50 More cops responds to Rybak's response

The group 50 more cops has responded to Rybak's address in a press release. Due to format problems, I can't publish the whole thing (a table included gets messed up). Here is the rest of the text. I'll link to the original as soon as it becomes available.


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50morecops.org

For Immediate Release September 24, 2007

Contacts:
Carleton Crawford Peter Tharaldson
CD 5 Republican Chair CD 5 Independence Chair
612-384-0356 612-578-4293


Mayor Rybak’s Proposed Budget: Short on Cops; Long on Taxes. But who’s counting?

More than 600 Residents Call on Mayor to Keep His Promises

(Minneapolis, Minn.) -- In Monday’s budget address, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak proposed adding 18 more police officers to the force, falling far short of a promise in 2006 to fully staff the Minneapolis Police Department to 893 officers. The Mayor himself explained the rationale and logistics in his 2006 budget address:

“The most powerful tool in any crime fighting strategy is to put more police officers on the street. We did that in last year’s budget and this year we are adding an additional 43 more officers. By adding these officers, we will return to a police force of 893 sworn officers . . . .” Mayor’s 2007 Budget Address, August 15, 2006

The Mayor’s budget address today does not reflect the pressing safety needs of Minneapolis, the recent spike in violent crimes, and his numbers are misleading. But really, who’s counting? It’s hard to tell.

BUDGETED DOLLARS DIVERTED FROM TRUE PUBLIC SAFETY?
The Mayor at several points in his budget address cited increased expenditures on police as a demonstration of his commitment to public safety. The question is: where have the dollars have gone? In 2006, the Mayor and City Council said the dollars would go to staff a police force with 893 sworn officers.

Adding new technologies to crime prevention is not as useful as putting officers on the street, which the Mayor himself has suggested. Mayor Rybak was right in 2006 when he identified putting more police officers on the street as the “most powerful tool in any crime fighting strategy.”

So, how many officers do we have? Or are we getting? Who knows. Quotes from the Mayor and staff (see addendum below) have great discrepancies. On several occasions, Rybak has not accounted for officers on leave when generating total police counts. Further, Rybak’s numbers do not count for attrition and replacement of existing officers. So Rybak’s officer count starts short, and ends up shorter.

CRIME IS A PROBLEM
The Mayor continues to cite a single year crime drop in Minneapolis as a demonstration that fewer cops works just fine. In doing so, Rybak ignores the fact that crime has gone up over multiple years despite year to year fluctuations. For example, violent crime in Minneapolis is 12% higher in 2007 than it was two years ago, in 2005.


- Rybak’s Empty Promises Continued -



Rybak’s Empty Promises … Page 2)

MAYOR RYBAK: SHOW US THE MONEY !
The Mayor’s budgetary numbers are misleading as well. While local government aid (LGA) cuts as a result of a bipartisan override of Governor Ventura’s veto in 2002 have reduced revenues the City wishes it had, these cuts are a much smaller fraction of overall increased revenues generated from property tax increases. Moreover, the Mayor uses 2002/2003 as a starting point for describing what “normal” LGA is. We went back to years prior to 2002 and found 2002/2003 to be an anomaly.



[table with city budget numbers since 1998 goes here]



Mayor Rybak’s previous promise to fully staff the police department suggests that funds have been available, but that City Hall mismanagement has led to our public safety problem. We are calling for an immediate timeline to get police staffing back up to the promised 893 officers.

600 CITIZENS AGREE: 50 MORE COPS NOW!
Minneapolis residents are tired of Rybak’s empty promises. More than 600 City residents have joined a campaign for “50 More Cops Now” by putting lawn signs in their yards, calling on Mayor Rybak to keep his promises. The campaign is a joint effort by the 5th Congressional District Independence and Republican Parties, but other concerned Democrats have also joined as well – making this a multi-partisan effort to make the city of Minneapolis safer.

To request a lawn sign, or get involved, go to www.50morecops.org.


Addendum: PRIOR QUOTES BY MAYOR AND STAFF REGARDING POLICE STAFFING

“The most powerful tool in any crime fighting strategy is to put more police officers on the street. We did that in last year’s budget and this year we are adding an additional 43 more officers. By adding these officers, we will return to a police force of 893 sworn officers . . . .” Mayor’s 2007 Budget Address, August 15, 2006

“The 2007 budget supports: . . . – Hire 43 new police officers, an increase of 114 officers on the street and a restoration of the police force to 893 officers, the same number before state budget cuts.” Mayor R.T. Rybak News Release, December 11, 2006

“By hiring 114 cops over two years, Minneapolis will have replaced all the officers lost as a result of state budget cuts . . . .” Mayor R.T. Rybak News Release, January 10, 2007

“Minneapolis faces a serious public safety challenge that requires us to continue to make significant investments to fight crime.” “The most immediate and powerful tool in our crime fighting strategy is to increase the visibility and presence of police officers on the street. Minneapolis is doing this by growing our force by over 100 officers, which will return our police force to 893 sworn officers – the same number we had in 2002 . . . .” Statements of Mayor R.T. Rybak and Police Chief Tim Dolan to joint session of Minnesota Senate Public Safety Finance Committee and House Public Safety Budget Committee, February 6, 2007

“There are 872 sworn officers in the MPD . . . . This is an increase of more than 100 officers in the last two years – returning to the number we had in 2003 . . . .” Jeremy Hanson statement, Minneapolis Issues Forum, May 24, 2007

“All of the 872 sworn officer positions the mayor called for and funded in the city budget are filled. This is an increase of more than 100 officers in the last two years – returning to the number we had in 2003 . . . .” Star Tribune letter-to-the-editor, Chief Tim Dolan, June 1, 2007