09-22-08 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 be sat down and discussed through labor management sessions and try to find some kind of way to do this. There are a lot of bright officers and citizens in this city that could come up with some good ideas. Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he was a part of the negotiating team, but was never able to make any sessions. He has a regular 9-5 that he has to show up at everyday, so he wasn’t able to come. But he kept abreast of what was going on during the negotiations because of the notes and the Council talking and people talking to people and different kinds of things that they do as Councilmember’s. He stated that he echoed the sentiments about being able to become himself or a public servant. But more than half of the time he thinks to himself that is what he signed up for. He stated that when he nd ran for office, he ran to become 2 District City Councilmen. He stated that’s what he wanted to be the City Councilmen, so he really doesn’t get a break. He stated that he could be at Franky’s Barbeque or at Wal-Mart and someone comes up to him and says hey Henry can you do this or do that. He stated that he can’t say no or say don’t talk to me because I am with my family. He stated that he gives them a card and tell them to call him or try taking care of the problem at hand. But again he stated that he understands that a police officer doesn’t get a break either. This is what was signed up for, being public servants, civil servants and there is really no way around it. Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he had a question about the safe neighborhood program by that being something great for a community and building a community, when you have more pastors living in a neighborhood when you have more police officers, more firemen, you know that tends to trickle down to the children because then they want to become more like you and see what you do. They basically want to basically mirror the images that they see on a daily basis. He stated that he has to continually think about the times being out in the City of South Bend and would just sometimes just pull a police officer’s over and ask how he is doing or ask what is going on and introduce himself. He does that more with a lot of officer’s that don’t necessarily look like him. What is being done as far as negotiations and working with a budget and minority recruitment? Getting more African American Police Officers whether they are male or female and how is that nd working for us? Because the 2 District has a lot of officers who are not African American, actually none that he has seen since he has been here. He stated that he thinks Chuck Stokes who lives right around the corner from him and that is not his beat, he is somewhere else, but again his car is parked out in front of his house, so again he lives in a safe neighborhood program right. So what is the City doing to attract and retain African American as police officers. Mr. Ruszkowski stated that he does not and won’t speak on behalf of the Chief Boykins, however, he is aware of some different type of program since he has taken over in January and of course as always they are willing to sit down and what ever they can throw in two cents or more to do that they will. And that is not just for minority hiring, minority recruiting or anything; they have plenty of officers who are out there all of the time. The problem that the officers have now is and the Council if fully aware of this is that how as police officers or firefighters for that matter who used to be the role models when we were all kids how do you compete now with the easy buck. With the millions of dollars that the athletes are making when in reality very, very few are going to make to that level. When you don’t need that type of display to be a police officer, you have to have a good heart, honesty, things of that nature, things that we were brought up with and kids should be brought up with. The problem is how do you compete, how do you compete with a drug dealer offering a kid $500 bucks cash to ride his bike and be on the look out for police. Instant money and then try to explain why a police officer has to work two, three, four part-time jobs and how they have to sit for three months in negotiations with Councilmember’s and the City of South Bend or what ever the case maybe to try to make ends meet. This isn’t a woe me story, this is reality. How do you compete with that? If any Councilmember can give an answer to that, the FOP is very receptive to that. One thing that he wanted to comment on is and with all due respect is that trying to distinguish from being a Councilmember versus a Police Officer is that when a Councilmember gets stopped wherever you are it’s a lot different than when a police officer gets stopped wherever they are because 24 hours earlier, that officer may have arrested that person now that person wants to kill him. There is a big difference! 8