City to Give Police $44,800 for Overtime, Equipment

The City Council voted unanimously to give $44,842 of the city’s General Fund money to the Police Department to purchase video processing equipment and spike strips and pay police overtime.

The money will be replaced next year when the department receives its yearly supplemental law enforcement funding from the state.

Some council members expressed concerns that the money might be better spent in other areas.

“I think we need to look and see if there are items higher on the priority list than spike strips,” Councilman Frank S. McCoy said.

About $5,700 will be used to buy three expandable spike strips, used to puncture the tires of vehicles involved in high-speed pursuits.

Two patrol cars will each have a set of spike strips. A third set will be kept at police headquarters with the watch commander, Police Chief John D. Hensley said.

Hensley said that while it’s not likely the city, which has had few high-speed chases in recent years, will use the spike strips, the potential is always there, and it’s important that the department be ready.

Also included in the $5,700 expenditure is video processing equipment needed to make wanted posters and missing-persons fliers. The equipment will enable police to enhance photographs and get sharper images.

The majority of the funding, more than $39,000, will pay overtime costs for police to patrol high-traffic areas.

Councilman Tim Keenan raised concerns that the officers might arbitrarily patrol neighborhoods looking for speeders, but Hensley assured the council that officers being paid overtime will work during the evenings and will concentrate only on the city’s heaviest-traffic locations.

Andre Briscoe can be reached at (714) 966-5848.