ICOPs Police Bulletin - Illinois Council Of Police

ICOPS
POLICE
BULLETIN
Official Union Publication June 2006
Does Anything Makes Sense???
Federal Priorities and Local Police Shortages
From Broadview and Saginaw to Baltimore and Los
Angeles, villages, cities and states of all sizes, shapes and
cultures are “coping” with law enforcement manpower
shortages — the result of a complex combination of factors
involving budgets, increasing law enforcement responsibilities,
and recruitment of qualified personnel. Some governmental
entities have found solutions, others have not.
During the last decade, the number of police officers nationally
remained relatively stagnant despite infusions of federal homeland
security and urban community-policing dollars. Now, some
federal programs are on the chopping block, and the fallout is
being felt by patrol officers, state police, commanders and 911
operators, as well as by firefighters and paramedics.
West suburban Broadview, with approx. 8,300 residents, laid
off almost half its total workforce to offset a growing deficit.
The mayor blamed the cuts on rising expenses and stagnant
revenues. Effective June 1, the layoffs included 10 of 34 police
officers and 12 of 27 firefighters, and probably the drug and
gang tactical unit and the investigative division.
Below are just a few of the other recent accounts we found while
tracking local news reports on police manpower.
In Saginaw, Michigan (approx. 62,000 residents), on May 2
voters approved by a wide margin an increase in property taxes
to avert the layoff of 26 police officers and 20 firefighters.
The election was held about two weeks after a criminal justice
expert reported that Saginaw had more crime than most other
Midwestern cities of similar size.
In the eight-county region of Northern Wisconsin, police are
likely to be impacted by federal grant cuts to the North-Central
Drug Enforcement Group.
In Anchorage, Alaska (approx. 230,000), police and 911
operators estimate that 30-40 calls stack up on most nights for
non-emergency situations. Patrol officers say they need more
officers and the P.D. is now increasing its force by about 25%,
but can’t hire and train people fast enough.
In Columbus, Ohio (approx. 730,000 residents), the P.D.
is understaffed by 130 patrol officers. The most understaffed
Continues on page 6
Harvey Mismanagement Leads
to Patrol Officer Being Injured
Ongoing problems continue in Harvey. In May, ICOPs filed five
grievances (it could have been more but we took the most severe
instances) against the city of Harvey for failing to maintain a minimum
of six patrol officers to work the streets on a shift, therefore
violating the contract. Shift minimums affect all police departments
and it is important to get them in writing in the contract.
ICOPs also plans to file an Unfair Labor Practice charge against
Harvey with the State Labor Relations Board because the officers
were assigned extra work after the grievances were filed, apparently
in retaliation.
Furthermore, police officers are not receiving overtime to fill the
unstaffed beats. The police chief and patrol commander promised
to pay overtime, but it appears that the mayor is refusing and
is instead using the money to hire untrained part-timers who are
loyal to him or his relatives.
ICOPs has asked the Harvey City Council to get involved in helping
their police officers and enforcing the contract. In doing so,
ICOPs reported an incident that occurred May 26 when a police
officer responded to a domestic dispute by himself since no other
officers were available.
When the officer intervened, the male subject began fighting
with the officer, who called for backup. By the time help arrived,
the officer had sustained an injury to his gun hand and he will
be off the job for at least four to five months.
Meanwhile, the Daily Southtown newspaper reported that on
Wednesday, May 31 — Wednesday is “street day” for the brass —
two top police officials chased its photographer from a rollover
crash scene and incited a gathering crowd to call her names.
The photographer, a grandmother of four, said nothing like this
has happened during her 16 years of covering Harvey for the local
newspapers. The city is reportedly looking into the incident to
see if any disciplinary action is called for.

ICOPs Contract Update
• ICOPs is negotiating a first-ever contract for the Burnham
police officers. The non-economic issues have been agreed
upon, and the economic issues are now on the table.
• In Dixmoor, negotiations for the first contract ever for
patrol officers and sergeants have been completed.
• In Fox River Grove, ICOPs is negotiating a first-ever
contract for police officers. The non-economic issues are
agreed to; money issues are still on the table.
• In Maywood, negotiations are proceeding on new contracts
for patrol officers and dispatchers.
• In North Aurora, management has put up many roadblocks
since police officers won union recognition over a year ago.
But the first-ever contract for police officers is now near completion,
and the final unresolved issues are going to mediation.
