NOW..about that part where if we do not "triple" our sales tax the police and fire cannot protect us!!!

Another one of those recent stories in The ADG this week covered LR police staffing. In short, it confirms what we have been saying all along...is life wonderful over at the police and fire offices...no...but are they in dire straights...HARDLY, see the report in this article; here are some interesting quotes from the police and fire chiefs... (and it is HIGHLY inappropriate for them to imply they cannot protect us unless we TRIPLE our sales taxes)...

 Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said the department must grow again if it is to achieve the goals the city has set, including reducing the average response time, which is currently 13 minutes.

 When asked what the ideal number of sworn officers would be for the city, Thomas said 569, an 11 percent increase from the 513 currently on the street.

 But Thomas said that number might change.

 “That 569 might not be enough, it might be adequate, it might be too many,” Thomas said. “We just don’t know until we get there and have a chance to operate at that level.”

So we do not really want to commit to what the real # is and be held liable for REAL crime reduction output, AFTER we triple your taxes!!! (author comment) (also...did he just say anything there?????)

The most telling thing to me though was how the crime rates were all over the ball park with these places. Thus, these #s would seem to support my premise that at a certain point of police staffing (and WE have reached those strafing levels), there is no further benefit to increasing police on the streets as far as crime rates are concerned but a whole new public safety policy and methods must be developed!!! This theory is supported here with numbers showing that while over the years the police staffing has changed..... NOTHING else has (in terms of calls, arrest, crime resolution, etc.).   More on the jump from the fire chief..

Little Rock Fire Chief Greg Summers said he factors in national standards set for fire departments by the Insurance Service Organization when he evaluates the needs of his agency.

 The department was given a Class 2 rating by the organization, but could be downgraded if staffing levels don’t improve.

 “Any deviation from our staffing that we have now, we stand in jeopardy of losing that,” Summers said.

And a local member of the insurance industry assured it would never get lower than 3 and thus would NEVER have any affect on our insurance rates…so this is a “dog that don’t hunt”!!! (our comment)

 

Then there is another interesting thing we uncovered. If you go to this link...you find a final report of the LR 2004 bond expenditures that says Little Rock taxpayers paid $8,275,000 for a Police/Fire Communication Upgrade. But now we are being told we need to triple our taxes to pay $9,000,000 for Public safety radio upgrade at this link. So are we upgrading the same system...and if not, why wasn't all this handled at the same time???? Just another example of high dollar efficient financial management down at city hall (that would be the kind that we are all paying a quarter of a million dollars for to 2 people EACH YEAR)!!!