John J. O Brien Chief of Police Newton Police Department 1321 Washington Street Newton, MA 02465-2011 FY 09 Revised Budget Impact Statement May 7, 2008 The Newton Police Department faces the loss of up to 15 fulltime sworn police officer positions and one fulltime civilian clerk position in the FY 09 Budget. This reduction represents a one year, 10 percent decrease in fulltime police officers and a nearly 15 percent reduction in police officers over the past four years, or a total of 23 positions. The recommended national, statewide and regional police staffing levels 1 for cities the size of Newton begins at approximately 2.1 officers per 1000 inhabitants. Following the personnel reductions Newton will have the lowest per population ratio of police officers, 1.6 officers per 1000, and the Newton Police Department will have the smallest police force in the Greater Boston area to cover one of the largest cities, area-wise, in the entire state of Massachusetts. There is no doubt that the FY 09 Budget cuts will have a profound impact on the police department, especially as it relates to customer service, customer satisfaction and basic police services. Some self-serving individuals or groups have filtered information in order to place a positive spin on the anticipated state of affairs in the Police Department beginning July 1 st. One group in particular, Newton for Fiscal Responsibility (www.newtonfiscal.org), has implied in print that only actually one person will be affected by budget cuts in the Police Department and that we ll be as safe as always here in Newton. This is simply not the case and the total impact of the cuts needs to run its course. The Chief of Police did state publicly that only one person is expected to be laid-off or affected by the cuts as the chief purposely postponed hiring new officers in anticipation of these projected cuts. The chief also stated that response times for police officers dispatched to emergency calls (9-1-1) will not change. This is true and the reason the times will not change is that specialist officers from other bureaus, e.g., detectives, youth 1 2006 FBI Statistics, Table 71, Fulltime Law Enforcement Officers per Population.
officers, traffic officers, etc., will be re-assigned to the patrol function to offset the cuts and handle these emergency calls. The Newton Police Department continuously strives to provide quality services to the public. Personnel cuts will force the Department to become a reactive police agency (decreased citizen interaction/moving call-to-call) as opposed to a proactive police agency (increased citizen interaction/problem-solving). Perhaps the biggest obstacle of all that the Department will face this July is the fact that members of the public will likely expect the same level of police services before the cuts became effective. It certainly seems that this will be impossible to do. The most noticeable impact on the Police Department will include the following: Patrol Services/Staffing: Specialist positions, i.e., detectives, youth officers, traffic officers, will be eliminated and those specialists will be re-deployed to the Patrol Bureau function to supplement minimum staffing requirements. The geographical makeup of patrol division lines citywide must be re-evaluated and staffed to ensure an adequate response to emergencies and to provide a visible police presence when and where required. Police Overtime: Annual overtime expenses will increase by approximately 25 percent in order to maintain minimum staffing with a smaller pool of available patrol personnel. This overtime will be most noticeable during the summer and holiday vacation periods. Police Training: Most specialized training for officers will be eliminated as the Department will not have a sufficient pool of officers to fill patrol vacancies when other officers are away and attending specialized training. Skill levels will decrease in the near-term and field performance will suffer long-term. 2
Every officer is required by state law and national law enforcement accreditation standards to attend an annual in-service training program. This concentrated training program is normally performed over a 5 consecutive day, one-week period and includes topics such as criminal law, domestic violence and use-of-force techniques. Following the anticipated cuts in July our police officers will no longer be able to attend this annual training program. Instead, we must perform piecemeal training over a 3-year period for officers assigned to street duty. That essentially means that officers must be removed from the street while working their shift so they may attend class, and other on-duty officers will be spread out to provide sufficient coverage for officers in training. Dispatch Center: Call stacking will be implemented in the Dispatch Center requiring the re-training of our civilian dispatchers. Call stacking basically means that non-emergency calls, e.g., noise complaints and other city ordinance violations, past incidents of malicious damage, past breaking and entering (vehicles/homes) cases, parking/speeding complaints, etc., will be stacked and officers will not be dispatched until all other emergency calls are answered first. We have barely enough officers to handle both types of calls right now and we can only imagine how much more difficult getting to calls after July of 2008. On some occasions the public may actually wait 30 minutes to an hour for the police to respond to some basic service requests. In a worst case scenario the public might even be instructed that they must come to Police Headquarters in order to file a police report. Crime Scene Services: Fewer officers will be available to perform crime prevention directed patrols in identified high crime areas. This will lessen the ability of the police to deter crime and indirectly leave residents and business owners vulnerable to potential repeat offenses and/or repeat offenders. Detectives specially trained in computer crimes, sexual assault investigations, identity fraud, vice, robbery, DNA and latent fingerprint recovery techniques, etc., will be significantly reduced. This might result in lesser-experienced patrol officers making poor judgements when conducting work at crime scenes and when providing information to victims. 3
