Latest news with #policebudget
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Fort Myers Police budget: Request up 3.9 percent or increase to $61.8 million
The Fort Myers Police Department budget for 2025-26 is proposed to grow by just under 3.9% next year, increasing from about $59.5 million to $61.8 million. The budget that Chief Jason Field submitted May 13 calls for equipment purchases totaling more than $2 million of the approximately $2.3 million increase. Interestingly the proposal calls for no new personnel. That could signal a starting point for discussion with City Council. At a recent meeting at least two council members expressed support for increased traffic enforcement. According to the request the current traffic unit is comprised of seven people. A sergeant, four traffic homicide investigators and only two traffic enforcement officers. Chief Fields said in May that virtually every one of his 263 sworn officers does traffic enforcement as necessary. The traffic unit is in charge of impaired driving enforcement, training for new officers, follow-up investigation of patrol-initiated cases, civil and criminal serious injury cases and traffic homicide investigations. More: Traffic talk: One of the most stressful Fort Myers intersections is getting a makeover The unit investigated 27 fatal crashes in 2024 and three so far in 2025. A traffic homicide investigation is as in depth as a homicide investigation and often more complex. 'The FDOT 2025 Highway Safety Matrix - Rank of Florida Cities (population over 75,000) Report based on total actual serious injuries and fatalities (2018-2022) has the City of Fort Myers ranked in the top 38 worst cities for serious injury and fatal crashes in six of nine categories tracked,' says the budget request. 'The City of Cape Coral is also listed in this report, and they are in 7 of the 9 categories. In 2024 our city investigated over 5,000 crashes. Lee County investigated over 7,000. From 2017 through 2022, the city averaged over 4,800 crash investigations a year. The City of Fort Myers has a resident population of approximately 104,100 people, which produces an approximately five percent crash to population ratio. The county has a resident population of approximately 858,937 and a crash to population ratio of about one percent. The number of traffic crashes occurring in the City of Fort Myers is significant. The agency must take significant measures in re-structuring the traffic unit to make an impact on crash reduction.' Department spokesperson Megan Fuentes said the budget request does not include new personnel, but the department will try to address needs by filling 29 empty sworn officer positions. Some of those new officers, she said, are currently in the academy or in field training. Following are excerpts from the proposed budget: This memorandum includes the budgetary request for the Police Department for Fiscal Year 2026. Fleet 26 New and Replacement vehicles for our fleet. These vehicles will replace current high mileage vehicles and vehicles that were in accidents and totaled. The additional vehicles will also ensure that we can continue to offer a take home vehicle for all eligible Officers. 2025 Ford Utility – (20 - Patrol) $1,240,380.00 2025 Ford Active SUV – (2 - Detective) $79,809.82 2025 Ford Ranger Truck – (1 - VIP) $40,793.00 2025 Ford F150 Truck – (1 – HOT Team) $50,251.00 2025 Ford Utility – (2 - Lieutenant) $117,702.00 Supply & Logistics Uniform Supplies and Accessories (CSA & Civilian) $25,000 Professional Standards Bureau Training Division Requested Equipment Funds for Academy Sponsorship – These funds would be used to provide sponsorship to the police academy for newly hired police officers. Based on the current 29 Police Officer vacancies. $20,000 Waterborne Dive Gear and Wet Duty Gear – Specialized gear will enable water-based training for water survival and waterborne defensive tactics. o $12,000 Department Awards Programs Department Awards and Annual Banquet – To cover the cost of annual banquet, awards and ribbons. $5,500 Investigative Services Bureau Detective Division Flash & External Hard Drives – More and more of our investigations involve high resolution cameras from places of business and residences. The storage provided for this is immense and then it must be stored in evidence for a prolonged period. We are requesting to increase the current budget to $20,000. Flash & External Hard Drives Cost $20,800 Crime Scene Unit Additional Crim-Lite Auto to assist in documenting evidence at the crime scene using a high[1]sensitivity UV/Vis/IR camera capable of capturing images beyond the visible spectrum. Currently it is difficult for us to reveal and capture specific evidence under UV and IR light with multiple filter camera attachment. This device is all in one with full spectrum of lights, filters all built into a handheld device with a large touchscreen to capture the evidence digitally. Because of our limited space this is the perfect compact device to further improve our evidence workflow and increase the efficiency of examinations. One Crime-Lite Auto (Foster & Freeman) – This is a full spectrum UV-Vis-IR digital camera with 55x Illumination Wavebands. It is an all-in-one, searching beyond the visible spectrum, detection, and capture tool all in an instant. The Crime-lite AUTO can quickly reveal evidence including body fluids (semen, saliva, and urine etc.); blood on dark fabrics; fingerprints; gunshot residues; and traces of physical evidence (glass, bone, fibers, hairs, etc.) Document evidence at the crime scene using a high-sensitivity UV/Vis/IR camera capable of capturing images beyond the visible spectrum. Currently it is difficult for us to reveal and capture specific evidence under UV and IR light with multiple filter camera attachment. This device is all in one with full spectrum of lights, filters all built into