Police Department Proposal

The city has a multicultural population of 75,000, with 25% of its residents under the age of eighteen (18) and 10% of residents are over the age of sixty-five (65).   The racial breakdown is as follows:

· White Non-Hispanic (44.2%)

· Black (34.0%)

· Hispanic (14.4%)

· Other race (7.4%)

· Two or more races (5.0%)

· Asian Indian (1.9%)

· American Indian (1.2%)

· Filipino (0.6%)

· Vietnamese (0.6%)

· Chinese (0.5%)

The form of government is mayor-council.  There are six council members (does not include the mayor) and there are six council wards, however, initial discussions have indicated that the city would be divided into three (3) patrol districts or service areas.  This may change once the chief is on board, however, that is the information as of now.

The mayor-council anticipates a full-service police department with an authorized sworn strength of 150.  The civilian strength is projected to be thirty (30).  Whoever is selected chief will have to work with the personnel department to determine the exact positions for civilian staff. 

One of the reasons for the creation of the department is community dissatisfaction with the service provided by the county police department.  Response time to calls for service has been a major sticking point in town meetings held by the mayor and city council.  Community members want calls to be dispatched by their own police department.  For 2014, there were 23,000 calls for service. Crime stats for three years are provided: