The Board of Estimates approved an amendment to add four new police officers and two squad cars at a meeting Monday. This was in addition to the existing proposal from Mayor Dave Cieslewicz that called for six street police officers.
The board adopted the proposal despite reservations from Cieslewicz, who favored a more economical approach in allocating officers.
'Ninety-eight percent of burglar alarms are false alarms, so if we didn't respond to every burglar alarm, that alone would have the same impact as putting two new police officers on the street, and at no extra cost,' he said.
The police department used a 2003 staffing report as a guide for staffing and budget proposals. Under the amendment, the city would have to raise $292,956 in additional tax revenue and would achieve a 1.8 officer per 1,000 population ratio. According to Madison Police Chief Noble Wray this would achieve a 'basic service target.' While the city currently employs 390 officers, the increased need for officers directly responds to Madison's growing population according to Assistant Chief Charles Cole.
'Obviously, as we look at future growth in the city??, it's going to be an issue not only this year, but next year and in future years,' Cole said.
Cieslewicz's original proposal involved adding four new police officers to staff and converting two administrative positions in the police department into street officers.
'I was adding six new police officers to the street, which is the most officers that has been added on tax levy since 1994,' Cieslewicz said. 'I think that was a solid proposal and a fiscally responsible one. I'm not against adding more police officers to the street.'
He did note, however, the importance of looking at the big picture.
'I think it's important not to get too hung up on 1.8 per thousand. We could have 40,000 officers sitting behind desks and we'd have the 1.8 officers [ratio] but we wouldn't have any public safety,' he said.
If the city council adopts the proposal, at least one of the new officers will patrol State Street on foot during the morning and early afternoon, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. With the official vote slated for mid-November, Verveer said that he was very pleased with the Board of Estimate's response to the recommendation. 'I'm confident this amendment has widespread support.'
