City Councilmen state public safety is the city
’s No. 1 priority in spite of budget concerns
Though it may increase a gap in city revenues and expenses to $1.5 million, city council members proclaimed public safety is their No. 1 priority while agreeing to spend almost $800,000 to hire two new police officers for the next four years.
The city won’t be alone in paying for the new officers, however, thanks to a Community Oriented Policing Services grant that will cover $150,000 of the cost. The two officers will cost $940,000 over the next four years.
Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming beseeched the council to match the grant and hire two officers in spite of the city’s budget woes.
“I realize the financial burden that adding officers to the general fund will place on current and future budgets and understand that this proposal is not part of the current sustainable strategy plan adopted by the council,” Cumming said. “But I believe the police department will have to add more officers in the future as population and workload increases.”
Cumming told the council Morgan Hill has 33 police officers, including himself, and the department is already stretched thin. The department spent more than $300,000 on overtime last fiscal year, he disclosed. Cumming said adding two additional officers is not enough for the city the size of Morgan Hill, but it would help relieve stress and fatigue officers are experiencing right now. Morgan Hill’s population is currently pegged at 36,000.
“Two additional officers will help, but it won’t eliminate the absences and the need for backing,” said Cumming. Traditionally, police departments strive for at least one officer per 1,000 residents – some go as high as 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents.
“We are far behind other departments, in terms of staffing, comparable with other cities our size,” MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson told the Times. “The officers spoke in terms of what that means in tangible terms for them and for their families. Some talked about not having had more than one day off in a month … The human factor is certainly a concern.”
While officers are supposed to work 12-hour shifts with three or four days off, Cumming said the reality is the shifts stretch to as many as 14 hours and officers spend many of their free days and weekends on required training and even court appearances. Likewise, he said the department often struggles while covering for officers who are on leave for a variety of reasons.
Cumming also told council members his department has grown busier with an 18 percent rise in property crimes like burglary and theft. Burglary offenses alone have increased 47 percent from last year. Arrests are up 12 percent and officers responded to more than 32,000 incidents, an average of 88 per day, last year.
“Property crime has increased tremendously the past year, much is drug-related. There are more criminals out there, lots of people who are on parole that need to be watched,” said Cumming.
Fortunately, Cumming said violent crime has remained low with only 22 cases this year – five rapes, seven robberies and 10 aggravated assaults.
The council also heard from six police officers urging them to hire more help for the exhausted department. Sampson said officers on the force are working extremely long shifts that could have deadly results in their line of business.
“Officers talked about tiredness and not wanting to make mistakes because of being over tired,” he said. “Mistakes in our profession can be dangerous, if not deadly. But they talked about this in a heartfelt way. The officers that spoke didn’t approach it from a negative standpoint, just a ‘this is what it feels like to be us’ position. They don’t want the quality of life in Morgan Hill to deteriorate.”
Council members, though ultimately supportive of the department, were concerned about the impact on the already expense-heavy general fund. The city experienced a $1.3 million deficit last fiscal year and expects to draw on the city’s roughly $8.5 million reserve fund to cover costs for several more years.
“I ran on the council saying public safety was my No. 1 priority. I think it’s the absolute right thing to do,” said Councilman Steve Tate. “Public safety is No. 1 and we need to do it.”
Councilman Larry Carr stated approving the grant “shows the community we are setting priorities and carrying them through the rest of the year. Be mindful of the priority we are setting now. We are setting the priority by taking this action tonight.”
Councilman Mark Grzan called their decision “symbolic.”
“I have always been an advocate of public safety. Our efforts here tonight are symbolic. We are responsible for actions that we take. We will incur a $1.5 million deficit,” he said.
Though he admitted he shared the financial concerns of the council, Mayor Dennis Kennedy said he believed the department needed more officers and the city would find a way to cover the costs.
“We need to go forward,” Kennedy said. “If we’re going to have any chance to build community support (for this decision), you (the police) need to do a good job.”
Staff writer Marilyn Dubil contributed to this report.
