Budget Request: Hiring New Officers in the Community Essay

1. Include at least two (2) robust justifications for hiring new police officers. The justification should anticipate the key questions that the chief executive and council will likely ask. a. If this request is the result of an increased workload, how quickly did the workload increase? Could the increased workload be covered by part-time employees or by shifting employees from another area? b. How long have you known this need was developing? Was the manager previously briefed on the growing workload? c. If the request is not funded, what impact will it have on the department? On citizens? (Hint: If your request is not funded this year, managers often look to see if a request is repeatedly put forward to gauge its urgency. ) The present police force include thirty uniformed officers, there is an immediate need to hire three to five more officers. The many of the citizens in this city have observed crime in the downtown area is rising rapidly. With a population of over 75,000 residents in the community, I strongly encourage increasing our police force to offset of crime rate in the community. For every police office there are 2500 citizens at that ratio we are definitely under manned. The budget while important cannot be the determining factor. Our officers must know that we support them as a department and want them to be apart of their families lives. Much of the data from my department show no increase of crime rate however we cannot substaine control of this amount of population without adding to the force. With many veterans returning home from the wars we should be able to get qualified applicants. When hiring these types of talents there will be less money in the training of the individual and more concentration on the duty of the officer saving the community more money. This request will be justified as an increase in crime and workload has increased over the years, the crime and workload has risen moderately over the six year period we never hired new officers and now seems like a great time to contain the problem. The increased workload and crime increase will have to be covered by three full time employees and two part time employees. This need has been developing since the year of 2006 when the economy seemed to be going into an economic depression, when people began losing their jobs crime increased and the workload for the officers went up as well because they were handling situations they were not accustomed to such as counseling families and being mentors to children whose parents were working to help with the ever rising gas and food prices. The manager was informed of the changes in the workload and bought it to my attention that something has to be done or we will lose business in the area due to crime and on other factors. If the request is not funded this will have a major impact on the department the public will no longer believe we are here to protect them just to satisfy a fiscal budget that is drawn up every year. People in the communities will then feel as though they will have to take the law into their own hands causing turmoil within the communities. My second justification citizen appreciation and safety, hiring the new officers will show citizens that we put their public safety knowing that our budget will not be balanced. Analysis executed by the statistical department forecast and increase done by my team and the increase in the population is what prompts us to request for the hiring of new officers. Community policing is required in each community by officers hired through the state this type of policing promotes structural strategies, which provides the officers with partnerships and problem-solving skills, that will deter crime and social disorder. The safeties of each citizen will the number one concern citizens should feel safe walking home from school, the movies or even walking to their dogs. This justification of hiring new officers will just make people feel safer, when they see our patrol cars covering their areas, and also when they see our officers in their local school protecting their kids from any type of violence or verbal assaults. This year we are seeing the biggest increase in retirees, our senior officers are retiring this is also a factor in our need to hire new officers. The first objection would be that after doing the analysis of 911 response calls and hands-on activities of the officer do we really need more fficers? The officers are very efficient and they exceed all of their goals that are placed before them currently. With crime rate at in the community at six year low, why do we need these officers? With the hiring of these new officers the demand for overtime pay with the existing officers will decrease. Overtime cost the department a significant amount it also puts a mental strain on the officers. Financing of the new officer packaging will come fr om those decreases. Another objection proposed revenue for salaries where does it come from? We are going to approve a parcel tax that would give the city millions of dollars to hire more police officers? Will there also be a program in place where the community participates in helping the officers with crime control? If this is put in to place then there will not be a need to higher new officers because this will cut down on cost. Not many citizens oppose hiring five new police officers because of the immediate benefit to morale of the city and police department. One objection is proper allocation of funds throughout the force. With the addition al officers being added on the force their will be additional arrests, court appointed lawyers assigned to the case, and over populated jails. Each of the benefits lead to an increase of fines and revenue collections by the judicial courts. Prevention is the key when thinking of arrests and jail numbers; with the increase in police officers there will be an increase in costs within the community and state trickling to the federal government as well. The cost of equipment replacement and repair could play a role in the investment of new officers. If there is an increase in officers within the community what guarantees that the rate of crime in the downtown area will decrease? There are other areas within the state that has an increase in crime would these officers be beneficial for all areas or just the intended areas? Will the citizens of the city have to worry about a tax hike to pay for these officers? These are very relevant questions that should be answered only to protect the citizens within the community. In conclusion the budget request definitely points towards the hiring of the officers, more than one hundred percent of the money goes to creating jobs. Job creation is very important to the community because it provides family stability. There is funding in the federal government that includes grants if you are hiring police officers and the COPS Hiring Program (CHP) this program has awarded 111 million dollars in grant money to help with the hiring of police officers. (http://www. cops. usdoj. gov/Default. asp? Item=2367). With the increase of crime increasing within the community there is much need for the new officers to be hired our number one goal is to protect the people of the community and state. Police officers are here to suppress the fear of crime and also to decrease the rate of crime. There are many factors that are covered by the federal government when funding each state with enough funding for police enforcement. The federal government uses these funds to initiate activities that combat violence in local communities, including $25 million for the Community- Based Violence Prevention Initiatives that aim to reduce gun and other violence among youth gangs in cities and towns across the country.