In the final days leading up to the override vote, confusion over possible cuts at the police department finds both sides arguing over safety.
At the center of the debate are reportedly conflicting comments from Police Chief John O'Brien, who in February assured aldermen that proposed budget cuts would not compromise public safety. But, now he says in a revised statement that the city will have one of the smallest forces in Greater Boston.
Mayor David Cohen, who frequently touts Newton's status as one of America's safest cities, has said he will be forced to leave 15 currently vacant police jobs (14 patrol officers and one civilian clerk) vacant if the $12 million tax override fails tomorrow.
Override supporters have cited the cuts to public safety as a reason to vote "yes." Opponents argued the Newton Police Department has been keeping the town safe and strong with the open jobs and can continue to do so.
O'Brien's statements supported the "no" side's view at a public hearing in February when he said only one of his employees would lose his job if the override fails.
"The good news in this is that from my point of view, is that, as it stands right now, it will probably only be one actual person (who would be laid off)," O'Brien told aldermen. "I'm here to tell the citizens that (even if the override does not pass) your emergency services, when you call the Newton Police, we will be there, our response times will be pretty much (the same), I will be confident they will be pretty much the same."
Recently, O'Brien sent aldermen a revised impact statement, expressing greater concern.
"There is no doubt that the (fiscal 2009) budget cuts will have a profound impact on the Police Department, especially as it relates to customer service, customer satisfaction and basic police," O'Brien wrote.
The loss will mean, according to the statement, a "one-year, 10 percent decrease in full-time officers - the recommended national, statewide and regional police staffing levels for cities the size of Newton begins at approximately 2.1 officers per 1,000 inhabitants. Following the personnel reductions, Newton will have the lowest per population ratio of police officers, 1.6 officers per 1,000, and the Newton Police Department will have the smallest police force in the Greater Boston area to cover one of the largest cities, area-wise, in the entire state of Massachusetts."
In his new statement O'Brien took issue with the citizens group that is opposed to the override.
"Some self-serving individuals or groups have filtered information in order to place a positive 'spin' on the anticipated state of affairs in the police department beginning July 1," he wrote. "One group in particular, Newton for Fiscal Responsibility, has implied in print that 'only actually one person' will be affected by budget cuts in the police department and that 'we'll be as safe as always' here in Newton. This is simply not the case, and the total impact of the cuts needs to run its course."
O'Brien was unavailable for comment. Jeremy Solomon, the mayor's spokesman, said the chief was too busy to talk to the press.
Jeff Seideman, co-chairman of Newton for Fiscal Responsibility, said that O'Brien has been operating with current staffing levels for more than a year and that "to his credit," O'Brien has produced "one of the safest cities in America - he's not all of a sudden going to have to figure out how to work around not filling these positions."
As for O'Brien's comments about his organization, Seideman said O'Brien's remarks to aldermen are a public record. "It's a direct quote from his words, and I think he makes it very clear at most one person (would be cut), and he says himself that the city will be just as safe as it was before."
Last Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Sandy Pooler said that if the override fails, the police department budget would include $911,000 worth of cuts and 14 unfilled patrol officer vacancies.
Newton Police Association President Jay Babcock agreed with sections of O'Brien's impact statement that positions in specialty bureaus, such as detectives, youth officers and traffic officers, will be shifted to cover the openings in patrol.
The vacancies will also cause the restructuring of 911 call-taking in the city's dispatch center.
"Call stacking will be implemented in the Dispatch Center, requiring the retraining of our civilian dispatchers," O'Brien said in the statement. "'Call stacking' basically means that non-emergency calls, e.g., noise complaints and other city ordinance violations, past incidents of malicious damage, past breaking-and-entering cases - will be 'stacked' and officers will not be dispatched until all other emergency calls are answered."
"By not filling the positions, that puts a stress on the manpower," Babcock said, adding he felt shifting resources was the right move to ensure that "you're not going to miss a beat in so far as patrol and public safety."
Although Newton's firefighter union voted to oppose the override, Babcock said police union officials have decided to stay neutral on the override but still showed concern, saying the "officers are going to be pushed to the max" if the cuts take place.
Cohen - who announced he is not seeking re-election with the hopes of separating himself from the controversial override - said in his budget address on May 5, that his "highest priority" in crafting the fiscal 2009 budget proposal was public safety.
"We're very concerned about public safety," Cohen said this week. "I believe we need an override, and that public safety is in fact something that is an issue in the upcoming vote on May 20. I was quite clear in my budget address that the cutting of those positions are not good for the city."
Christopher Loh can be reached at cloh@cnc.com.
