When invited citizens attended a meeting last week to hear Police Chief Chris Herring's
pitch for a community-inspired crime control plan, several in the audience saw it as a
chance to challenge Salisbury City Council's commitment to the police department.They raised questions about whether the department has
enough manpower to adequately police Salisbury's streets. They said salaries for policemen
were too low. They saw City Manager David Treme and council members' absence from the
meeting as evidence that the city leaders are apathetic about the department's future.
But recent history provides significant defense
for Treme and the councils he has worked for this decade. No other department in the city
has seen the increase in employees the police department has.
Eight new officers
From the fiscal years of 1990-91 to 1999-2000, the
number of sworn officers in the Salisbury Police Department has increased from 54 to 81.
A 1996 annexation report showed that Salisbury
averaged 2.8 sworn officers per 1,000 population, compared to a state average for
municipalities of two officers per 1,000 citizens.
The most recent city budget included allocations
for eight new officers, six of whom come under a $450,000 Community Oriented Policing
Services (COPS) grant.
The city has been growing, but it looks as though
the allocation of manpower to the department has tried to keep pace.
Neither have councils shirked their
responsibilities in funding the department, in face of a citizenry that constantly objects
to higher taxes. They've also shown a commitment to fighting crime in less direct ways
through better housing, stronger nuisance abatement and an emphasis on neighborhood
participation.
As a percentage of the overall city budget, public
safety-- the money spent on fire and police-- represents the largest chunk.
Out of a $23.2 million general fund, the city
spends 36.8 percent on public safety. The police department alone is a $5.3 million
operation with 106 full- and part-time employees.
Pay still an issue
There's no question that police officers and
firefighters aren't paid enough, considering the jobs they perform. In Salisbury, city
leaders readily acknowledge that they have difficulty in recruiting and retaining
good public safety employees because salaries are below scale.
But upgrading salaries and adding police officers
represents an enormous expense that goes to the heart of what level of service
Salisburians expect and what they're willing to pay for. Adding the equivalent of one
police officer to cover an area 24 hours, seven days a week translates to the actual
addition of five officers at a cost of roughly $250,000.
A crucial question becomes whether all the
manpower and funding Salisbury now has in place is being used wisely. Are there too many
supervisors and not enough patrolmen on the streets? Is all of Salisbury being covered
adequately? Is enough time going into solving crimes or concentrating on repeat offenders?
Herring, the new chief, understandably wants to
answer those kinds of questions first. He has initiated a patrol plan study that looks at
the shifts, zones and scheduling of officers throughout the city. It makes sense that he
is asking citizens to help him in developing a crime control plan that addresses problems
directly.
But it also makes sense that citizens should
question city leaders on a regular basis about the police department. The city officials
have demonstrated a commitment, but it's always fair to ask whether it's enough. |
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