URBANA — The fervently debated proposal to hire more police officers goes before the city council Monday for the first of two votes. But it won’t be alone.
In response to council requests for additional crime data, the police department has proposed the purchase of crime-mapping software. According to a city staff memo to the council, the software would cost an estimated $12,600 initially, with annual recurring costs, beginning in fiscal 2018, estimated at $2,200.
Police services division commander Bob Fitzgerald said the software will be a proactive measure in addition to a tool for seeing where crime is happening. He said the department is shopping around and whatever’s eventually chosen would be implemented as soon as possible.
“It gives us a better chance to employ the resources we have to combat crime,” Fitzgerald said.
Adding more police was first proposed in November by Mayor Laurel Prussing after the city saw three homicides within two weeks. She proposed hiring a total of five new officers, and Monday’s vote is the first step toward approving two of them. Prussing said hiring the other three will be addressed when the next fiscal year starts July 1.
According to a city staff memo to the council, the total cost for both officers would be $52,277 initially, with annual recurring costs estimated around $96,000 each.
City residents have shown mixed reactions to hiring the officers. Some have said the money should be used for mental health, substance abuse and post-jail re-entry programs.
Others, including residents affected by crime and police officers’ spouses, have come out in support of added police.
The police spouses said their husbands were drained from working shifts for 16 hours or more. Police Chief Patrick Connolly researched nearby police forces and found that, in 2015, Urbana had the smallest force out of 16 other mid-sized Illinois cities with populations above 25,000.
To address the other residents’ concerns, there will be a new resolution Monday that calls for conducting immediate mental health and substance abuse assessments on those in contact with the criminal justice system and providing a follow-up for those remaining in custody. It also proposes treating any mental illnesses that are diagnosed, regardless of the cases’ legal aspects.
According to the resolution, it’s recommended that Urbana commit $200,000 yearly for those services and work on them with the city of Champaign and Champaign County.
Council members also have expressed mixed opinions on adding new officers and whether to hire them now or later, but Prussing said she believes a consensus is near.
[Source:-NG DWES]
