Despite clashes in the past year over blown budgets and personality conflicts on police comission, the tone was pretty collegial at common council as representatives from the SJPD fielded questions about sky-high overtime costs, pricey investigations, arbitration, and more.
Police Commission Chair Jonathan Franklin says certain investigations were extremely costly. The price tag for the child sex crimes investigation into Donnie Snook, for example, ate up about $517,000 – not just to pay out overtime, but also to backfill for officers that had to be taken off patrol.
Mayor Mel Norton called it an “excellent discussion,” saying he’s gratified to see the SJPD taking a look at the hard issues and where efficiencies can be found. As for Police Chief Bill Reid, he says right now arbitration isn’t working – as well, mental health calls, missing persons, and other calls take up excessive police time because other agencies, including Mobile Mental Health, are chronically understaffed.