• The Winthrop Harbor patrol officers, sergeants and parttime
officers have won first-ever contracts.
Cruising.. . .
In recent years, Ford Motor Company has been busy spiffing
up its battered image. The company has settled multiple lawsuits
out of court and out of the public’s eye. It cut off sales or
threatened to do so to those who joined class-action lawsuits
against Ford. The lawsuits claimed that Ford should be held
responsible for the deaths of police officers and others who
died in explosions involving Crown Victorias.
Ford has taken steps to improve its safety record, although only
time will tell how effective it’s been. Meanwhile, in an ad in the
current edition of the American Police Beat, One Alpha LLC
announced it’s new Police Safetypac. ® fireproof fuel tank wrap,
which “contains fire retardant powder capsules that extinguish
fires from rear end collisions and gas tank explosions involving
Crown Victorias.”
departments will be able to trade in their archaic body-on-frame
Fords with their underpowered 250-hp 4.6-liter V-8s for the
new Dodge Charger squad car, which is considerably faster,
better handling, more efficient, and safer.”
Later on, it says of the Charger: “. . . . the police will be able
to respond faster and will be more difficult to outrun on the
highway or elude on city streets. The only bright spot for perps
is that it should get you to the station faster than ever, … ”
Chrysler at one time and for many years dominated the police
car market. Then, Ford moved in and Ford is still the best seller,
by far, in that market. But is Chrysler coming back for the kill?
Ford’s competition, on the other hand, looks like a shark eying
blood on a carcass… we’re talk about Chrysler, which debuted
its Dodge Charger police car in March 2005. Some police
departments are testing it out, including New York City, and
a few are buying it, like Pittsburgh and Oregon State.
Recent tests indicate that Dodge’s braking distance is far better
than Ford or Chevy. Its stopping distance at high speeds is
10 feet or more less than any other police vehicle. The extra feet
could mean the difference between life and death. The Charger
is competitively priced and can hit 60 mph in just 6.5 seconds.
Dodge must be getting charged up with its good press coverage.
Take, for instance, the headline story of AOL’s auto section on
May 26. In a lengthy article called “Cool Police Cruiser,” the
author seemed to be fascinated with autos, specifically with the
Dodge Charger and Hemi police cars.
The article reads: “The good people of America will be glad
to know that the ancient Ford Police Interceptor is no longer
the only ‘proper’ police car on the market. Pretty soon, police
ICOPs New Staff Representative, Richard Bruno
Richard Bruno retired on May 1, after serving 29 years with the
police department in the near west suburban village of Berkeley.
There he was a sergeant detailed to the Northeast Metro Auto
Theft Task Force for Cook County.
By June 5, Rich was already back to work as an ICOPs Staff
Representative and helping other police officers. He learned
about ICOPs through fellow officers in the police community
and says he was impressed with its “success and reputation.”
2 ICOPs June 2006

from ICOPs President, Norm Frese
It’s Time to Fight Back
In the September 2005
Police Bulletin, I shared
my grave concern that
some governors are
actually trying to meet
their ballooning state
deficits by aiming at
police pensions to
fill budget holes.
Fortunately, unions
working together have
defeated some of the
worst proposals.
In the February 2006 edition, I wrote that it’s long past time
to put an end to the trend of local law enforcement doing more
with less. Many departments, including some represented by
ICOPs, are dangerously short of police officers and stretched
to the bone. The page 1 story about Harvey in this edition gives
one example of an officer who was injured when he responded
to a domestic dispute by himself because no other officer was
available.
Some underlying trends contributing to state budget shortfalls
and local police manpower shortages include: (1) many cops
going into military service; (2) the administration’s failure
to provide adequate federal assistance to state and local law
enforcement; (3) Congress spending too much money on
favored projects, rather than beefing up first responder units;
(4) the public’s increasing demands for services from overworked
local agencies; and (5) the recruitment of new cops
becoming more difficult than ever. And, like in Harvey, poor
local decisions and cronyism at times contribute as well.
In other words, program and budget decisions at all levels of
government have contributed to state and local law enforcement
shortages. Perhaps the blame doesn’t really matter (except
when we go into the voting booth) — but solutions do matter.
To begin to correct the situation will require the law enforcement
community to persuade elected public officials and the
public that our manpower shortages are dangerous and lifethreatening.
