Transcript Police Consolidation

Police Consolidation
Presentation to IAMMA
September 9, 2010
Types of Consolidation
• Functional Consolidation: Two or more agencies
combine functional units like communications,
crime lab or SWAT team
• Public Safety Consolidation: Police, Fire and EMS
are combined into one agency
• Metropolitan: Two or more agencies serving
overlapping jurisdictions join together
• City-County Consolidation: a city and county
consolidate their entire governments
• Contracting: Small and medium sized communities
contract with a larger agency for police services
Models for Governance
• Contracting
• Special Districts
• Metropolitan Organization Approach through
Intergovernmental Agreement
– Creation of one department
– Governing board comprised of
representatives of cooperating communities
Consolidation –
Why it would be beneficial
• Increased efficiency
– Improved span of control
– Elimination of supervisory redundancy
• Cost Savings
– Salaries/Benefits
– Facilities
– Equipment
• Larger Agencies are better equipped to provide service
– Proactive vs. Reactive Police response
– Ability to afford programs that would otherwise be too costly
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b)
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CALEA (Accreditation)
Canine Units
Social Workers
Consolidation –
Why it will probably fail
Loss of local control
Police Chiefs see no benefit to consolidation
Each community has its own unique identity
Each Police Department has its own unique
identity/culture
• Unions
• Difficult, if not impossible, to go backward
once new organization is formed
• Changes in State Law required
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Burr Ridge/Willowbrook 2007 Proposed
Police Consolidation –
Why it should have succeeded
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Both Chiefs retiring
Both communities looking to build new facilities
Communities were similar in population
Communities similar in calls for service
Both communities CALEA accredited
Both communities represented by F.O.P.
Cost savings
– Over $1,000,000 in Salaries/Benefits savings annually
– Over $2,000,000 in facility costs savings
– Over $50,000 in vehicle costs savings
Burr Ridge/Willowbrook 2007
Proposed Police Consolidation –
Why it failed
• Strong resident opposition in Burr Ridge
• Strong employee opposition in both
communities
Would not reduce costs
Would not improve quality of Police service delivery
High degree of mistrust between organizations
Pride in individual organizations
Perceptions that that there were differences in how
their departments dealt with citizens
– Differences in union contracts, salaries, etc.
– Job security
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• No outcry for change
Conclusions
• The financial picture for municipalities will have to get
even worse than it has over the past few years before
consolidation will be seriously considered.
• Consolidation will be the last resort to weathering the
financial crisis.
• The idea must appear to come from the public who are
fed up with tax increases/reduction in services and not
from management/elected officials.
• There must be a blue ribbon panel of concerned and
engaged citizens to push for the concept and stand up
to those that would be opposed.
• Unions must be engaged early on in the process
View the Study
• You can find a copy of the study at
www.iamma.org by going to:
– Membership
• Member Benefits
– Professional Development
Questions?
Thank you!