By Graham Kates
Former and serving NYC cops speak out on racial profiling and arrest quotas.
Read full entry »Retirement costs for St. Louis police officers are poised to rise by a record $8 million this coming fiscal year, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That leaves the Board of Police Commissioners with at least a $3 million shortfall in the department's $168 million budget. Some fear such a gap could lead to salary cuts, benefit cost increases or even officer layoffs.
The staff of Mayor Francis Slay, who sits on the police board, said layoffs should be the last resort. There is still plenty of time for the board, the chief and the city to deal with the shortfall. The mayor's office is meeting with the union, the police board, and the pension system to come up with solutions. The shortfall came to light in an actuarial report on the Police Retirement System of St. Louis. Actuaries told the system's board that costs to city taxpayers would need to grow by $8 million this coming year, plus an additional $6 million next year.
New Jersey Treasury Department data shows that retirements in the state's police and firefighter pension system have swelled by 48 percent over the past two years, reports the Newark Star-Ledger. And a separate report shows police and fire staffing levels dropped by 1,470 — or 4 percent — last year. Officials said many of these retirees feared losing their benefits after Gov. Chris Christie and state lawmakers moved to reform what they saw as lavish public benefits, such as payouts on unused sick time and low-cost health plans.
The retirements have also hit the state police. The division saw 203 troopers leave in 2011, including 197 who retired. It now has 2,782 enlisted members, including the 85 new recruits who graduated from the academy earlier this month. "The continuing decline in public safety through loss of officers from attrition and layoffs is alarming," said Anthony Wieners, president of the state Policemen’s Benevolent Association. "Homicides and fatal accidents are going up while the number of officers are going down. These two trends are going in the wrong direction and jeopardize our state’s future."
Read full entry »One day after Trenton Mayor Tony Mack announced his comprehensive public safety plan, the city’s police unions, crime watch group, and police commanders took issue with portions of the strategy as questions remained as to how the goals would be implemented and funded, reports the Times of Trenton. In a department reeling from layoffs and budget cuts, a plan to put all available officers to work for 48 hours, for example, would quickly drain the shrinking overtime budget, Capt. Fred Reister said. Mack said the “All Hands on Deck” initiative would allow officers to be recalled during spikes in crime.
Trenton laid off one-third of its police officers last September, and since then has struggled to keep manpower levels on the street up. Yesterday, Mack stood by the plan, but added it was a work in progress. “If somebody can present something better, it can be changed,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to solve a major issue in our city, and everyone I’ve spoken to today is excited about the comprehensive approach we’re taking and excited about the positive outcome.”
Read full entry »By Lisa Riordan Seville
Two leading thinkers on homeland security call for an ‘adult conversation’ about terrorism.
Read full entry »New research from the National Institute of Justice provides guidance for the tough choices law enforcement agencies around the country are having to make as a result of budget cuts and the economic recession.
Read full entry »The Civic Federation of Chicago is urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to “modernize” an overly generous personnel policy that allowed former Police Superintendent Jody Weis to walk away with more than $76,000 for unused vacation days when he resigned his $310,000-a-year job, reports the city's Sun-Times. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall noted that most private sector companies limit to 14 the number of unused vacation days their employees can cash out upon resignation.
Weis walked away with a $76,308 lump-sum payment for 64 unused days. His former $168,438-a-year chief of staff left police headquarters with a check for $30,448 for 54 unused vacation days. Weis is among 1,026 city employees paid $7.4 million for their unused vacation days since September 2010 in the transition from former Mayor Richard M. Daley to Emanuel, the paper said.
Read full entry »The interim police chief of Costa Mesa, Calif., fired verbal parting shots Monday as he resigned to protest a proposal to reduce the size of the city's Police Department, reports the city's Daily Pilot. In an interview and in a memo widely circulated at City Hall, Chief Steve Staveley questioned the ethics, integrity and legality of some of the decisions made by the City Council majority. The city's chief executive defended the proposals and called the resigning chief's statements "simply libelous."
