Unbridled spending now affecting Public safety

[ALS]

The Vallejo Police Department's staffing attrition might lead to the demise of its SWAT team.

"Our biggest hope is this doesn't happen, and we're also looking at other ways to cut back," Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini said.

The police department has seen a sharp drop in the number of sworn officers it employs since the city began bankruptcy proceedings last year, reduced from 134 people in early 2008 to 115 today.

City staff has proposed laying off 16 officers as part of cost-cutting measures. Combined with another retirement in the coming weeks, the 16 layoffs would result in 98 police officers on the force.

"When you have an organization where you've cut everything, it's not unrealistic to cut your special tactics unit," Nichelini said.

Vallejo merged its SWAT team with the Benicia Police Department about a year ago, sharing resources and expertise and saving money for both.

"A regional/joint SWAT team is beneficial to both of us," said Benicia Police Lt. Bob Oettinger.

The federal government recently donated a 1987 Humvee to the Benicia Police Department for use by the joint SWAT team.

"We respond to each other's calls, and we train together and share equipment, and it works quite well," Nichelini said.

But the elimination of Vallejo's SWAT team will help prevent further personnel reductions, Nichelini said.

Should the SWAT team be dropped, the department would lose its hostage negotiation capabilities and reduce

the effectiveness of the police department's response to dangerous situations, Nichelini said.

Full story at timesheraldonline

[PocketProtector]

This is always the big scam from our bureaucratic friends. It's always Police or fire services that have to get cut, never the do nothing government BS artists.

It's just the typical fear mongering to get people to buy in to more tax hikes. These asshats have no conscience and will lie about anything.

Not to hijack the thread but can't we talk about Michael Jackson instead??

[Guns4Fun]

You have to understand that all this is smoke and mirrors.

They (including our own fat eddie) are trying to scare people.

It is a scare tactic used when they want to justify their budget or increase taxes.

Me, i don't care if they lay off all the police to meet the budget and need not raise my taxes. It is a service that i'll probably never need. I'm one of those crazy people that believes in protecting themselves and not waiting 10 minutes after the incident is already over for the police to get there.

Smoke and mirrors i tell you - scare the sheep into believing they are going to be in harms way if they don't keep the police on the payroll.

[Guns4Fun]

This is always the big scam from our bureaucratic friends. It's always Police or fire services that have to get cut, never the do nothing government BS artists.

It's just the typical fear mongering to get people to buy in to more tax hikes. These asshats have no conscience and will lie about anything.

Not to hijack the thread but can't we talk about Michael Jackson instead??

Damn, you beat me by a few minutes. I guess i type too slow .

Really, i'd sooner keep the FF's than the police. People can protect themselves if they so choose but it's kinda hard to put out a fire with a garden hose.

Edit - yeah, i think MJ is still dead.

[ChamberedRound]

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, but with the way many SWAT teams trample all over the Constitution and people's rights, is the potential reduction or elimination of some of these teams really a bad thing? Our police forces nationwide have grown and militarized substantially over the years, and I for one am glad to see that they are also feeling the pinch and being required to tighten their budgets.

[Guns4Fun]

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, but with the way many SWAT teams trample all over the Constitution and people's rights, is the potential reduction or elimination of some of these teams really a bad thing? Our police forces nationwide have grown and militarized substantially over the years, and I for one am glad to see that they are also feeling the pinch and being required to tighten their budgets.

All i know is that dogs are going to feel a lot safer if the swat teams get cut. Let's do it for the dogs.

[Dredly]

Damn, you beat me by a few minutes. I guess i type too slow .

Really, i'd sooner keep the FF's than the police. People can protect themselves if they so choose but it's kinda hard to put out a fire with a garden hose.

Edit - yeah, i think MJ is still dead.

Police... we have them out here?


ohhh yeah, the guys that respond to accidents so that people can be fined for them... how could I forget about those guys! They do a lot... like write tickets... and... write tickets.... oh and they write tickets too!

[Chuck1981]

Well I can say with much joy that a police officer on my street, that is also part of a SWAT team for the area, is very pro-constitution and anti-governmental when it comes to impeding on a persons rights. He has been telling everyone for years about the direction of this country, so hopefully he hasn't just been blowing smoke up our asses, I don't think he is though, hes an upstanding guy.

But I do agree and feel there is an issue with the militarization of many of the nations police departments. Question is, why has this happened? I think the society in general is more violent (certain fringe group/groups) and the regular law abiding citizen says "FIX IT" without understanding the ramifications of what they are asking for.

I like to refer to is as the "Law of Unintended Consequences". Look at how many times a bill is passed into law for "good reason", and low and behold a few months or years down the road it becomes a major problem. Government not passing laws in my opinion is a great government, they get paid a salary no matter what they do, therefore, no need to continually pass laws to fix something small.

And lest I forget, this whole budget issue; Why is a bureaucrat's job never on the chopping block? Dare I say most of those jobs are totally unneeded, cost a helluva lot more than the average jobs that they say "will be cut unless....", what do these bureaucrats really do? Any of them, even in the corporate world ( I know they aren't "bureaucrats", but same difference), what is the point of these fat cats who get taken care of for life? Granted, they aren't as fat as those at the wayyyy top, but they outnumber those at the top by what I would guess would be by a wide margin and honestly have just as much to do with the craziness that goes on in government and business. Why do we never hear complaints about them?

[CarolinaGuy]

No swat teams?

oh noes!!!

Who is going to shoot all the deadly golden retrievers, old ladies and point guns at children at 3am because of a bad tip or wrong address?

[adymond]

No swat teams?

oh noes!!!

Who is going to shoot all the deadly golden retrievers, old ladies and point guns at children at 3am because of a bad tip or wrong address?

Less trained buffoons who have much worse trigger discipline.