Bartow to Keep Police

BARTOW | City commissioners in Bartow decided Monday night to reject a proposed contract with the Polk County Sheriff's Office and pump the necessary money into the city's Police Department to make it more effective.

"I have a lot of confidence in the Sheriff's Office," said Commissioner Adrian Jackson, "but I don't see why a town of 16,000 people can't afford a police department."

Commissioner Wayne Lewis said he was uncomfortable placing the city's future in the sheriff's hands.

"We are risking everything on one fellow - the sheriff," he said, "whoever that may be."

After nearly two hours of public comment and commissioner discussion, the vote came down to a 3-2 split.

Mayor James Clements voted with Lewis and Jackson to keep the department, while Commissioners Leo Longworth and Pat Huff favored the Sheriff's Office contract.

The proposed contract projected a $3.7 million to $4.2 million cost savings for the city over the next five years, based on an analysis by City Manager George Long.

Long told the commissioners that Bartow eventually would reach a point where it could no longer afford police services.

"If it happens today or not, it's going to happen," he said.

The city can't match the economies of scale that the Sheriff's Office has, he said.

"We have an obligation to provide (residents) with quality service at a fair price," he said, "and benefits the people in our department in a way that we are never going to be able to do ourselves."

Long said the city's tight financial position precludes competitive wages, which has led to staffing problems.

He said a recent opening for a police officer drew only six applicants.

Two of those were eliminated before the interview process, he said, and the other four didn't make it beyond the interview.

The position remains open.

Lewis asked if that response could have been linked with the department's uncertain future, but Long said he didn't think so.

The department, totaling 40 sworn officers, has seen 39 officers leave since March 2002, and 13 civilian vacancies since January 2005.

"This has been under consideration by the city for about a year," Long said. "It hasn't been a secret."

More than a hundred police officers and their families crowded the commission chambers Monday, arguing to keep the department intact.

Though most would receive a pay increase, better benefits and more opportunities for training and career advancement by transferring to the Sheriff's Office, their applause for speakers who supported keeping the Police Department suggested that those issues didn't matter.

Paul White, a lifelong Bartow resident, suggested that the commission cut other programs, such as those in parks and recreation, to find additional funding for police.

"There are cuts that can be made, if need be," he said. "Look at the recreation department."

About a dozen people voiced support for the keeping the Police Department, though none of them worked there.

No one spoke in favor of the contract, though Jackson said he'd received many calls supporting the proposal.

Under the proposed contract, the city would have saved an estimated $740,0000 during the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, and the Sheriff's Office would have provided at least the same level of law enforcement service that the city is getting now.

The contract called for 28 sworn officers, six sergeants, four corporals and 15 support personnel.

All but two of the current officers in the department would have made the move, though two of the higher ranking officers would have to have retired or taken a demotion.

They would, however, have kept the same pay.

The contract provided jobs in Bartow for all but seven of the department's support personnel.

Those seven would have been assigned jobs elsewhere in the Sheriffs Office, said Larry Williams, director of law enforcement operations for the city.

Commissioners are scheduled to meet for a budget workshop Wednesday, and are expected to discuss funding for Police Department.

[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. ]