Drug Field Services: The Newton Police Department will be forced to withdraw form participation in the Middlesex County Suburban Drug Task Force (MCSDTF). Our agency has provided supervisory oversight for the MCSDTF for nearly 20 years and has partnered and exchanged officers with at least 9 other communities while conducting drug investigations, performing drug asset seizures and making drug arrests. Officers normally assigned to the MCSDTF will lose their drug enforcement expertise with time when reassigned to the patrol function. If this occurs the officer will no longer remain a valuable asset in the area of drugs for other officers, parents or community groups who may require drug awareness information. Elder Services: A fulltime elder affairs officer position was established in the Police Department in FY 08 to provide liaison with the growing elder population and their loved ones. Relationships were developed during this short period with seniors, housing authority staff and elder care service organizations. Many efforts were devoted to forging these relationships and establishing rapport, and great strides were taken in tweaking existing programs geared towards elder abuse, elder neglect, or services for elders with special needs (Alzheimer s, Wanderers, Vile of Life Program, etc.). This position must be cut in July to support the staffing requirements in the patrol function. Youth Services: The Night Youth Officer is a valuable resource for at risk youth, their families, school officials and officers working the street. The youth officer makes routine visits to teen dropin centers, patrols parks, playgrounds and other gathering spots to prevent youth related problems. The youth officer works closely with juvenile probation officers and oversees court youth diversion programs. The officer is familiar with after-hours activity of school students and provides advance warning to school officials when student conflicts occur overnight and may be carried into the classroom the following morning. The youth officer takes at risk youth referrals from other officers and reaches out to youth and their families 4
and offers help or referral services. This officer s position will be eliminated and the officer will be transferred back to the patrol function. Children are maturing at a younger age nowadays and the police and middle school staff are beginning to experience problems at the middle school level that were formerly only found in the high schools. These social problems require extensive follow-up by youth officers. One less officer performing youth outreach work results in an increased caseload for all remaining youth officers. Due to time restrictions many deep-rooted problems will only be given a cursory glance and a temporarily fix using a Band-Aid approach. This does not resolve the problem and is a huge disservice to the child, involved parents, teachers and the entire community as a whole. The alcohol curriculum taught during the to sixth and ninth grade students in the Newton Public School System must be cut as day shift officers will be splitting duties formerly performed by the night youth officer. Traffic Services: Selective traffic enforcement and traffic directed patrols assigned to assess and monitor speeding complaints and parking and moving violations on neighborhood streets will be reduced by an estimated 25-50 percent. This is a direct result of the Police Department s reduction of personnel and the lack of scheduling flexibility for officers taking calls in the field. One specially trained traffic officer position will be cut. Traffic officers provide assistance to patrol officers at the scene of city vehicle accidents, photograph and document crime and accident scenes, reconstruct automobile and pedestrian traffic accidents, conduct traffic studies and Blue Zone enforcement on streets adjacent to public schools, etc. This training and experience level takes years to develop and the loss of one of these officers is a terrible waste in our investment. Community Policing: The Chief of Police receives outstanding feedback from community members, especially when a staff member is able to problem-solve a concern in the community. Problem-solving 5
may involve the resolution of neighborhood disputes, coordinating with residents and city agencies to improve exterior lighting at housing complexes, arranging for the removal of tagging or spray paint from walls, fences, mailboxes, etc., conducting modified neighborhood watch programs and improving other quality of life issues in Newton. There is one officer and one supervisor primarily dedicated to resolving these matters on behalf of the Department. They also oversee the child safety seat program and install approximately 500 child seats annually. These two individuals will not longer perform these duties once they are reassigned to the patrol function in July. Law Enforcement Accreditation: Complying with national standards required by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., and receiving national law enforcement accreditation status requires copious amounts of time, energy and processing of paperwork. The long-term investment results in a safer, more efficient and more professional police agency. With the anticipated personnel cuts and reassignment of specialist officers from the Detective Bureau, Traffic Bureau, Planning & Research Bureau, and other bureaus to the patrol function there will be no continuity in operations for the accreditation process and the work required to achieve national accreditation status will not be accomplished. Accreditation is a process that becomes part of the daily routine and cannot be performed as an additional duty by an officer on a part-time basis. The Newton Police Department is in serious jeopardy of losing this national accreditation status. 6