Don't know if Hammond residents will be safer, but the city is at least making the effort:
While other police departments are downsizing, Hammond is looking to hire more police officers.
The northwest Indiana city's Board of Public Works and Safety recently gave the police chief the go-ahead to start accepting applications for 10 permanent positions.
[. . .]
(Police Chief Brian) Miller says no state or federal money will be used to fund the new positions. City Controller Robert Lendi says the city shifted budget appropriations to cover the annual cost of nearly $500,000.
A city can actually hire more police officers without raising taxes or seeking state or federal money? It can set priorities and move money around, deciding that public safety might be more important than some other things? People elected to make choices can actually make choices based on the best information available?
Who knew?
Comments
Ten police officers for less than $500K?
Generally, by the time you add other costs - benefits, taxes, HR department, insurance, cars for the officers to ride around in, etc., it costs a business a minimum of $2 for every $1 in payroll. That means they are paying less than $25,000 salary for a police officer.
Maybe that's how they're doing it.
If that's what they are paying to protect their residents, my prayers to Hammond.
AJ
"Police Officer
The annual salary for a probationary police officer with the
Hammond Police Department is $38,161.00. The application requirements
are listed below.
http://www.hammondpolice.com/P&T.htm
Mystery solved.
I suspect the Hammond salary cited by Tim is pretty typical of other Indiana cities as well, so $500,000 wouldn't be out of line at all for 10 salary-benefit packages. Let's not get so caught up in the big numbers thrown around by Indianapolis and Washington that we forget what it's like out here in the real world.