The solution must start in Washington, DC, where Congress
and the administration are not holding up their end of the
“bargain” to protect the homeland. You probably read the
recent news when the mayors and first responders in New York
City and Washington, DC, understandably decried the cuts of
$107 million in Department of Homeland Security funding to
their cities. DHS responded that the two cities were still getting
the most money.
But the overall pot of money for state and local law enforcement
is far too small. Whether money flows from the U.S.
Treasury into New York or to Omaha is not the real issue.
When you combine the burgeoning law enforcement needs
with DHS cuts to local communities, as well as the elimination
of many U.S. Department of Justice grants, the ramifications
emanate throughout the entire law enforcement system.
And are you not disgusted with reading about people in high
positions in Washington protecting and enriching themselves
instead of securing the homeland? Our local police officers
struggle to earn a fair living and support their families, while
enforcing the law, protecting the public and risking their lives
— all the while, political appointees and public officials earning
over six figures are expecting state and local law enforcement
personnel to do more with less.
As law enforcement officers, we need to make our voices heard.
The White House and Congress needs to hear: state and
local law enforcement shortages are dangerous and lifethreatening!
They need to hear it from you, both as law
enforcement officers and as their constituents.
We must do more than complain and grumble. It’s the facts
the public and public officials need to hear; such as, specific
instances of how shortages affect you and your fellow officers
or the community you serve, or dangerous situations that will
grow more so without more personnel or training.
As law enforcement officers, we must be part of the solution,
because no one can tell it like we can. No one else has the
knowledge or the heart to say what we can say.
I hope you will find time to join me in telling our side and
getting it heard. Write or call the President, your Senators and
Congressman, and your local newspapers. If you send ICOPs
copies of what you write, we’ll pass it on to others so they can
follow your lead.
If enough of us speak out, our voices will burn in the ears of
those making decisions in Washington, DC.
It’s time to fight back.
Sincerely,
Norm Frese
President of ICOPs
June 2006 ICOPs 3

Summer Funnies
The New Field Sobriety Test
A speeder gets pulled over by a highway patrolman. When the
patrolman gets up to the car to write a ticket, he notices five
huge knives in the back seat. The speeder, seeing the startled
expression on the patrolman’s face, quickly explains that he
is a professional juggler on the way to a show, and that the
knives are part of his act. The patrolman is skeptical and asks
him to prove it. So the speeder gets out of the car, takes a
stance, and begins to juggle the knives.
At the same time, two men driving by witness the scene at
the side of the road — a patrolman looking on as a citizen
juggles five knives in front of him. “Man, I’m glad I quit
drinking,” the driver says to his passenger. “Those new
sobriety tests are rough!”
Credit: www.lifeonthebeat.com
Only the Food Was Fast
A man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at
5 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned
him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register
without a food order. The man then
ordered onion rings, but the clerk said
they weren’t available for breakfast.
Frustrated, the man walked away.
Credit: www.texaspolicecentral.com
Is Pot for Sale at
Your Local Police Station?
A North Dakota State University student is facing charges
after allegedly trying to buy marijuana at the local police
station.
The incident was “about the craziest thing I’ve ever come
across,” Officer Ken Zeeb told the Associated Press.
“This is something that you couldn’t even make up.”
The 20-year-old woman called the police station asking
where she could buy marijuana, authorities said. The
dispatcher, after repeatedly telling the woman it was illegal
to sell and possess marijuana, then told her that police had
some of the drug in the station’s evidence locker.
The woman showed up with cash in hand ready to make a
deal. The parents of the woman are currently reconsidering
the wisdom of sending her to college.
Credit: American Police Beat
Ever Go Fishin’?
A man was speeding down a Alabama
highway, feeling secure in a gaggle of
cars all traveling at the same speed. However,
as they passed a speed trap, he got nailed with
an infrared speed detector and was pulled over.
The officer handed him the citation, received his signature
and was about to walk away when the man asked, “Officer,
I know I was speeding, but I don’t think it’s fair — there
were plenty of other cars around me that were going just as fast,
so why did I get the ticket?”
“Ever go fishin’?” the policeman suddenly asked the man.
“Ummm, yeah...” the startled man replied.
The officer grinned and added, “Did you ever catch ‘em all?”
Credit: www.10-7.com
Infidelity is punishable
Law enforcement professionals, as a function of their occupation,
enjoy far less personal freedom than the average American. Most
cops can’t start a website that’s critical of the boss or work off-duty
telling dirty jokes as a stand-up comic in a local nightclub.
