The Dayton Police Department is in a world of hurt. In the next 2 years they are going to lose a lot of their senior staff to the DROP program- and they still haven’t come up with a way to hire new officers.
The department, because they insist on running their own academy (a practice that should be examined for either elimination or growth- if it can start generating revenue) has its hands tied thanks to the self-inflicted Department of Justice lawsuit.
Chief Biehl presented a plan to reorganize the department to the city commission last night- shrinking the 5 districts into 3, central plus East and West. How the officers will actually be deployed is not covered in the presentation. I’ve taken the Powerpoint and turned it into a PDF for those who are interested: DPD Org Chart (as of 8-30-10) [1]
With the shrinking force, and shrinking budget- the department is going to have a really hard time staffing for extra enforcement or dealing with illness and vacation times. While the department of old still required sworn officers in many administrative positions (at one point a veteran Sergeant was in charge of the motor pool) those days should be over soon.
Manpower won’t be able to be cut anymore- so if the department is to cut dollars from the budget it’s going to have to be by operating more efficiently. I still believe moving some officers over to 200cc scooters with their 80 mpg fuel efficiency and easy approachability factor is an option for the department to save some money and improve visibility as well as social interaction in the community.
I know you are big on scooters, though I enjoyed seeing the police on bicycle’s riding in the neighborhood like they used to, with zero fuel efficiency, and burning off some of the belly fat.
Curious…what did DPD do to “self inflict” the Department of Justice lawsuit?
@Hudson- the DPD allegedly had a bias to hiring white officers for years, and promoting them more often than minority officers. The City then asked the Department of Justice to step in and force the issue- costing the taxpayers a ton of money- yet, with no real change in the makeup of the department. This issue is over 20 years old- I talked about it when I first ran for office- in a way that ticked off the safety forces.
Those campaign pieces are still available on this site.
How could the PD have a bias for hiring white officers? From my understanding, the PD does not do the actual hiring of officers but rather it is Civil Service that does. I heard that the City and/or Civil Service failed to have the police test “certified” (what that exactly means, I don’t know) and that is what caused the issue. The hiring comes from a list based on a test that applicants take. I guess I don’t understand how this would be the police department’s fault.
If anything, I would want the most qualified people for the job.
No one has ever published what the ratio is of the ‘race’ of applicants that apply. The police dept has always said that minorities simply don’t apply. Without documentation, they can’t prove this is true … nor can anyone prove it’s un-true.
Scooters Rock!
I’m afraid that because of the “changes” they’ve been forced to implement, that won’t be the case now.
the DPD allegedly had a bias to hiring white officers for years…. (David Esrati)
…and the NFL allegedly has a bias to hiring 300 pound 22 year-olds for the position of offensive linemen for years. Furthermore, the NBA allegedly has a bias towards the hiring people 84 inches of height, and has for years. The fact that most of the aforementioned are black hardly ever enters the conversation, since both of these employers tend to lean towards merit. So should it be for cops in Dayton. The fact that this ongoing dog-and-pony show is entering its’ third decade shows the cavalier attitude and lack of regard the very government entrusted to protect the citizenry has for the citizenry. Just another in the long and ever increasing list of government failure….
The citizens of Dayton will be benefiting from the federal Dept. of Justice lawsuit for many years. We will have a more diverse police and fire department, it will most definitely be more expensive, way beyond the costs incurred in the lawsuit, and I’m positive that service levels will be enhanced in a commensurate manner. (add disclosure statement here?)
Not sure what you are trying to say, Ice Bandit. On one hand, you are saying that merit should be used as the hiring standard, which is apparently what the City has been doing, yet later in the post, you state that it has been “another in a long and ever increasing list of government failure.” The City did bring this lawsuit on itself, however, it was done so by Mr. Lovelace, who feels that he needs to be the moral compass for the system. Mr. Lovelace, in my opinion, has put the City in the dilemma in which it currently finds itself. At this point in the game, with the economy in the dumps and businesses struggling to make it, this should be at the bottom of the list of concerns.
Not sure what you are trying to say, Ice Bandit. (me)
Well, dear me, as Tricky Dick Nixon was fond of saying, “let me make myself perfectly clear.” Economist Roland McClean coined the term government failure to describe the phenomena “when a government intervention causes a more inefficient allocation of goods and resources than would occur without that intervention.” And from “Cash for Clunkers” (which created a shortage and price spike in used car parts) to the Grand-Mammy of them all, the federally financed and enabled housing collapse, just about any government intrusion into the market ends up smelling like something you should put on your crops. So it ain’t that great a stretch, dear me, to describe a process that required the trashing of two civil service tests, a big cash settlement from a city screaming poverty, and still no cops, inefficient. Of course, even with the Lovelace invitation, the feds could have said no. So the Old Bandito contends that not only does this two-decade dysfunction qualify as a government failure, it was probably the scenario Dr. McClean had in mind back in 1956 when he coined the term. But the term government failure? It’s almost redundant…….
As most probably have seen, there’s a new article about the DPD’s recruitment status. Over 3000 people have applied… What’s the normal number ? Anyway, is there something wrong with this:
Is the city supposed to get some vans or buses, round up people, and FORCE them to apply ? DPD could hire only white males, as some claim is the case, but they can’t control who applies!
And as always, the FOP rep, Lt. Randy Beane, does his tired old, us vs. them routine, and tries to undermine command:
And like a Republican- there is zero constructive input- and because he chooses to air the whine in public- it further demoralizes the force and hurts their public reputation.
Both the union and the city deserve better. Or is it that Beane thinks he should be chief?
Are the new majors (appointed directors) going to be required to reside in the city of dayton? Doesnt make sense to promote persons that moved out (FLED) immediately after the residency law was lifted. Hard to stomach a manager promoting downtown that lives in warren county or preble county. Just food for thought…