Hamilton County, Cincinnati mull proposed police, sheriff merger

Members of Cincinnati City Council are considering a proposal to merge ci ty police patrols within the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, according to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Council members Roxanne Qualls, Wendell Young and Jeff Berding proposed the idea to help offset a $60 million budget deficit.

However, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has promised a veto, should council pursure the option. In a letter to Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, Mallory said he sees the proposal as “a brazen and shameless attempt at union-busting” that he will never support, the Enquirer reported.

“The mere suggestions to lay off all of the dedicated men and women of our police department and replace them with an outside agency is an insult to the proud tr adition of the Cincinnati Police Department’s 207-year history,” Mallory wrote Leis.

According to the Enquirer, the proposed plan calls for the city to lay off its 790 patrol officers. The city would then pay the sheriff’s department for patrols, who would hire many of the city officers to do those patrols.

The rest of the police department would remain under the chief’s supervision.

The plan is an alternative to the mayor’s budget, which proposes laying off 131 Cincinnati police officers and 144 firefighters to help cover a $60 million shortfall in the city’s budget. 

From:

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis

To:

Mayor Mark Mallory

City of Cincinnati

801 Plum Street

Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Dear Mayor Mallory:

I have been contacted by representatives of the City of Cincinnati, seeking information about the feasibility of contracting police services with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. This correspondence is in response to those inquiries.

I am aware that the City of Cincinnati is experiencing great difficulty in developing a budget in line with diminishing revenues during this recession, and must consider ways to continue to provide government services to those who live and work in the City, while reducing expenditures.

After careful consideration of the information provided to me, and review of Police Department proposed budgeting and organizational structure, I am thoroughly convinced that a single agency providing law enforcement service to both the City and County would significantly improve the quality of service at a greatly reduced overall cost. As a starting point, the current City proposed police personnel budget would be sufficient to provide an enhanced level of patrol services. Over time, significant additional savings from the entire proposed budget, including capital expenditures, could no doubt be achieved.

By consolidating, it would be possible to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative administrative positions which now exist, and focus those resources toward the delivery police service to our community. put, such a strategy would allow us to have more officers conducting patrol and investigative activities, at less cost. In addition to eliminating unnecessary and duplicative administrative positions, the City would immediately realize an approximate 200/0 reduction in cost officer, due to differences between the agencies in employee compensation plans. Once the consolidation was implemented, we would no doubt find additional ways to improve service and reduce costs. I look forward to continuing to deliberate with you and other City officials during the implementation phase, should the City decide to proceed. Once decision is made, I am confident that consolidation could be accomplished within a reasonable period of time.

As you know, the Sheriff's Office experienced a similar reduction in funding during the past several years. As County revenues diminished, the Sheriff's Office budget, which is a large portion of the General Fund, was reduced from $75 million annually to a current budget of approximately $56 million. To respond to funding reductions of this magnitude, it was necessary to rethink our traditional methods for service delivery. One modification which resulted from this process was a change in scheduling for patrol deployment. Instead, the traditional three-shift scenario for scheduling of patrol personnel, HCSO adopted a two-shift twelve-hour plan to cover the 24-hour clock. We found that we were able to provide the same level of service at reduced cost. 

Other non-traditional scheduling plans were also employed. Despite some initial opposition, the modified patrol plan has been well accepted by those employees affected by it. Those personnel indicate that they are not unduly fatigued by the additional time on duty, and particularly like the off day scheduling provided by the

deployment plan. A dramatic reduction in sick time usage by those personnel has been an unanticipated windfall advantage of non-traditional plan.

To cope with reductions in funding, we had to develop other strategies to continue service delivery in more efficient ways. The concept of "doing more and doing it better with less" has become the preoccupation that dominates our management philosophy. 

We simply had no choice, and perhaps the City is in that same position today.

City and County governments have worked together in the past, locally to consolidate services in the administration of the courts, incarceration of offenders, law enforcement records keeping, regional drug trafficking investigations, provision of metropolitan sewer and water delivery services, and other endeavors. The consolidation of City and County law enforcement agencies, as contemplated here, has also been done successfully in other cities. I look forward to meeting with you and other City representatives to further discuss this innovative concept.

cc: All Members of Council

City Cincinnati

With regards,

Simon Leis, Jr.

Hamilton County Sheriff

Members of Cincinnati City Council are considering a proposal to merge city police patrols within the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, according to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Council members Roxanne Qualls, Wendell Young and Jeff Berding proposed the idea to help offset a $60 million budget deficit.

However, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has promised a veto, should council pursue the option. In a letter to Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, Mallory said he sees the proposal as “a brazen and shameless attempt at union-busting” that he will never support, the Enquirer reported.

“The mere suggestions to lay off all of the dedicated men and women of our police department and replace them with an outside agency is an insult to the proud tradition of the Cincinnati Police Department’s 207-year history,” Mallory wrote Leis.

According to the Enquirer, the proposed plan calls for the city to lay off its 790 patrol officers. The city would then pay the sheriff’s department for patrols, who would hire many of the city officers to do those patrols.

The rest of the police department would remain under the chief’s supervision.

The plan is an alternative to the mayor’s budget, which proposes laying off 131 Cincinnati police officers and 144 firefighters to help cover a $60 million shortfall in the city’s budget.