FeedsSafety staff analyzed
More police officers and firefighters are needed to create a safe environment in Inkster – officials say that’s a given.
The police department is down to about 60 sworn command officers and patrolmen – with 19 unfilled positions, including support staff – and the fire department employs 19 fire and rescue workers. That’s only one more than the minimum number specified by the labor agreement with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1577.
The manpower issues were discussed during the Inkster City Council Meeting Monday night. The conditions have existed in the police department for three years, and the fire department for longer.
“I think we need to address staffing in the police and fire departments,” said Councilwoman DeArtiss Coleman-Richardson. “We need to meet and have some sort of session to discuss how to find funds or get grants.”
What spurred the interest in fire and police staffing levels was a July 4 traffic accident that killed one woman and injured another at Michigan Avenue and Inkster Road. The accident occupied most of the available cars, and a tow truck was used to block off the scene, Richardson said.
She added that she was told a call came in to report shots fired on Glen Street while officers were processing the Michigan Avenue scene, and that call initially went unanswered because there were no extra officers.
Deputy Police Chief Greg Hill said the department is doing the best it can possibly do with the resources it has.
“We’re trying to do more with less, and it’s a challenge,” he said.
Staffing at the fire department is also bare bones, said Lt. Jerry Williams, the president of Local 1577.
“The minimum manpower clause is inadequate,” he said. “OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has requirements – called a two-in, two-out rule – and there are times we can’t meet that minimum. I think what the council member is upset about is that we were picking someone up on rescue run, and our truck went past the scene of a multiple-injury accident. But we had someone in the back that was going to Garden City Hospital.”
Williams said the city has been cited by OSHA for violations.
Firefighter staffing levels were determined more than 20 years ago, when a minimum staffing level was added to the union contract. But the city has never significantly increased staffing levels.
Seventeen vacant police patrol positions were cut from the budget in 2003, when then-City Manager Robert Gordon slashed about $600,000 to balance the books for that year. Most have never been replaced. Two positions have been filled, and another officer was hired when the department added the rank of commander.
Lt. Tom Diaz, the president of the Inkster Command Officers Association (ICOA), said he’s surprised to learn the manpower issue is just now coming up publicly. He said he has not seen or heard of a council member asking rank-and-file officers about working conditions, and that it is disingenuous to bring the subject up after three years.
“This has been going on for a long time now,” he said. “It’s not like this is anything new. The officers are professionals and they’re doing the job the best they can. Of course we need the help – who wouldn’t when things are like this?”
City Manager Joyce Parker said developing a long-term strategy to slot new officers into the open positions and expand the fire department is advisable. She also stressed that state and federal resources have been scaled back.
“We need to schedule some meetings to discuss longer term strategies,” she said. “It’s hard to say in the immediate future whether these positions will be reinstated until we look at forecasts.”
Revenue for the city could be long in coming – development projects like Carver Homes may not produce significant funds immediately because the majority of property taxes paid by residents of the subdivision will be captured for 15 to 20 years to pay back a multi-million infrastructure bond issue.