And in parts of Florida, at least for police officers, marital infidelity
is now an official infraction.
Cheating on your spouse could get you suspended from your job
in Pinellas County if you work at the Sheriff’s Department. The
department justifies the new policy by saying it is designed to keep
deputies out of trouble.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies who get caught cheating on their
spouses or sleeping with another person’s spouse will be suspended
from work for conduct unbecoming of a police officer. There was
no word if the punishment would be stiff if the infidelity involved
more than one peace officer.
Sheriff’s Dept. Chief Deputy Dennis Fowler said he has seen so
many cases of deputy-involved cases of adultery leading to 911
calls that he has decided to suspend deputies who get caught.
“It goes beyond just your individual relationship with someone else.
It affects other people in the work place, people’s ability to do their
job, and I think that is relevant,” Fowler said.
If a complaint is filed and the offender is caught, the deputy could
get up to a three-day suspension from work.
Credit: American Police Beat
Oops, We Blew It
In the February edition of the ICOPs Police Bulletin, we wrote a story
entitled “Small Favors Make Big Trouble” about getting a driver license
owner's name for a friend. In it we mistakenly wrote that Andrew Cator
is a police officer and a friend of Woodruff, Wisconsin Police Officer
Clay Kreitlow. Not true. Cator is neither a police officer, nor a friend
of Officer Kreitlow. Our apology to Officer Kreitlow for the error.
4 ICOPs June 2006

Great Danger and Great Reward
“Every time we go to work could be that day”
NOTE: Below is a shortened version of a terrific article in the
American Police Beat (www.apb.com) written by Paul Cotter,
a police officer in Lynn, Massachusetts.
James Prince, Daniel Golden and Joseph Pokorny are true
American heroes, who died because they chose a career in law
enforcement. They are just a few of the more than 150 of our
fellow officers who died in the line of duty during 2005.
These officers went to work that day to help a fellow citizen
out, to make a difference in a stranger’s life, to make this
country better and safer for all of us.
Every police officer who leaves his or her house to go to work
each day knows that today, could be “that day.” But they still
leave their family behind and go to do and see what no one else
wants to.
Being a police officer is a noble profession, and also a profession
that is often second guessed, put down and ridiculed in
the media.
Officer James Prince of the Boiling Springs Lake P.D. in North
Carolina was murdered on January 18, 2005. As most of the
country slept in a warm bed, Prince conducted a traffic stop
for a violation at 1 a.m. While attempting to take the driver,
who was wanted for a parole violation, into custody a violent
struggle ensued over the officer’s handgun. The driver disarmed
Prince and shot him three times with his own gun. James
Prince was 36 years old, served as a part-time officer, and
leaves behind his wife, two small children and his parents.
Officer Daniel Golden of the Huntsville, Alabama P.D. was
murdered on August 29, 2005. Golden had been called to
a local restaurant to investigate a domestic argument. When
he got out of his cruiser, he was shot in the head, never having
the chance to draw his weapon. Daniel Golden was only
27 years old and leaves behind a wife and two small children.
Trooper Joseph Pokorny of the Pennsylvania State Police
was murdered on December 12 at 2 a.m. After chasing a car
down the interstate, the operator fled from the vehicle when
it crashed. Pokorny chased the driver on foot and caught up
to him. While attempting to handcuff the driver, the suspect
turned and viciously fought the state trooper. The trooper
fought hard, but the driver was able to disarm him and get
the trooper’s gun. Pokorny was shot twice with his own gun.
One of the bullets in an area unprotected by the vest killed him.
Joseph Pokorny served with the State Police for over 22 years
and is survived by his two children and his parents.
To date, over 17,900 officers have been murdered for trying
to enforce the laws of the land.
The average age of police officers murdered in 2005 was
38 years old. They had an average of ten years on the job.
Of the 156 officers who died last year, 151 were male and
five were female.
During the coming year, over 150 more of our fellow officers
will die or be killed in the line of duty. And in the process a
spouse, family, and hundreds of children will be left behind
without a mother or father — the sole reason being their
parent’s choice of a career.
But even with the risks and dangers, most of us would still
seek a career in law enforcement. For cops all over the country,
the personal reward of being able to help someone out, or
being able to make a positive difference in someone’s life,
is all the reward that we need.
Just the Facts, Please:
Public Safety Labor News
News reported in the latest edition of Public Safety Law News includes:
• Los Angeles police officers appear to have overwhelmingly ratified
a new contract raising their pay 10.25% over the next three years.
