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Half of the reductions would come from patrol officers, and another four would be detectives, she said. The cuts, plus a series of staff realignments, would allow the department to concentrate on what Kirkpatrick called the foundation of its mission, servicing 9-1-1 calls.
Like other city departments, police have been told to find a 4.07 percent reduction from their 2009 budget because of anticipated reductions in tax revenues. For police, that’s nearly $2 million the city will have to find in budget deliberations that begin in November and must conclude in December.
Under the proposal, the department would be the same size it was earlier this decade during another economic downturn, but would make the cuts differently, Kirkpatrick said. It would cut the “Targeted Crimes Unit” and drop one of its two drug-detection canine units. Total authorized personnel would drop to 385 full-time employees from 409.
City officials are negotiating with the Police Guild for wage reductions that could make many of the proposed cuts unnecessary. City council members used Kirkpatrick’s presentation to publicly urge the guild to accept concessions.
“It is grim. It is sorely disappointing,” Councilman Richard Rush said of Kirkpatrick’s plan.
Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she hoped the guild would show “compassion when they think about the citizens they serve.”
Kirpatrick, who acknowledged earlier this week she applied for the
police chief’s job in
“Don’t order a sheet cake for my departure yet,” she said.
Jim Camden is a veteran political reporter for The Spokesman-Review.
Jonathan Brunt covers Spokane City Hall for The Spokesman-Review.
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Pat O'Leary on October 08 at 6:31 p.m.
If we are eliminating police, why not start with Karl Thompson …Otto Zehm’s killer…. who has been decommissioned and now sits at a desk still making $73,000 a year? Now a cop that can’t carry a badge or a gun, certainly should not be paid as though he is on the street facing danger every day. He shouldn’t be paid anymore than any other clerk in the PD office. Sounds like a good start to me.
garfnagn on October 08 at 7:14 p.m.
One of the rare examples where cutting the city police force will probably lead to a decrease in crime rates.
eagleproducer on October 08 at 7:40 p.m.
garf: Nice. Wasn’t if Heavy D who rapped in the early nineties that “if you want crime to stop, stop hiring crooked cops?”
Pat: At least Thompson is no longer a shining example to youth holding his former position as school resource officer.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 09 at 9:26 a.m.
Hoping the two officers that “Broke Blue” are not on the list… and NO women are laid off… time for some of the old guard to take the buyouts and run for north idaho… j
Rifleman__Dodd on October 10 at 11:50 p.m.
Assistant Chief “lunge” Nicks is a prime candidate of a dinosaur. His whole family has a long history of law enforcement corruption in Ephrata. This will also allow the Chief to quit watching her back.
There is no reason to have a separate public disclosure section as that can be moved to the City Clerk’s office.
Thompson should have been put on UNPAID leave and inprisoned during his waiting period.
They could put Thompsons 30 inch baton on eBay.
They can dip into the secret slush fund for a bunch.
Get rid of their retirement and make them go 401K like the rest of the world.
Take away Sgt. Torok’s computer where he spends half his time surfing the web and following people.
Get rid of Shogan’s strong arm in the council meetings.
Look around the Public Safety Building. There is no reason to have 20 - 30 private police cars that just sit there all day at the beck and call of the higher ups.
If I was Chief Kirkpatrick I would hand the budget problem right over to the Guild, since they seem to be running the department anyway.
Last week I watched three cop cars pulled over helping some hot blond unlock her car after she locked her keys in it.
Time to trim the FAT off the bacon.
the509pimp on November 01 at 2:27 a.m.
WELL SAID RIFLEMAN