Police budget reductions and layoffs have impacted law enforcement’s ability to effectively respond to anything less than the most serious crimes. When a quick payday isn’t there to fill the breach, police departments look to go cheap, claims USA Today. Paid and volunteer civilian police jobs are cheaper to support and becoming increasingly common.
Civilian police careers: less than well-paid, less than skilled
USA Today accounts the recession has made it so civilian police careers are making the average Joe a crime-scene investigator, photographer and evidence gatherer. Charges of undermining the professionalism of those who walk the thin blue line have peppered the offices of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), said Executive Director Bill Johnson. There has always been this concern in the profession that civilian law enforcement jobs have to pay with benefits and salary what true police officers are getting.
“The economy ought not to be pushing this,” said Johnson to USA Today
Both spending budget reductions and civilian law enforcement take place
In cities big and small, police budget cuts have made civilian law enforcement essential. It only cost San Francisco $1 million to hire 16 civilians to work on burglary and property crime cases. This would have cost the city a lot more had they employed those actually qualified for the jobs. The program saved $40,000 per person per year due to training, gear and benefit costs. This is what Assistant Law enforcement Chief Thomas Shawyer told USA Today. Eight civilian investigators were employed by the Mesa, Arizona police department in 2009. This has saved about $15,000 per person in salary. The civilian replacements whose charge was to investigate property crimes and fraud had previously worked in customer service at Costco, Barnes and Noble and Southwest Airlines.
In Durham N.C. anything is even worse. After murders and other violent crimes, civilian operatives have to canvass neighborhoods. Despite the fact that it might help make sure more people are on the street now that law enforcement layoffs have took place, Johnson explains, “At that point of contact, we want a full-fledged law enforcement officer dealing with the public.”
Citations
USA Today
usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-10-11-1Acitizenpolice11_ST_N.htm
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