I am too deep into the way the city treats its cops, the looming drop in sworn officers, the politics behind the impending budget negotiations. To my loyal readers, forgive my obsession. It emanates from my firm belief that public safety is a “sameness” issue. It crosses all race and class lines. We don’t need a cop until we really need a cop. I have been there.
Two plainclothes officers saved my daughter’s life. Too many of us feel unsafe in our homes, our streets, our schools. Thus, my obsession.
As the D.C. Council lurches toward its May 24 deadline to pass or change the mayor’s budget, I have a bit of good news and some very bad news.
The backdrop is that the nation’s capital faces a shrinking police department. About 15 to 20 cops leave the department every month because they find better jobs, hate working for the Metropolitan Police Department, or opt to retire. Meanwhile, the MPD has quit recruiting and training new cops, because former Mayor Adrian Fenty cut the budget and Chief Cathy Lanier decided to quit hiring. The city council allowed all this to transpire, by passing the budgets and overseeing Lanier’s management.
No public official can escape blame.
Now the number of cops is falling every month, and it’s headed to historic lows below 3,800. Lanier is warning of problems. Union chief Kristopher Baumann predicts the number of sworn officers could reach 3,600. Since Baumann correctly predicted the drop to 3,800, I tend to believe him.
The smidgen of good news is that Judiciary Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson told me he favors 3,900 officers. “The council members have to find the $7 million to fund the department up to 3,900,” he told me. “That money isn’t waiting around. We have to cut something or raise taxes. It’s a zero-sum game.”
The very bad news is that bean counters with Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi have raised the ante. In a letter to Mendelson and council Chairman Kwame Brown, they estimate that getting to 3,900 officers would cost an extra $14.6 million a year.
Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans has introduced a bill to set the force at 4,000. The city’s accountants say that would add $22.2 million to the 2012 budget.
Evans bristles at those numbers. He’s sticking to his cost estimates and the need for 4,000 officers. And he says the city could pay for the extra cops by cutting annual salary increases for all city workers.
Here’s where it gets sticky for the police. They have been working without a contract since 2007, which means they have not had a raise for four years. New officers were making $50,761 back then. Thanks to inflation and no raise, that now amounts to $47,208, according to the union.
Meanwhile, Lanier is pulling down $230,743, thanks to regular raises and bonuses.
There is very little bonus to being a street cop in D.C. And unless the mayor and council come up with many millions, there won’t be enough cops to keep us safe.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
