Cuts to Police: Fewer Officers, Longer Waits

Last year, when Ferndale's City Council had to close a more than $3 million shortfall, suffered nine layoffs. The council is facing another projected shorftall this year in the general fund to the tune of $2.3 million.

The council asked Ferndale Police Chief Tim Collins to illustrate 15 percent and 20 percent cuts to his budget to try to help balance the shorftall if the May 3 millage doesn't pass.

The budget for FYE (fiscal year ending) 2011 for the police department is about $6.7 million; $6.2 million of the budget goes toward personnel costs.

At a 15 percent reduction, the police department would lose six patrol officers, three specialists and a clerk, Collins said. At a 20 percent reduction, the department would lose an additional three service aides, a detective sergeant position and three vehicles.

In 2001, when the department was at its apex, there were 53 sworn officers, plus 10 not-sworn employees. If the department has to cut 20 percent, Collins said, it would have 29 sworn officers and about five not-sworn employees. "We'd be at almost half the staff we were just 10 years ago," Councilman Scott Galloway said.

With such cuts, Collins said, the police department would fundamentally change. 

"If the Headlee doesn't pass, we're looking at a police department with 30 sworn officers … how does that impact residents?" Galloway asked Collins.

"We'll have to triage," Collins said. "When we are busy, we will stack calls, we will triage calls, we will send officers to where we can. You might have a barking dog, you might have a larceny and we might be there in 25 minutes. But I guarantee you, you will wait."

Collins added that all the little things the department does in the community would go away.

"We're almost spoiled in this community, and I don't apologize for that," Collins said. "The cops come in five minutes. We go there. But we would not be spoiled anymore."

Ideas had been discussed to try to save the department money without losing boots on the ground. Collins was asked about contracting with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, using auxiliary police officers as ticket writers and passing dispatch and lockup services to another community.

Collins said the auxiliary police officers are not certified police officers and, simply, they are not full-time employees, but volunteers. "Auxiliary police officers, in most cases, didn't sign up to chase bad guys down a dark alley," Collins said. "They are public service-minded citizens who wanted to help the city on nights and weekends."

Collins said potential savings from contracting with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department "weren't that huge." He said there would be other costs associated with such a move, including that the Sheriff's Department would charge the city $26 for every service call it takes for the fire department.

Finally, Collins said, centralizing dispatch has been something area cities have been talking about for the past decade. He said there are a lot of advantages with a centralized dispatch, but these positions have been integrated with several other duties. "Dispatchers book prisoners, check prisoners and all sorts of other duties," he said. "Could it be done? Yes. Could it be done quickly? Probably not."

Collins said moving dispatch would also mean moving lockup and he was unsure of the efficiency of this move. "Maybe save a buck, but on the personnel side, it would be a deficit," he said. He also noted that logistically, having lockup in another city is inefficient for detectives in Ferndale.

"It strikes me that cutting 15 (percent) and 20 (percent), the philosophy and mission of the department would fundamentally change," Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter said.

"To a certain extent, we would just be a placeholder," Collins replied.

The links below are what department heads for fire and 43rd District Court have suggested as part of their 15 percent and 20 percent cuts.