Waterbuffalo
07-10-2008, 11:47 PM
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/07/07102008_Budget-cuts-hit-Vancouver-police.cfm
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By JOHN BRANTON, Columbian staff writer
Big changes are coming to the Vancouver Police Department, some that officers and members of the public may not like.
Five detectives and 10 other investigators soon will find themselves back in uniform — switching on their sirens and steering patrol cars from one 911 call to the next.
As a result, there will be fewer long-term investigations of burglaries and methamphetamine rings — the kind of deeper probes that solve community problems and reduce crime, police say.
There also will be less traffic enforcement, much currently done by Traffic Unit officers on motorcycles.
All this and more will happen July 18, as Vancouver Police Chief Clifford Cook and other city department heads struggle with a projected citywide budget deficit of about $6 million for the next two years.
Without more revenue, Cook says, the police department faces a $2.3 million revenue shortfall to maintain its current programs during the 2009-2010 biennium.
How bad is it?
Cook said his number of officers is 1.2 per 1,000 residents, compared with the national average of 2 per 1,000 residents.
He has 10 vacant positions for officers and is stuck in a hiring freeze. The department has 207 authorized sworn positions ranging from Cook and his command staff to officers.
“All around the country, people are having these types of issues,” Mayor Royce Pollard said. “Our income has not kept up with the increase in population and calls for services.”
Now, Pollard said, “There aren’t many places you can cut, unless you want to look at public safety, and that ain’t going to happen.”
The Vancouver Police Department’s budget won’t be cut, Pollard said.
But it’s back to basics, officials say. Police must respond to 911 calls, and Cook can’t endanger his officers by sending too few to a call.
“911 call response is our primary duty,” Cook said. “Currently, our patrol division is inadequately staffed to meet ongoing service demands and ensure officer field safety.”
During the next couple of months, there are several things the city council might do to bring more money to the police department. Most involve raising taxes, perhaps on utility bills for sewer, water and drainage.
Or the city could ask voters to approve higher taxes on electricity, telephones and natural gas.
But for now, here’s what’s coming up this month:
— Cook will eliminate the east- and west-precinct Neighborhood Response Teams.
Six investigators and two sergeants will go to patrol — and Cook isn’t happy about it.
“The Neighborhood Response Teams are extremely valuable,” he said.
On July 2, a NRT team and U.S. Marshals raided a home and collared two alleged meth dealers, one with 9 ounces of meth worth $15,000 in his pants pocket.
On June 24, Cook said, “They were responsible for the arrest of a known very prolific car thief in our community, and two individuals involved with him.”
Looking farther back at Vancouver’s NRTs: A team obtained a search warrant for a May 23 meth raid that led to six arrests in Camas; on May 22, a team broke up an alleged Craigslist scam operation that stole a Vancouver man’s SUV; and a team’s forgery investigation ended March 13 with the seizure of about 18 pounds of meth from a La Center home.
“It seems like we were just getting in our groove, and it’s going away,” said Sgt. Mike Chylack, supervisor of the east-precinct NRT and a 14-year veteran with the department.
In the first six months of this year, he said, the east-precinct team made 85 arrests and dealt with 17 “problem houses,” almost all where meth was used or sold.
“We all hate going back because we felt we were making a difference,” Chylack said. “But patrol’s understaffed, so we understand.”
— The department’s officers in the interagency Career Criminal Apprehension Team, called CCAT, will be reduced from three to two.
Now, a VPD sergeant, corporal and officer work with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and state Department of Corrections to find the most dangerous crooks, generally with warrants for their arrest.
The corporal will go to patrol, leaving the sergeant and officer.
“It’s just very problematic,” said Sgt. Jeff Kipp, the VPD supervisor of CCAT and president of the Vancouver Police Officers Guild.
Kipp said the guild understands that patrol is understaffed, and said officers will work hard at their new assignments to protect Vancouver residents. But there are serious concerns.
Besides fewer investigations and the arrests that would follow, Kipp said, there’s another worry. Officers are likely to lose track of local crooks — and lose touch with the informants who help police put pressure on habitual criminals when they are released from jail.
“The Clark County Jail inmates are going to be doing a happy dance on July 18,” Kipp said.
Guild officials haven’t filed any official grievance about the changes, but have expressed their concerns to Cook, Kipp said.
— The Property Crimes Detective Unit will be eliminated, with five detectives going to patrol.