a handheld device with a large touchscreen to capture the evidence digitally. Because of our limited space this is the perfect compact device to further improve our evidence workflow and increase the efficiency of examinations. Cost $ 50,000 Special Operations Bureau Special Operations Division Traffic Unit Equipment: • Three (3) Stalker Q2095020 MC360 Message Trailer with Solar (4'x8') Package 821- 1102-00 MC360 Message Trailer (4'x8') with Strobes and Solaretc $23,581 each. Cost $70,743 4 Two (2) Signs, MPH Speed Wanco Compact WSDT3-S Radar Speed Sign Trailer, Battery Powered and Solar Charging, 26-inch LED Characters $11,989 each. Cost $23,978 Technical Operations Division The Technical Operations Center functions as advanced support for the Fort Myers Police Department as well as other law enforcement agencies across Southwest Florida. Members assigned to the Technical Operations Center provide both tactical and strategic intelligence for law enforcement investigations and operations. The Technical Operations Center is also responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the Department's Intelligence[1]Driven Policing Strategy The Technical Operations Center mainly provides intelligence and support through the Department's Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), Analytics and Innovation Team, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Digital Forensics Unit, Technical Operations Support Team, and Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) Operations. See a breakdown of all budget item requests included at the end of this memorandum. The Technical Operations Center is currently staffed by a Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, nine (9) sworn officers, five (5) crime analysts and one (1) system analyst. The primary focus of the unit is based around the Intelligence-Led Policing Program, Stratified Policing and supporting the Operations Bureau and Detective Bureau. The Bureau also assists several specialty units throughout the agency with advanced analytical analysis, criminal intelligence, digital forensics, and advanced electronic equipment operations. Additionally, the Technical Operations Center is responsible for the City-Wide Security Camera Program (CitiView), License Plate Reader (LPR) program, and Real Time Crime Center. The Technical Operations Center needs equipment, for the specialized areas in which it provides support for. This request is critical for the Bureau's success and its effectiveness in providing this support. Without the equipment, members of the Technical Operations Center will be limited in terms of the type and level of support they will be able to provide going forward. Budget related requests from the Technical Operations Center are highlighted below: Real Time Crime Center Equipment upgrade $ 50,000 Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) The focus of the FY2026 SWAT Team budget will be to significantly allocate funds to better equip and prepare the team for the high liability situations they are placed in. This specialized equipment is used to safeguard our citizens from life threatening situations and additionally aid in the protection of our operators while in these high-risk situations. Requested Equipment: One (1) Armored vehicle – The Federal Government has placed restrictions on the current armored vehicle obtained through the 1033 Program. The new restriction does not allow usage in High-Risk Search Warrant situations, which is a large portion of what the SWAT Team is used for. The armored vehicle provides protection from gun fire while the SWAT Team operates in these high-risk situations. Cost $400,000. Cape Coral has a population more than double that of Fort Myers at over 240,000. Its current police budget is $51.5 million. Naples has only a little over 21,000 people with a police budget of $20.6 million. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers Police want additional $2.3 million this year for equipment
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Minister refuses to rule out cuts to police and housing budgets in spending review
The government has refused to rule out real-terms spending cuts to the police force and the housing budget, as the battle between the Treasury and senior Cabinet ministers continues ahead of Wednesday's spending review. As the chancellor attempts to walk a tightrope between delivering on the party's election promises while sticking within the bounds of her self-imposed fiscal rules, she has locked horns with Angela Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Yvette Cooper's Home Office – who are both understood to have dug their heels in over cuts to their budgets after months of wrangling. With just days to go before the spending review is unveiled, The Independent understands that neither department has reached a settlement with the Treasury. But sending a strong signal of the government's intent, Cabinet minister Peter Kyle refused to rule out real terms cuts, warning that 'every part of our society is struggling'. It comes amid fears that the Treasury will force cuts to the housing and Home Office budgets to balance the books as the chancellor seeks to ring fence health spending, increase defence to 2.5 per cent of GDP and water down proposals on benefit cuts - as well as U-turn on ending the winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. Asked whether he could guarantee there would not be a squeeze on the budgets for Ms Rayner or Ms Cooper's departments, he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'The first thing is, in the last budget we gave a billion pounds extra to police. We are on the way to delivering 13,000 new police officers right through to community police officers so that people can have community policing back in their communities again. 