An ordinance to approve the purchase of vehicles for the Springfield Police Department sparked a larger conversation about the city council’s role in monitoring city departments’ spending during Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
Some Springfield City Council members called for more use of their power to set policy as others argued for reliance on the mayor’s discretion to introduce new programs and allot funding.
The meeting moved quickly with City Clerk Chuck Redpath reading ordinances as Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan called each one to a vote. Most items were unanimously approved to be moved to the consent agenda for a final vote at next week’s meeting, ranging from $30,000 for the Springfield Area Art Council to sponsor New Year’s Eve festivities downtown to nearly $3 million for a road construction project.
Then, proceedings became heated in connection to an ordinance for 10 new Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Utility vehicles for the Springfield Police Department at a cost of more than $620,000.
Five of the SUVs were designated for patrolling and another for a K-9 unit. The remaining four were for “admin use” at a lower cost of $55,426 each.
SPD Chief Joseph Behl said money used to cover the cost includes a Justice Assistance Grant, which are federal dollars administered through the U.S. Department of Justice, and restricted DUI forfeiture funds. This refers to funds generated from the sale of vehicles in the possession of the police department.
The largest share of funds, $465,000, will come from the city’s corporate fund, Behl said.
Ward 6 Ald. Jennifer Notariano saw an opening in Behl’s response to bring up a challenge she said she’s had in conversations with Mayor Misty Buscher and her administration to find support and funding for a wellness program for the Springfield Police Department.
“It’s just interesting to see us use so much money on new vehicles for the police every year, and we can’t spare $75,000 for a program that would help the officers and help the community,” Notariano said.
The program she referred to is called Benchmark Analytics, which asserts its system helps “agencies support officers, reduce risk and improve measurable outcomes.”
“If we’re looking at moving the department into the tech age and actually using our data to improve outcomes and make sure that the officers have the resources they need and we’re able to spot problems before they come up, before someone destroys their career with a DUI, that would be wonderful, right?”
Notariano said she’s been advocating for the program for several years, initially bringing it up with the former police chief.
“And the most recent excuse that I’ve been given is that there is no money for this year,” Notariano said. “That’s why I’ve been asking to see current expenditures from the budget so that perhaps we would reallocate some money away from something else.”
Notariano asked Behl,“Can you speak to the need to replace these admin use interceptors?”
He said the four vehicles will be used by detectives and will replace the department’s Ford Fusions, the mid-size cars they currently operate.
“We’re milking them along and trying to get everything we can out of them,” Behl said. “But at this point, we’re having as many service issues with them as we would be investing in something.”
Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory asked the chief on the reason for the switch from cars to SUVs.
“They don’t sell them (Ford Fusion, Ford Focus) and the Interceptors on state bid,” Behl responded.
Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley voiced her support for SPD’s purchase of new vehicles and called for discussion for funding of a police department wellness program to be a separate debate.
“I want to be real careful that we not conflate that expense with these cars,” Conley said. “I’ve been supporting us getting back into a more regular cycle of buying vehicles. A lot of the people on the horseshoe weren’t here for the first term, but we had vehicles where officers were complaining of carbon monoxide issues in the car.”
And while other alderpersons expressed their support for the police, questions regarding the ordinance continued.
“How many miles are usually on a car (till we) scrap it?” said Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer.
“It just depends,” Behl said. “Some of them last quite a while – 115, 120, 130,000, which, of course, for a regular car, that’s probably not too bad. For a squad car, it runs a lot, sometimes 24 hours a day.”
Hanauer continued, “This year alone, how many vehicles have we lost or have gotten too old or had accidents?”
Behl said he wasn’t sure, but estimated more than 10 over the last 12 months.
Hanauer said he thought any new initiatives, such as the wellness program, “should come from the police department and the administration.”
Later in the discussion, Hanauer said the council couldn’t force the administration to spend money on the program, although he thought it was a good idea.
“And, there’s not a dang thing that we on this council can do about it,” he said. “That’s the purpose of the strong mayor form of government.”
In contrast, Notariano argued “it is this council’s responsibility to have oversight over the police department, believe it or not, and also to set policy for the police department, believe it or not.”
Ward 3. Ald. Roy Williams commended the alderpersons for their line of questions and shared Notariano’s view of the council’s job as an oversight body.
“If you’re going to be the chief or the department head, you’ve got to come with your homework,” Williams said.
“And there’s nothing wrong with us asking questions.We should ask questions because we’re lopsided right now. Everything goes to a couple of departments. The rest are suffering.”
The ordinance for new vehicles for the police department and a renewal contract for ShotSpotter, an acoustic surveillance system that detects gunfire, are scheduled to be brought up for debate and voted on at next week’s City Council meeting.
