York City Police force cut in half

[alpacaheat]

Thanks, Mayor Bracey (Democrat).

Her new budget is firing 46 York City Police officers and 8 firefighters.

Government Pensions remain unaffected I'm sure.

http://fox43.com/2014/11/18/york-maj...y-nearly-half/

http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_26961179...tuesday-nov-18

http://www.witf.org/news/2014/11/yor...ce-in-half.php



What's with Democrats and the words "Draconian cuts"? Makes me think of the lovely Linda Thompson.

This sounds like a disaster. The crime in the city is ALREADY out of control and how the already undersized police force has been sliced in half.

[alpacaheat]

In other good news...the Governor-elect apparently thinks she's doing a great job!


http://fox43.com/2014/11/13/governor...ansition-team/

[Deleted]

They all bring up pension reform... But they are the biggest supporters of the problem. There are thousands of municipal pensions all over the state and each is administered by a different company. Each is audited by a different company. Any time a change is made, a different company has to do an actuarial study for sustainability. That's TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars in fees leaking out of these pension plans every year. And when the proposition comes up to consolidate ALL of these pensions into one....the municipal governments fight it to protect their cronies who are making money .

[Kid k]

My next encounter downtown with the police will probably go like this.

Cop: Sir Why are you carrying 4 firearms and extra mags
Me: Well I used to carry 2, but when the mayor cut the police staff in half, I'm wasnt cutting my family safety in half

Second thought: My mailing address may say York, but I'm 9 miles out side of it and I'm just gonna stay out of York period.

[HKusp 45]

My next encounter downtown with the police will probably go like this.

Cop: Sir Why are you carrying 4 firearms and extra mags
Me: Well I used to carry 2, but when the mayor cut the police staff in half, I'm wasnt cutting my family safety in half

Second thought: May mailing address may say York, but I'm 9 miles out side of it and I'm just gonna stay out of York period.

Chances are you just won't encounter them anymore

[Jhaydeno]

I saw that on the newslast night. I'm so glad I left the city years ago. I feel bad for those good people that held out hope, l'il Kimmy has driven the final nail in the coffin. All those poor folks have now is a huge tax bill and worse yet, no way out because they can't sell the home for even 1/4 of what was paid for it / taxed on it. Add to that the insolvent city schools, state takeovers, and you've got yourself a good death spiral that they are not going to recover from. May as well call it what it is: Little Detroit

[bigandy1966]

Will it become little detroit?

[Jhaydeno]

Will it become little detroit?

No, they don't have $1.3 billion in public art to sell, and the state has made no effort to prop up small urban centers except act 47. I don't recall any cities coming out of act 47 yet, so I'm guessing state oversight isn't any better than local governance.

[heatheroo]

the way I read the news report, this is just political posturing to get a tax increase. i.e. "we have to raise taxes or there will be anarchy in the streets!"

[jw34]

the way I read the news report, this is just political posturing to get a tax increase. i.e. "we have to raise taxes or there will be anarchy in the streets!"

Doubtful. All the politicians bank on the "I didn't raise taxes" ticket for re-election.
Our department is in contract negotiations as we speak. Some of the inside information I'm privvy to is just astounding. I obviously can't share all the information, but generally speaking.....
The Twp is crying poverty due to costs incurred by Obamacare, which is a lie according to independent accountants hired by the police union. (Twp claims police budget is "70% of general fund", which is correct, but general fund is only a small portion of the budget overall. It was found that the police budget is only 17% of the overall total budget). The Twp has asked the police officers to take pay cuts and increase their contributions to pension & healthcare, effectively asking for a huge step backwards. The police union refused to voluntarily take pay cuts, so the Twp has been doing everything they can to "punish" the police dept. They haven't been filling positions vacated by retirement. We are at a manning level less than we had in 1986.
There will be arbitration regarding the contract negotiation. Attorneys for the police union are paid for by the officers union dues. Attorneys for the Twp will be paid by the taxpayers.... But the Twp has elected to take those funds away from the police dept budget.
The police dept has asked for nothing in this contract but a small COLA increase in pay.
One of the Twp commissioners was quoted as saying, " it's not like they get shot at all the time"
Yet the Twp allowed one of their non-police employees to retire on disabitly pension because of their drug addiction, because it was "easier than firing her."

This is just a small sampling of my particular local government, but my understanding is that many local governments are talking to each other, joining funds to hire high profile attorneys in an attempt to bankrupt local police unions.

The politicians don't want to raise taxes when their costs go up because it makes them look bad. Instead they will punish their employees. I understand increased costs due to Obamacare, and I'd be willing to sit on a pay freeze, as would most employees. But I think it's quite ridiculous to ask employees to take a 5-10% pay cut because the President is an idiot. But in our case, that's just smoke & mirrors, because the Twp is hiding funds and their true budget to try to make the situation look "dire."
Oh yeah, almost forgot, the Twp hired a PR firm at almost $200/hr to support their smoke & mirrors campaign against the police dept. Flyers to residents and website/Facebook propaganda.