City OKs grant to hire 6 more cops

SPARKS — Amid a sense of insecurity about the city’s financial future, the Sparks City Council voted unanimously Monday to hire six new police officers through a federal stimulus fund grant.

The officers are guaranteed a paycheck for at least four years, according to the terms of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The first three years of salaries and benefits will be paid by the stimulus money. The fourth year must be paid by the city at a cost of more than $600,000, according to acting police chief Steve Keefer.

However, if in the officer’s fifth year the city is in a severe budget crunch, they could potentially lose their jobs, according to the terms of the grant.

The city is currently looking for about $800,000 from employees in concessions due to budget shortfalls. If that money cannot be found, the police department may have to start layoffs, Keefer said. However, those layoffs would come from the police assistants department and not reduce the number of officers on the street, he added.

The idea to hire came under scrutiny from several council members.

“So you are saying that worst case scenario, we don’t get any concessions, your plan is that no sworn officers get laid off?” Councilwoman Julia Ratti asked Keefer.

His response was a crisp, “Yes.”

Keefer added that he has already conducted interviews and found the six officers he wants to hire, he just needed the City Council’s approval before giving the candidates a firm yes or no.

Three are fresh blood and will be attending a police academy over the next 21 weeks. The other three officers come from jobs at other area public safety agencies and have completed the police academy.

The new officers will bolster a police department that is now below national staffing standards. According to a November presentation by Keefer to the council, the city would need 38 more officers, in addition to the six, to be in line with national policing standards.

The minimum staffing levels for Sparks police officers have not increased in 14 years. In that time, the Sparks population has grown by 32,427 people. Now, the city is watched over by 1.22 officers per 1,000 people. The national average, according to federal standards, is 1.8 officers per thousand.

In that presentation, Keefer also added that the rate of violent crimes in the city was increasing, meaning a raised concern for the safety of officers without plentiful backup.

According to his report, incidents of violent crime in Sparks climbed from around 350 in fiscal year 2007-2008 to more than 450 in 2008-2009.

According to his report, the number of aggravated assaults increased by 10 in last fiscal year. He added that these types of incidents are not “your typical bar fight.” They generally involve some sort of weapon, be it a brick, a broken glass bottle or a knife, he said.