Mayor Jean Stothert and Police Chief Todd Schmaderer are responding to a proposed amendment to the city's 2021 budget that would take $2 million away from the police department.
Stothert says Council President Chris Jerram’s amendment, submitted Thursday, is “wreckless.” Stothert says the money Jerram is proposing be put towards community programs, would fund 20 officers.
The mayor criticized the vague nature of the “community programs” that the $2 million would support and said those programs should be explicitly defined and well-established before committing city funds there.
The reduction could force the city to close its fifth precinct, she said.
Stothert said Jerram’s proposal contradicts his previous prioritization of the city’s police department. “I do feel like this amendment does compromise public safety,” she said.
The mayor said that the city has always followed what she called “the golden rule” of having two officers per 1,000 citizens,” and said that Jerram has previously said that 2.2 officers per 1,000 citizens was more appropriate — “and we’re not anywhere near that right now.”
“I think this is backwards,” she said.
Schmaderer said the plan for the city’s police force has been data-driven and methodically planned for growth.
The police chief said that while the police have, in the past, been more concerned with enforcement but that wasn’t the case. Today, he said, the police are about 50% enforcement and 50% prevention or intervention. Schmaderer acknowledged that some officers have left the force because of “what’s going on today.”