.
Don's pension fund handout is attached.
Chief Ron Teachman was next. The Chief began by emphasizing the mission of SBPD, which is to
relentlessly seek improvement in the quality of police services.
Using both overheads and a handout (attached) the Chief reviewed the 2015 challenges as well as the
available resource allocations for 2016. He said the department had 248 sworn personnel though
budgeted for 260. The full -time civilian complement numbered 46. For these people the Chief
anticipates an increase in health care costs of 20% in 2016.
In terms of 2015 accomplishments the Chief was particularly proud of the results of the GVI initiative.
He noted a 50% drop in group or gang related shootings. A further accounting, by numbers, of 2015
accomplishments and 2016 opportunities are listed in the handout attached.
Karen white turned to the Councilmembers for question and comment.
Gavin Ferlic observed the practice of parking "armadillos" in front of criminally suspect houses was an
effective suppressive action. He suggested maybe a second vehicle could be utilized. Dr. Ferlic echoed
those comments offering to help the Chief acquire another vehicle to convert a little or no cost to the
department.
Council President Tim Scott asked when the CNG equipped police cars would begin service. The Chief
said 39 AWD vehicles are equipped had been delivered; but were awaiting the "fast fill" station being
installed by Transpo to come on line. Currently this looks to be a 4 months off.
Tim also asked about body camera use. The Chief said the department has had quite a few vendors do
demonstrations. A preferred vendor has emerged from the process. He added that a larger issue is
policy development and data storage. To that end the Chief said a lot of background work has been
done meant to avoid the costly mistakes of other departments.
Henry Davis asked the Chief for a racial, gender, and age breakdown of police personnel. He asked the
Chief to evaluate the performance of the department on a scale of 1 -10. Teachman said emphatically, a
10, given resources available. Henry frustratingly indicated that violent crime was up by all accounts so
what are we doing about it. The Chief said there were many societal reasons for an increase in violence,
the police department being just one piece of the puzzle. Another problem according to the Chief was
the routine "bonding out" of individuals arrested for crimes involving firearms. This easy revolving door
bonding doesn't help the situation on the street. He added that their efforts to get people to report
crime can, ironically, make the statistics look worse. Henry asked how many arrests were the result of
the "shot spotter" program. The Chief said other factors may lead to arrests which may have a "shot
spotter" component. Other questions raised by Henry touched on the apparent inefficient and
unsuccessful, to date, minority recruitment effort.
Turning to questions from the public Karen recognized Bill Dunn from Southwood Drive. Bill asked if
pan, zoom cameras were utilized in Shot Spotter areas. Chief Teachman said the cameras were in the
2016 budget.
Jean Perrin, President of the River Park neighborhood association was next. She asked how the police
department staffing levels compared to other cities our size. The Chief said we deploy 2.6 officers per
1,000 population. By comparison Indianapolis has 1.5 per thousand. Philadelphia has 4.3.
In response to her further question about training expenditures somehow correlating to success. The
Chief said while this was difficult to measure an increase in officer confidence and morale was apparent.
Dr. Ferlic made a summary comment saying the police department needs more officers and more
diversity.
Karen adjourned the meeting at 6:57 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
/c 'A
Karen White, Chairperson
Personnel & Finance Committee
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