08-28-02 Personnel & Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Personnel and Finance Committee August 28,2002 Page 2 Council Member Pfeifer asked Chief Bennett how many officers the City of South Bend should have to properly protect our residents, and whether there were other ways to address the concerns being faced by our community. Chief Bennett stated that if we were at full strength with 258 performing their duties, the officers could handle their duties. However, Chief Bennett stated that two (2) years ago he was permitted to go over his budget by six(6) officers and that that helped considerably. Chief Bennett stated that the most amount of recall is on the day and midnight shifts with 5-7 officers per shift being paid overtime to meet minimum staffing requirements. Dr. Varner and Council Member Pfeifer asked about what are the items that keeps things from not getting done. Chief Bennett stated that most other cities do not man special units like the South Bend Police Department does. For example, SBPD sends its personnel to serve on the Special Crimes Unit, the Domestic Violence Unit and the Metro Unit. Council Member White asked if we should require that the Chief be permitted to go six (6) above the budgeted amount. It was noted that they do not see the situation in the city getting any better. Chief Bennett noted that that is a difficult question since the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield has limited slots available. There will be two (2) persons going in October to ILE Academy. Council Member White asked what the Council could do, especially when DARE has been temporarily suspended. Chief Bennett stated that he would prefer that there be an officer presence in the schools, however he was force to temporarily suspend the program in light of officer safety on the streets. Chief Bennett noted that Fort Wayne had 50 officers retire in a short period of time recently. He stressed the need to hire,train and put officers on the street in a timely manner. Council Member Kirsits asked if the Chief had enough money. Chief Bennett stated that two years ago he noted that in light of the Bicycle Patrols and Details in neighborhoods and Commercial Corridors that he would have to use a lot of recall. He sees the corridors as asking for services over and above what would be routinely provided, and noted that South Gate Way specifically requested a prostitution sting. Chief Bennett noted that he is using his Commanders as best he can to identify what each of the four (4) regions of the City need to address most. There will be needs for extra details to address specific situations. In response to a question from Council Member Kirsits, Chief Bennett noted that one of the officers on disability is due to the Bretrand Products incident and the other officer blew out his knee. Don Pinckert stated that next year the cash allowance for each officer will be reduced by $400, and will continue to be reduced by $400 each year, going from $2,220 to $1,800 for next year representing a budget reduction of$103,200 in this line item. To date, nine (9) officers have retired, with the average number retiring being eight (8). Twelve (12)officers will retire at a minimum this year. He also noted that one hundred bullet proof vests