Councilman Says He Will Seek Refund of Utility Tax : Rebate: Police Department hasn’t yet met its hiring goal. Official sees a moral obligation to return some of the $2.5 million raised to hire officers.

Downey’s expensive campaign to put more police officers on duty and to modernize the department’s computers and radios has bogged down, city officials said last week.

To make up for the failure, one city councilman has proposed giving back part of the $2.5 million that residents have paid during the past year in utility taxes. Other officials are wondering if existing and proposed high-tech equipment is needed at a time when City Hall faces a $2-million budget shortfall because of the recession.

It’s been more than a year since the City Council implemented the ongoing utility tax to pay for hiring 27 more police officers. But 20 of the positions remain vacant, Police Chief D. Clayton Mayes said last week.

The department has made 25 new hires since the utility tax was imposed, but retirements, resignations and firings have kept the department from reaching its targeted full strength of 143 officers, Mayes said.

That led Councilman Robert G. Cormack to propose last week that the city rebate some of the utility tax money not yet used in the buildup of the force.

Although the money from the tax goes into the city’s general fund and could legally be used for other purposes, Cormack said he proposed the tax in 1990 specifically to fund the police buildup and nothing else. Because the expansion has not yet been completed, the council has a moral obligation to return some of the utility tax money, the councilman said.

It was not immediately known how much of the $2.5 million generated by the 3% tax has been spent on the limited buildup, said Lee Powell, assistant city manager.

So far, Cormack appears to have the support of only one other council member, Mayor Barbara J. Hayden. Cormack said he will call for a vote on the rebate at a future meeting.

“I’ll battle it to the end,” Cormack said of his intent to push for the rebate.

Councilman Robert S. Brazelton said he supports using the tax money for other police-related purposes, such as improving the radio system, until the additional officers are hired, which will probably be finished over the next year.

“The main function of the public utilities tax was for public safety,” Brazelton said.

City officials are also wringing their hands over the Police Department’s $352,000 computer system, which was installed in the police station in early 1989.

Nearly three years later, only a handful of the city’s 123 officers know how to use the 60-terminal system. In addition, another $378,000 worth of computer terminals purchased last year for police cars are collecting dust in storage.

The problem is that police officials didn’t think all officers needed formal computer training, one official said. The computer-system proposal, which was put together during the tenure of former Police Chief Pete Stone, anticipated that several officers would receive training and pass it on to others, said Capt. Dennis M. Chelstrom, who oversees the department’s computer program.

But it turns out that even the department’s resident expert lacks the training to operate the system at full capacity, Chelstrom said.

A recent survey showed that the computer system is used mostly by clerks for record-keeping and as an electronic notebook to assist dispatchers. Only 21% of field officers and 50% of the department’s detectives know how to use the computer system to pull up the most basic information, Chelstrom said.

And only 15% of the field officers and 13% of the detectives know how to conduct more extensive computer searches for information, he said.

“We’ve got the system, but we’re stuck in the mud,” Chelstrom said.

Chief Mayes has proposed that the city hire a $150,000-a-year consultant to provide training and technical assistance to get the system up and running. The City Council declined to approve the proposal last week, but it is to be reconsidered later in the year.

The situation has stirred the ire of some city officials.

“It’s too bad it was purchased and not made use of right away,” Cormack said. “If the council had known . . . it wouldn’t have been approved.”

City Manager Gerald M. Caton said he is irritated that the Police Department did not envision the need for a $150,000-a-year consultant.

“They should have known that besides buying the hardware, you’d also need to invest in training,” Caton said.

Given the city’s financial condition, officials are also questioning whether the Police Department needs spend general fund monies to buy a new two-way radio system at a cost of $526,000.

The existing radio system has a variety of problems, including 14 dead spots in the city, said Lt. Charles S. Baptista. Officers who enter those dead spots are unable to reach the police station on their hand-held radios.

Council members said last week that they want to investigate whether the city can save money by modifying, instead of replacing, components of the radio system.

“I haven’t made up my mind on the radio system or the computer system,” Councilwoman Diane P. Boggs said.

Meanwhile, the city’s police officers have refused to endorse the computer training and the new radio system.

Officer Dwayne A. Hidalgo, president of the Downey Police Officers Assn., said officers want raises more than they want computer training or new radios. The financially troubled city did not give raises this fiscal year to police officers and other employees.

The department has been racked with controversy during the past year.

Members of the Downey Police Officers Assn., fuming over Mayes’ management style, called for the chief’s firing last April. Just last month, Mayes and the police union agreed to a peace treaty of sorts, pledging to work together.

And Mayor Hayden stirred up a controversy earlier this month when she suggested that Downey might be able to save money by abolishing the Police Department altogether and hiring sheriff’s deputies to patrol the city.

The City Council will debate that proposal at its Feb. 11 meeting.