We are no longer in 2020.
Five years after the movement to reduce law enforcement funds, the nation swept and galvanized the Democrats to fight for the cutting of the police budget, the Police Department in Philadelphia looks at the budget of almost $ 900 million, which seems to a immense extent non -controlled among urban legislators.
The mayor of Cherellle L. Parker, who took office last year after the campaign as a democrat with challenging crime, presented her second proposal of the city budget on Thursday, which covered $ 872 million for the Police Department. The amount is more or less consistent with last year’s allocation and includes extended financing of the technology of fighting crime and recruitment of officers.
The mayor formulated the proposal of the second advance on her plan to improve public security after a keen boost in violence in the Pandemic Era, saying that despite a keen decline in shootings last year, “no one shouted the” mission achieved here “.
And she drew applause from the room of the council members, selected officials, business leaders and city employees when she said that she trusted the police department to perform her mission.
“I was often criticized for being too pro-political. I disagree – said Parker. “Philadelphills want to be safe and feel safe, and the basic human right deserve it. And I can’t support our police department. “
The City Council must approve the police budget proposal to become a law, and negotiations with the legislative body will take place within the next few months before the start of the following financial year in July. Here’s what is in Parker’s proposal.
Police financing remains about the level in recent years
The police budget has been heard over the past decade, although a significant part of this growth was under former mayor Jim Kenney. The allocation of force increased by over $ 200 million over eight years of office.
Since Parker took over last year, she maintained the level of police financing approximately. This year’s $ 872 million is slightly smaller than $ 877 million, which the city has allocated last year.
However, her proposal for the next year is higher than what she actually spends this year. The city predicts that PPD spending only $ 852 million by the end of this financial year, i.e. about $ 25 million than the budget. This can be largely attributed to staff shortages – the city did not spend as much on officers’ salaries as planned.
Although this year recent initiatives and programs appear, wages for over 7,000 department employees are the extensive majority of its budget. From the proposed budget in the amount of $ 872 million, the city designs that about $ 835 million of this – or 95% – will be allocated to remuneration and benefits.
And these wages can change. The city is in the process of negotiating recent contracts with each of the four main relationships that represent city employees, including a police association. Parker suggested that the city put over half a billion dollars in the reserve to cover the costs related to long -term contracts that may include increases.
The continuation of recruitment as PPD has fallen over 1,000 officers
On Thursday, Parker advertised that its five -year plan covers USD 350,000 per year for police recruitment efforts, such as marketing, continuation of investments made in recent years to strengthen employment among the solemn shortage of officers.
The mayor’s administration claims that some progress has been made. Parker made a promise to add 300 so -called social police officers to force, and the administration claims that they achieved this goal by distributing officers on the rhythms of the feet and commercial corridors.
The department also said in budget documents that he employed over 350 officers last year. But this massages a deeper problem. The Police Department is still drastically underlaid.
At the end of December, over 1,500 positions for which they were budget were empty, in accordance with the city administrator’s report. Of these, around 1100 are uniformed officer’s positions, and the rest are potential civilian employees. This means that in the entire department, which has a budget for over 7,800 employees, about 20% of positions are not filled.
Finally a recent criminal laboratory
The city has already arranged millions of dollars to build a recent criminal laboratory, and officials spent years to secure the financing and review of real estate options through two administrations to build a recent police space to process evidence.
After a long planning process, Parker announced on Thursday that the city would build a recent police forensic laboratory in a building at 4101 Market St. at the University City. If the city council approves the plan, the facility with an area of ​​118,000 square feet could open up next year and triple with the size of the current laboratory, which officials have long said that it is too miniature.
»Read more: The recent Philly Police Forensics Lab will be at University City, says Parker Administration
The Parker budget proposal includes $ 67 million in five years to cover the costs of a recent laboratory and related equipment. This includes the addition of recent technicians to the existing complement, who process and test evidence, including DNA, cell phones, pistols, medicines and many others.
Police officers say that the addition of staff will support reduce the time between the police drops the evidence and when it can be transferred to the detective, ultimately reducing the length of criminal investigations.
According to the five-year administration plan, the purpose of the Police Department is to process weapons within 48 hours of recovering-what is not a miniature task, considering that the office claims that it receives over 6,000 guns and 40,000 housings a year.
Expanding technologies such as electric motorcycles, drones and cameras
Parker’s proposal includes several other investments in police technology. Some examples include:
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E-verses: Parker proposed expenses of USD 400,000 for the purchase of 50 electric bikes for officers. These bikes will be used mainly by the police, which work long parades, social events and motorcads, thinking that they allow officers to travel at longer distances without fatigue.
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Drones: The department claims that it will continue to expand the drone program. Strength is currently implementing drones to exploit as air supervision in such circumstances as search missions and rescuers, a reaction to a disaster and immense events. The officers also test their exploit In drug and street racing research. Strength, according to a five -year plan, wants to test smaller drones for “special tactical needs”, such as their summer to threatening buildings, before the officers enter to ensure a unthreatening approach.
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District cameras: Until this summer, 750 police cars will be equipped with dashboards that activate when the officer turns on his emergency lamps. Cameras record a panoramic view of a maximum of three lanes and are an addition to cameras that encounter inwards. The pilot of this program began at the beginning of this year and was financed in previous budgets.
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CAMS Comp: Parker said that every officer would be equipped with a body worn by the body until the end of the year. He has a body camera program for most of the decade, and thousands of patrol officers already have them. There is a handful of specialized units representing a miniature part of the forces that will be equipped with cameras this year.