• The New Hartford, NY P.D. was hit with six safety violations by the
state labor department following the tragic death of a police officer.
Violations cited failure to assess a workplace hazard, failure to provide
written confirmation of required training, using recalled vests,
and not providing sufficient training on when to wear the vests.
• The Camden, NY, police object to giving back the extra paycheck
they received in 2004. The $2.6 million mistake involving 1,300
employees resulted from a quirk in the calendar. Employees are paid
every two weeks, or 26 payments. But 2004 brought 27 payments
because of the day of the week on which payday fell. Now, the city
is trying to collect.
• San Diego is wrestling with a dismal credit rating and a pension
deficit of at least $1.4 billion. The unions representing firefighters
and deputy city attorneys agreed to contracts reducing take-home
pay. The police, whose department has lost dozens of experienced
officers to communities offering better pay, didn’t agree.
Public Safety Labor News, a monthly newsletter of the Labor
Relations Information System, contains up-to-date information on
law enforcement and fire protection personnel and labor issues. It
reviews court decisions, legislation, arbitration opinions, newspaper
reports, and other sources. It also keeps a disciplinary log (with
summaries of how public safety employees have fared in appeals)
and a bargaining table (listing rulings on the topics over which
employers and unions are required to bargain). For more information,
go to www.lris.com.
June 2006 ICOPs 5

Federal Priorities, Local Police Shortages
Continues from page 1
precinct has 48 officers instead of 66. Shortages are reportedly
due to growth, not to a loss of officers. Elsewhere in central
Ohio, like in Galion, the city manager doubles as the police
chief because a fiscal crisis reduced the force and like in Marion,
where police are fighting a potential drug explosion, the P.D. is
short 10% of its police because of funding.
In Detroit, of 150 police officers laid off last summer, 30
will soon return to duty to fill vacated spots, but more city-wide
layoffs are expected. Some laid-off officers are reportedly being
hired part time by local schools at $20 per hour.
In Baltimore, 160 injured officers, who were in light-duty
positions, were forced to retire to make room for new hires,
a move severely criticized by their police union.
In Los Angeles, the P.D. now faces a dramatic departure
of police veterans caused by a deferred retirement program,
intended to allow time to build the ranks over several years.
Budget problems kept the plan from going ahead as intended.
What doesn’t make sense
First there’s the federal budget, which is a
work in progress. The 2007 budget which
begins October 1 is in the dungeon of Congress,
being bandied about between federal agencies
and Congress, House and Senate committees,
Republicans and Democrats, the 911
Commission and various interest groups.
The administration budget increases overall
funding of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) for the fight against terrorism.
Sizable increases are included for the FBI,
U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. attorneys offices and Immigration
Service. But federal funds to local communities would decline:
Bryne Justice Assistance Grants help fund regional drug task
forces. The grants awarded a total of $629 million in 2006;
no money is included in the 2007 budget. Cuts will hurt
groups such as the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group
and Wisconsin’s North-Central Drug Enforcement Group.
The Community-Oriented Policing Services, established in
1994, put over 110,000 more officers on the streets to reduce
violent crime, enhance crime fighting technologies, and make
urban schools safer. It is reduced by 78%.
DHS’s Urban Area Security Initiative has come under
controversy time and again. DHS has a new “more sophisticated
analysis of the risk posed by potential terrorist attacks” and
says its UASI budget increases funding “for those metropolitan
regions most at risk due to their concentrations of citizens and
key assets and continues the Targeted Infrastructure Protection
grants....” Some cities were added to the funding list, while
funds to New York, Washington and Boston were reduced. ..
prompting Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chair of the House
6 ICOPs June 2006
Federal cuts
may force police
departments to
take officers off
the streets.
Homeland Security Committee, to claim that DHS and the
administration “have declared war on New York.” Ouch.
While the administration is taking heat from some Republicans
and Democrats for local law enforcement cuts, what about the
Congress? In Illinois, our 19 Congressmen and two Senators
write about many “new” crimes that we should be investigating.
They talk of visiting troops, port ownership, immigration and
getting favorite projects funded. Unfortunately, few say anything
of substance to the press or on their websites about law enforcement
shortages. But there are exceptions; Senator Dick Durbin
is one.
Durbin has pushed to restore funding for successful local
programs. In March, Durbin — who sits on the Senate Appropriations
Committee and Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism,
Technology and Homeland Security, and is Senate Assistant
Minority Leader — said critical law enforcement programs have
“suffered deep and steady declines since September 11, 2001. . . .
