Title
Police Staffing for Downtown Gainesville (B)
Explanation
The City Commission referred the issue of downtown staffing to the Public Safety Committee on June 9, 2003. The Public Safety Committee held four public meetings concerning the original Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Downtown Redevelopment Advisory Board referral regarding funding options to provide police services specific to the downtown area. Current staffing of officers requires that the police department pull resources from many other areas of the city in order to manage downtown crowds and the issues that come with that, including concerns of residents in other neighborhoods who expect that same level of service.
During these meetings, several options were discussed including voluntary contributions by downtown businesses to help offset the current overtime of officers, primarily assigned on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. The original $50,000 department proposal was for the assignment of a five officer and one sergeant overtime team assigned on those days. In addition, a downtown subcommittee was assigned from the CRA referral that met separate from the Public Safety Committee to consider the downtown owners' recommendations and options.
In September 2003, the City was awarded a Federal COPS grant authorizing up to twenty police officer positions. During FY2004 budget discussions, the City Commission also authorized the addition of two police officer positions in the police department's general budget. As part of the Public Safety Committee's assignments, the City Manager was tasked with reviewing authorizations to utilize law enforcement contraband forfeiture trust funds as an additional funding option.
The City Manager and Police Chief presented to the Public Safety Committee a proposal for funding a permanent downtown detail of five police officers and one sergeant with the sergeant position coming from a current sergeant position and not ...
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