But the property crimes themselves, about 14,000 per year, won’t go away.
Even with five detectives now, only crimes such as burglaries with losses of $2,000 or more — and with good leads like suspects’ names or a known license plate — are probed, Cook said.
Losing the detectives will mean that patrol officers will try to work on some of the long-term cases in between responding to 911 calls.
And one detective from the Violent Crimes Unit will be responsible for investigating the worst property crimes that are deemed solvable, about 300 per year.
“Three hundred cases for one detective in a year is a phenomenal number of cases,” Cook said, “and it’s a workload that’s really not something they can deal with to a satisfactory level, as far as I’m concerned.”
— The Traffic Unit will be slashed in half, losing eight officers and a supervisor.
Yet “Traffic complaints are still very high on peoples’ lists of problems,” said VPD spokeswoman Kim Kapp, who called the cuts “dramatic.”
Staying with the unit are four highly trained accident reconstructionsts who deal with serious or fatal crashes, plus a commercial vehicle enforcement officer and Sgt. Wayne Reynolds.
The unit’s motorcycle officers, most recently five who did the bulk of the unit’s traffic enforcement, will go to patrol and drive police cars, not motorbikes, to 911 calls.
In April, May and June, the department made 107 DUI arrests, Reynolds said. Of these, 31 were initiated by the Traffic unit, and 53 were initiated by patrol officers and finished by the Traffic Unit.
Investigations of major hit-and-run crashes, once done by the Traffic Unit, will go to patrol officers, when they have time.
— Also planned: one-less K-9 handler, leaving three; and reassigning two officers who recruit new officers and perform background checks on job applicants.
Asked whether Cook has considering reassigning lieutenants, Kapp said that was done last year when Cook went to geographic districts and beats for officers and lieutenants.
Cook said his employees are seeking grants for such things as an auto-theft task force and adding an officer to track sex offenders — but the funds are drying up.
So what will happen here unless more money is found to move some officers back to investigations?
“The impact will be that we can’t solve community problems as effectively … or in a timely manner as we currently do,” Cook said.
He added: “What level of service do the citizens of this community want or expect from police and fire(fighters) in the city of Vancouver? The old adage ‘You get what you pay for’ is pretty true here.”
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By JOHN BRANTON, Columbian staff writer
Big changes are coming to the Vancouver Police Department, some that officers and members of the public may not like.
Five detectives and 10 other investigators soon will find themselves back in uniform — switching on their sirens and steering patrol cars from one 911 call to the next.
As a result, there will be fewer long-term investigations of burglaries and methamphetamine rings — the kind of deeper probes that solve community problems and reduce crime, police say.
There also will be less traffic enforcement, much currently done by Traffic Unit officers on motorcycles.
All this and more will happen July 18, as Vancouver Police Chief Clifford Cook and other city department heads struggle with a projected citywide budget deficit of about $6 million for the next two years.
Without more revenue, Cook says, the police department faces a $2.3 million revenue shortfall to maintain its current programs during the 2009-2010 biennium.
How bad is it?
Cook said his number of officers is 1.2 per 1,000 residents, compared with the national average of 2 per 1,000 residents.
He has 10 vacant positions for officers and is stuck in a hiring freeze. The department has 207 authorized sworn positions ranging from Cook and his command staff to officers.
“All around the country, people are having these types of issues,” Mayor Royce Pollard said. “Our income has not kept up with the increase in population and calls for services.”
Now, Pollard said, “There aren’t many places you can cut, unless you want to look at public safety, and that ain’t going to happen.”
The Vancouver Police Department’s budget won’t be cut, Pollard said.
But it’s back to basics, officials say. Police must respond to 911 calls, and Cook can’t endanger his officers by sending too few to a call.
“911 call response is our primary duty,” Cook said. “Currently, our patrol division is inadequately staffed to meet ongoing service demands and ensure officer field safety.”
During the next couple of months, there are several things the city council might do to bring more money to the police department. Most involve raising taxes, perhaps on utility bills for sewer, water and drainage.
Or the city could ask voters to approve higher taxes on electricity, telephones and natural gas.
But for now, here’s what’s coming up this month:
— Cook will eliminate the east- and west-precinct Neighborhood Response Teams.
Six investigators and two sergeants will go to patrol — and Cook isn’t happy about it.
