Update on Police Service Reductions

So, last week we threw up that blog about police potentially cutting back critical services if the department didn’t get more money. Read it here.

You all jumped on the “that’s total bs” bandwagon and dished left and right about your frustration with government, etc.

I had a talk with Bend Police Chief Jeff Sale after all that and we agreed that the information we posted was incomplete.

I didn’t do a good enough job of telling you all why they needed more money.

Here’s the deal: Bend Police Department staff believe requests for help will increase at a rate of around seven to nine percent each year in the coming years. But the city is budgeting only a two percent increase in money for BPD each year over that time frame, hence the need for more money or a reduction in services, said Sale.

We have some questions about that. Mostly we’re wondering about how resources are being used now; how the department determined that an additional $200,000 to $300,000 per year would solve the problems; and whether some of the chief’s new efforts around data collection and smarter policing will help suck up some of the need for more resources.

So, Chief Sale and I are going to sit down tomorrow and get into some of all that. You won’t hear from us right away, but we promise to keep you posted.

This article appears in May 10-16, 2012.