Thursday, August 08, 2013
FOP Wants To Raise Taxes To Hire 500 New Police Officers
Hopefully, the members of the Indianapolis City-County Council are wise enough not to take advice from the FOP when it comes to figuring out how to fund public safety. According to WISH-TV's Julian Grace, its leadership says the city needs to hire 500 more police officers and it has a plan how to achieve it: raise local income taxes. The last time the FOP supported a 65% increase in a local income tax in 2007 to fund 100 new police officers, in its contract negotiations with the Ballard administration it traded off those new police hires for pay raises. Color me skeptical, but I think the FOP leadership's primary aim here is to ensure a pot of money to support pay raises for future contract negotiations, not to hire additional police officers. One of the things that irritates me is how the number of police officers in Indianapolis is always compared to cities of similar size. Those comparisons never toss in the additional police officers working for other police departments within the city limits, including Lawrence, Speedway, Beech Grove, Southport, Meridian Hills, Homecroft, Rocky Ripple, Clermont and Cumberland.
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8 comments:
I recall reading that the FOP took several "0%" pay raises in the interest of the city, but Ballard spent extraordinary (even obscene) amounts of money on pro sports and a $6M cricket field that NOBODY wants....not to mention the $12M Market Square Condo for Flaherty & Collins. Then, I remember the mayor defaulting on the police contract for 6 months, refusing to give negotiated raises.
Next, consider that Southport, Meridian Hills, Homecroft, Rocky Ripple, Clermont do not have real police officers. They are served by less-trained "part-timers" that do not undergo the training as other police departments in Indiana by using an exception for "reserves."
During last year's budget presentation, it was reported IMPD had received 14% cumulative pay raises since Ballard took office (08-3%, 09-4%, 10-5%, 11-flat, 12-1%). Weren't they scheduled for 3% raises this year?
I should add that Detroit has a police force of over 2,700 with a smaller population but still has a much worse crime problem than Indianapolis.
Cops want more of your money, and they want to grow their ranks to make themselves even more powerful and the de facto shadow city government. Nothing new here.
Raises? For already overpaid government jobs? The taxpayers can't find jobs for themselves, but they should be called on to provide raises and fund even more needless government employees?
Unemployment is staggering, yet the taxpayers are supposed to hire new public servants and pay raises to their servants on top of the servants' already obscene salaries and retirement benefits?
This idea is outrageous and idiotic.
The FOP should be barred from presenting such ideas. They should stand in the same public comment line as an ordinary citizen.
Anon 8:11 a.m. a/k/a Cato:
If you think the salary is high, then why is it so hard to get people to apply for the job? -It's actually because the salary is low compared to the danger.
As for retirement benefits, those are not good. Look at the Indiana state web site to see what they are. No medical and a small cut of salary, that one could not likely survive on and try to pay medical expenses as a senior citizen.
"Danger?" Cops is one of the safest jobs in America.
The People face more danger from the cops than the other way 'round.
I find it hard to listen to the fop, mayor Vaughn has been handling the situation quite well.
You cant have it both ways. I seem to recall prior posts this year about a thief that kept breaking into your building and even stole a bicycle. You blasted IMPD for their lack of action which, lets face it, is a result of their lack of manpower. And now you blast the FOP for asking for a tax increase to help fund public safety. If you feel Detroit is a better place than Indy move there and blog about how things are in Detroit.
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