NCJ Number
77019
Journal
Police Magazine Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1981) Pages: 23-31,36-38
Date Published
1981
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article describes both the causes and the effects of severe cutbacks in police services in Michigan, Ohio, and California communities and outlines speical tax initiatives developed by citizens to improve police services.
Abstract
Interviews are conducted with police, union, and city council officials in Flint and Detroit, Mich; in Akron, Toledo, and Summit County, Ohio; and in Palos Verdes Estates, San Marino, Oakland, and Los Angeles, Calif. In the Michigan and Ohio communities, cutbacks in police services have ranged from a reduction of 1,100 officers in Detroit, Mich., to a reduction of 63 officers in Akron, Ohio. Factors contributing to these reductions include the 1980 recession in the auto industry with a resulting loss of tax revenues, police union demands for cost-of-living increases, and projected city budget deficits such as those of Detroit which have gone from $40 million to more than $100 million since 1975. California communities are also suffering cuts in police service as a result of Proposition 13, which cut local property tax revenue by as much as half in 1978. As a result, communities are now turning to special supplementary tax assessments that are specifically earmarked by police departments. These assessments have included Proposition A, which taxes each residence of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., $300 a year and which is expected to raise up to $1 million in extra revenue for a 4-year period; Proposition N, which taxes residents of San Marino, Calif., $175 per parcel of land for a 3-year period; and the '8500' plan of the Los Angeles Police Department, Lost Angeles, Calif., which expected to raise $60 million for the police department over 3 years. The assessments for Palos Verdes Estates and San Marino were passed in June 1980; the Los Angeles plan must still be voted on. An Oakland, Calif., police tax, proposed by the Oakland city council, was voted down in April, 1981. Observers attributed the defeat to a widespread belief that the city government was wasting money in other areas rather than to a dislike of the police department. Photographs are included.