Article published November 02, 2007
ELECTION 2007
Collins calls on Toledo to hire more police
Council hopeful wants force over 700
By TOM TROY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
A candidate for Toledo City Council's District 2 seat yesterday called for the city to commit to hiring a new class of 30 police officers in early 2008, and use $1.4 million that no longer will be owed for debt service on Government Center.
D. Michael Collins, an independent running for the seat being vacated by Republican Councilman Rob Ludeman, said he would continue hiring 30 new officers a year until the force returns to more than 700 officers.
His opponent in the election Tuesday is endorsed Democrat Molly McHugh Branyan.
Mr. Collins said the $1.4 million that will be freed up after Jan. 1 is not generally known about outside the city's finance department, but deserves consideration as a source of revenue to pay for a new police class.
However, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said that the money already is spoken for.
He said the $1.4 million payments were being made out of the capital improvements budget and that's where he plans to use the savings, primarily in street repaving.Mr. Finkbeiner said that his preliminary budget to be released Nov. 15 will provide for new classes of police officers and firefighters in the second half of 2008.
He said the hiring would replace officers who are expected to retire, but said it would not bring the force back up to a level of 700, a number he advocated as a mayoral candidate.
Mr. Collins said the force handles about 1,600 calls for service daily, leaving no time for routine patrols or to interact with residents.
"They're being stretched beyond their limits," Mr. Collins said, adding Toledo is "under-policed" compared with other Ohio cities.
He is a retired police officer and was president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association union for 10 years.
Mrs. Branyan has said that there is no money available to hire additional police officers, and has recommended new strategies to have police present in neighborhoods when crimes most often occur.
Last night, she said she checked on the status of the $1.4 million and said, "They've already got that money figured into the budget for next year. It's not like free money. I wish it could be spent on a police class, but it sounds like it's already accounted for."
The police department has 669 uniformed officers, down from 725 uniformed officers in 1998, police Chief Mike Navarre said. But the department also has more civilian employees doing jobs, such as communications, that uniformed officers once did.
He said he would like to increase the police ranks, but said the city's financial predicament is serious and that the department is doing a good job with the force it has.
The mayor acknowledged that Toledo's 20 years of payments of $1.4 million for its share of the construction debt on Government Center ends this year. The building is owned by the Ohio Building Authority.
He said the money to hire new police and fire classes will come from savings that will be proposed in the city's spending on solid waste, municipal court, and the jail, as well as by seeking an employee medical insurance co-pay.
"We are going to propose a balanced budget," Mr. Finkbeiner said.
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