'On the fact that the police have been writing to the chancellor… We also have letters from the universities, we have letters from doctors about the health service, we have letters from campaigners for child poverty writing to us, and other aspects of challenges in Britain at the moment. 'Every part of our society is struggling because of the inheritance that we had as a country and as a government.' The technology secretary also said that police must 'do their bit' to start adapting to changes that may be necessary as a result of a squeeze on their budget. 'We expect the police to start embracing the change they need to do, to do their bit for change as well. We are doing our bit', he said. 'You see a chancellor that is striving to get investment to the key parts of our country that needs it the most… You will see the priorities of this government reflected in the spending review, which sets the departmental spending into the long term. 'But this is a partnership. Yes, the Treasury needs to find more money for those key priorities, but the people delivering them need to do their bit as well.' It comes after warnings from the police that Britain will become less safe without more funding. Meanwhile, housing association chiefs have said that Britain will be faced with a social housing crisis if ministers press ahead with cuts. Six of Britain's most senior police chiefs - including Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley - warned Sir Keir Starmer that he will not be able to deliver his flagship pledge to cut crime without serious investment. As well as new online threats from organised crime, they said the emergency release of prisoners to alleviate overcrowding in prisons and recommendations in the sentencing review to free inmates earlier would put more pressure on policing. And with no agreement having been reached on housing, the chief executive of one of Britain's largest housing associations has raised fears of a 'cliff edge' over building more homes – which means money is set to run out by 2026. The warning from Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chief executive of L&Q and until last week chair of the G15 group of London housing associations, comes as the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that 51 per cent of councils are now running deficits on their housing budgets. Meanwhile, the issue is also vexing Labour backbenchers looking at the party's slide in the polls, with one MP pointing out that Labour's flagship housing pledge 'means nothing if the current stock of social housing suffers' as a result of cuts. But over the weekend, ministers also confirmed that the spending review will see the government invest 'the most we've ever spent per pupil in our school system', after reports that an extra £4.5bn per year will be invested in Britain's schools. Meanwhile, the chancellor will also unveil an £86bn package for science and technology on Wednesday, with Mr Kyle saying 'every corner of the country' would benefit from the package. Speaking on Sunday, the tech secretary also confirmed that no decision will be taken on the winter fuel allowance until the Autumn budget – dispelling speculation that the government would make an announcement on it at the spending review. After chaotic government messaging left millions of pensioners with no idea what the changes will look like or when they will be announced, the technology secretary said 'decisions are going to be taken and announced' in the run up to the autumn budget - giving ministers more breathing room to work out how they will be funded.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Here are the Sacramento police cuts the city is considering amid $44 million budget hole
SACRAMENTO — The City of Sacramento is considering making cuts to vacant police department positions to help make up for its $44 million budget deficit. The proposed budget has the city council cutting close to 25 vacant Sacramento Police Department positions, which could impact law enforcement response time. "It's not an easy decision," said Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty. McCarty said that the police department uses the money from the vacancies to pay officers overtime so that there are people to respond to calls. A spokesperson for the department said that often these officers come in on a day off or backfill a patrol shift. "There's some in the community and some in city council who have advocated for sweeping the 100-plus vacancies on the police department and using that money elsewhere, and I am saying that would be a terrible idea," McCarty said. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang told CBS13 that she plans to present that new idea to the city council in its Tuesday meeting. She gave us this statement: "Before we eliminate critical funding for youth and family programs and lay off city staff who rely on their paychecks to provide food and housing for their loved ones - city council must have the courage to reallocate some of the 190+ vacant positions in the police department to protect services that directly support our working families. Choosing to keep these unfilled positions while cutting real people and taking away resources from children cannot be how our city leans into our values. Let's make budget decisions driven by real people who need our help in this critical moment." "You can be putting some people in danger by doing that," Dean said. Nothing is set in stone for the budget just yet. The Sacramento City Council will continue to discuss the proposed budget before formally adopting it by the end of June. Jason Dean, manager at Take Care Barbershop on J Street, said his business has been vandalized in the past, and it concerns him to think that police services could be impacted with a cut. "Within minutes' difference, that could make all the difference," said Jason Dean, manager at Take Care Barbershop on J Street.