We need to make a commitment to the communities that rely
on federal support for their local law enforcement agencies and
move the programs that have proven to be so valuable toward
the top of our nation’s priority list.”
Durbin has supported budget amendments
to provide inter-operable communications
equipment for first responders and to grant
states and localities dollars for staffing, equipment
and training of first responders. Much
of it, he notes, simply restores cuts that have
been made. In May, he also introduced a bill
to establish state grants for developing comprehensive
evacuation plans, drills and exercises.
Meanwhile the tug of war goes on, along with
growing competition for available money, of
which local law enforcement isn’t getting much. Some police chiefs
have expressed outrage, claiming federal cuts to local communities
will force many departments to take officers off the streets.
What does makes sense
While we’re not arguing in this article for or against one
funding bill or another, what makes sense is that manpower
shortages need to be taken seriously by all those making program
and budget decisions that affect local law enforcement.
Cops on patrol should not be required to act alone, like in
Harvey. No police department should take hits, such as in
Broadview. Voters need to help, like in Saginaw. Local officials
need to increase police budgets, as in Anchorage.
Legislative bodies and public officials need to get on track.
Every day city councils, state legislatures and Congress pass
legislation, and the bills are signed by the mayor, governor or
president. Together they enact laws that add to law enforcement
workloads and too often do so without assessing how local
police are going to be able to handle it.
Contines on next page

Federal Priorities, Local Police Shortages
Contines from previous page
Local governments should not expect federal and state dollars to help them close
all their budget shortfalls. Development and growth create police shortages too.
As demands on local law enforcement increase, more resources need to be allotted.
If that means difficult choices must be made between more highways or more
police, more tax cuts or more police, more health care or more police. . . so be it.
It’s the responsibility of the public officials to figure it out and explain it to the
voters.
“Homeland security begins with hometown security,” Senator Durbin says.
And hometown security at this point in time is pretty thin. Local law enforcement
should not have to compete with any or all other budget priorities — it should
be adequately funded for its value, for its quality and for its performance.
To read more viewpoints and news, go to “resources” at www.icops.org.
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ICOPs Police Bulletin
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ICOPs
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Norm Frese
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T. R. Smith Executive
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Henry ‘Sonny’ Harris
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June 2006 ICOPs 7

INSIDE
Federal priorities impact local shortages p. 1
Harvey mismanagement leads to injury p. 1
ICOPs contract negotiations p. 2
Cruising: is Dodge moving
into police car market? p. 2
ICOPs President’s message:
it’s time to fight back p. 3
In the “funnies” p. 4
Our jobs combine danger and reward p. 5
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Beware the Outsourcing of Dispatch Jobs
Some villages like Maywood have considered the outsourcing
of Police Department Telecommunicator jobs to outside
firms. Is this a good idea? ICOPs thinks not.
The outsourcing of dispatch risks the safety of Police
Officers and the community. Telecommunicators respond
to emergency calls from the community and to requests from
the Police Officers on the street. As certified dispatchers and
dedicated employees, they respond quickly, accurately and
with concern. Why have someone else’s employees handle
emergeny calls?
Outside dispatchers may be unfamiliar with the village or
town, and its streets and locations. They may not understand
the needs of the residents, and be slower to respond and less
accurate. What interests will they take most to heart: public
and police safety or the company’s bottom line?
Outsourcing is unlikely to save money in the short-term
or the long-term. It is likely to cost taxpayers more money.
With outsourcing, a village pays a company to employ dispatchers.
Supposedly the company will do so at a lower cost,
while making a profit doing it. Supposedly the dispatchers
will do the job well, for less money, making their company
profitable, all at the same time. Does this sound likely to
you? We think not.
If service deteriorates, won’t the town be hit with lawsuits
for having second-class emergency service? And, once a
town outsources dispatchers, it is expensive indeed to return
to the right way of dispatching — having Telecommunicators
employed by and supervised by the village.
Dispatchers, like Police Officers, should be valued
employees who know their jobs and the community.
They should be able to work under a union contract, to have
health insurance and other benefits, and to earn a living wage.
They should be an integral part of the public safety team
servicing the community.
The outsourcing of Telecommunicator jobs is
simply a way to stiff the employees, fool the
taxpayers, and make your job as a Police Officer
riskier and less effective!