“The Neighborhood Response Teams are extremely valuable,” he said.
On July 2, a NRT team and U.S. Marshals raided a home and collared two alleged meth dealers, one with 9 ounces of meth worth $15,000 in his pants pocket.
On June 24, Cook said, “They were responsible for the arrest of a known very prolific car thief in our community, and two individuals involved with him.”
Looking farther back at Vancouver’s NRTs: A team obtained a search warrant for a May 23 meth raid that led to six arrests in Camas; on May 22, a team broke up an alleged Craigslist scam operation that stole a Vancouver man’s SUV; and a team’s forgery investigation ended March 13 with the seizure of about 18 pounds of meth from a La Center home.
“It seems like we were just getting in our groove, and it’s going away,” said Sgt. Mike Chylack, supervisor of the east-precinct NRT and a 14-year veteran with the department.
In the first six months of this year, he said, the east-precinct team made 85 arrests and dealt with 17 “problem houses,” almost all where meth was used or sold.
“We all hate going back because we felt we were making a difference,” Chylack said. “But patrol’s understaffed, so we understand.”
— The department’s officers in the interagency Career Criminal Apprehension Team, called CCAT, will be reduced from three to two.
Now, a VPD sergeant, corporal and officer work with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and state Department of Corrections to find the most dangerous crooks, generally with warrants for their arrest.
The corporal will go to patrol, leaving the sergeant and officer.
“It’s just very problematic,” said Sgt. Jeff Kipp, the VPD supervisor of CCAT and president of the Vancouver Police Officers Guild.
Kipp said the guild understands that patrol is understaffed, and said officers will work hard at their new assignments to protect Vancouver residents. But there are serious concerns.
Besides fewer investigations and the arrests that would follow, Kipp said, there’s another worry. Officers are likely to lose track of local crooks — and lose touch with the informants who help police put pressure on habitual criminals when they are released from jail.
“The Clark County Jail inmates are going to be doing a happy dance on July 18,” Kipp said.
Guild officials haven’t filed any official grievance about the changes, but have expressed their concerns to Cook, Kipp said.
— The Property Crimes Detective Unit will be eliminated, with five detectives going to patrol.
But the property crimes themselves, about 14,000 per year, won’t go away.
Even with five detectives now, only crimes such as burglaries with losses of $2,000 or more — and with good leads like suspects’ names or a known license plate — are probed, Cook said.
Losing the detectives will mean that patrol officers will try to work on some of the long-term cases in between responding to 911 calls.
And one detective from the Violent Crimes Unit will be responsible for investigating the worst property crimes that are deemed solvable, about 300 per year.
“Three hundred cases for one detective in a year is a phenomenal number of cases,” Cook said, “and it’s a workload that’s really not something they can deal with to a satisfactory level, as far as I’m concerned.”
— The Traffic Unit will be slashed in half, losing eight officers and a supervisor.
Yet “Traffic complaints are still very high on peoples’ lists of problems,” said VPD spokeswoman Kim Kapp, who called the cuts “dramatic.”
Staying with the unit are four highly trained accident reconstructionsts who deal with serious or fatal crashes, plus a commercial vehicle enforcement officer and Sgt. Wayne Reynolds.
The unit’s motorcycle officers, most recently five who did the bulk of the unit’s traffic enforcement, will go to patrol and drive police cars, not motorbikes, to 911 calls.
In April, May and June, the department made 107 DUI arrests, Reynolds said. Of these, 31 were initiated by the Traffic unit, and 53 were initiated by patrol officers and finished by the Traffic Unit.
Investigations of major hit-and-run crashes, once done by the Traffic Unit, will go to patrol officers, when they have time.
— Also planned: one-less K-9 handler, leaving three; and reassigning two officers who recruit new officers and perform background checks on job applicants.
Asked whether Cook has considering reassigning lieutenants, Kapp said that was done last year when Cook went to geographic districts and beats for officers and lieutenants.
Cook said his employees are seeking grants for such things as an auto-theft task force and adding an officer to track sex offenders — but the funds are drying up.
So what will happen here unless more money is found to move some officers back to investigations?
“The impact will be that we can’t solve community problems as effectively … or in a timely manner as we currently do,” Cook said.
He added: “What level of service do the citizens of this community want or expect from police and fire(fighters) in the city of Vancouver? The old adage ‘You get what you pay for’ is pretty true here.”