Bad News: Police Layoffs of Up to 30 Percent for East St. Louis… Blame It on Obama’s Terrible Economy
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on August 3, 2010
East St. Louis's economy has become so bad, up to 30 percent of police will be laid off
As the economy worsens, and Team Obama continues to be in denial, this news about law enforcement layoffs in East St. Louis is chilling. East St. Louis is located in St. Clair County, Illinois, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri (my title for this post has been corrected, as it originally stated “Missouri”).
And it could be just the beginning of other metro areas across the country that are financially bleeding and may to have to cut back on police protection. Why is it always the police, the firemen… never the six-figure bureaucrats… who get laid off?
THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT.
East St. Louis To Lay-Off Nearly 1/3 of Police Force
From St. Louis Today, Layoffs to gut East St. Louis police force:
Rev. Joseph Tracy said he’s tired of going to funerals. And now, he suspects he’ll be going to more of them.
“It’s open field day now,” said Tracy, the pastor of Straightway Baptist Church here. “The criminals are going to run wild.”
Gang activity. Drug dealing. Cold-blooded killing. Tracy worries that a decision to shrink the police force by almost 30 percent will bring more of everything.
The pastor voiced his concern on Friday at a raucous special City Council meeting at which East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 37 employees, including 19 of its 62 police officers, 11 firefighters, four public works employees, and three administrators. The layoffs take effect on Sunday.
Parks said the weak economy has robbed the city of badly needed money. For example, revenue from the Casino Queen was $900,000 below budget expectations last year. There are no signs of improvement, Parks said.
“I want our citizens to know we have some of the bravest police officers and firefighters in the country,” Parks said. “But we don’t have the money to pay them. We have to have fiscal responsibility.”
City officials wanted police and fire unions to accept a furlough program that would have required employees to take two unpaid days in each twice monthly pay period. If accepted, emergency responders would have seen a pay cut of about 20 percent for the rest of the year.
Parks said the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement. On Friday, he stared at a standing-room only crowd and told his emergency response chiefs words they didn’t want to hear: “Tell your workers to start packing their things.”
The news spurred shouts from the crowd.
“The blood is on your hands,” yelled Michael Hubbard, an East St. Louis police officer.
Hubbard said he will be the lone patrolman for East St. Louis’ midnight shift when the cuts go into effect.
“This is devastating,” Hubbard told a reporter after the meeting.
East St. Louis has been crippled by crime and poverty for decades. Police officials say the cuts will mean fewer officers for patrols, investigations and juvenile cases. Fire officials said the region should be upset because the department will have fewer people at the ready to fight fires on some of the region’s major highways and bridges.
From ABC Chicago, East St. Louis grapples with police layoffs:
(WLS) — In downstate East St. Louis, there were fewer police officers and firefighters on the job Monday.
Nearly 40 workers were laid off after a city council vote over the weekend, including 19 police officers, 11 firefighters and other city employees.
East St. Louis officials say the layoffs could have been avoided if the city’s union workers would have accepted furlough days.
The layoffs now leave about 30 police officers to patrol an area that has a high murder rate.
“Now, when we make a phone call, if someone is in another area, we may not get a response, but too long of a time for people to really feel safe,” said Rosalind Ralleigh.
“We hope they’ll come to the table at that point, and let’s discuss some solutions and let’s see if we can bring everybody back to work,” said Mayor Alvin Parks.
The union reportedly will protest the layoffs and plans to take steps to get the jobs back.
From FOX News, East St. Louis To Lay-Off Nearly 1/3 Of Police Force:
Nearly one third of the police officers in the crime plagued city of East St. Louis will be laid off this Sunday. Firefighters are being laid off as well as several other city workers. That announcement came on Friday from city officials after a furlough deal couldn’t be worked out.
The police department is getting hit the hardest by the cuts. a total of 19 police officers will be laid off. The department only has a total force of 61. Police Chief Lenzie Stewart says personnel currently assigned to special operations units will have to be pulled back in to patrol the streets. Stewart also says he will be asking for help from other agencies including the Illinois state police.
About a quarter of the fire department is also being laid off. 11 firefighters are losing jobs out of a total force of 44. Four public works employees are getting pink slips as well as three other city administrators.
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