Police understaffed for years, yet Smith and the Caucus-backed board did nothing
Yesterday’s Landmark editorial about police staffing and the budget shortfall that Riverside faces begs the question: why has the Riverside police department, according to Chief Weitzel, “not been at full staff since 2003“?
Kevin Smith, the Riverside Party/Caucus candidate for Village President, has been a trustee for 8 years. Mr. Smith has been a position to do something about our police staffing since 2001, yet Riverside has had the same number of police officers the entire time he has been on the board.
According to Riverside’s 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the most recent one available, Riverside has had between 17.5 and 18 officers from 2002 and 2007 (the only years covered in that CAFR- see the table at the end of this post). This is below the 19 that is considered fully staffed.
2002: 17.75 officers
2003: 18 officers
2004: 17.88 officers
2005: 17.5 officers
2006: 17.8 officers
2007: 17.8 officers
We were below police staffing levels, yet Mr. Smith and the rest of the Caucus-dominated Village Board did not bring us to a fully staffed department. Instead, they made other things a priority:
TIF Consultant: $100,000
Zoning Consultant: $200,000
Purchasing two homes on Burlington: $600,000+
Plus, Mr. Smith and the rest of the Village Board voted to transfer $1,000,000 from the general fund into the capital fund – where it still sits, unused. A portion of that money could have been used to hire another police officer – or a second detective.
On top of all of this, just last year Mr. Smith and the rest of the Caucus-dominated Village Board threatened to cut an officer from the department unless Riverside residents voted for a property tax increase.
It’s time to stop playing games with our public safety staffing. Mr. Smith and the Caucus have had years to do something about police staffing, but did not. They’ve had their chance. It’s time for a change in leadership that will take Riverside’s issues – including public safety – seriously: the Riverside Community Alliance.
