by:  Diane Benjamin

First, funding the police IS the job of City government, they aren’t suppose to make money.  Unlike all the other City activities that cost You money (BCPA, Coliseum, and the Zoo) the police is what citizens expect to pay for.  Tickets written by officers for speeding etc don’t appear to be in these figures.

Interesting notes:

-Taxpayers fund the schools.  The schools then give the City $50,000 for a School Resource Officer to do the job schools refuse (can’t) do.  Officer Oglesby is still unemployed because he responded to a school situation when the assigned officer wasn’t available.  Mayor Renner should be ashamed that Scott is not back on the job, I hear Scott worked to get him elected.  The situation was bogus to say the least. http://blnnews.com/2013/05/06/the-real-story-of-scott-oglesbys-firing/  Scott will eventually get his job back and the City will pay BIG!  Citizens should DEMAND his reinstatement.

-Some of the fees charged are minuscule and could easily be raised so the users pay for services they need (Fingerprinting, Auto Release, Police Report)

-Overtime is extremely high, but so is the cost of hiring more police officers.  It needs to be looked at.

If you haven’t noticed, all departments like to “Purchase Services”.  They will be investigated further!