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Executing and Monitoring Your Budget

John W. Liles II

LEPSL 590

December 10, 2018

Matthew O'Deane
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Executing and Monitoring Your Budget

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As the newly appointed Chief of Any Town USA’s Police Department it is with great

pleasure that I introduce our departments budgetary goals in this legislative review. As part of

our budget planning process we wanted to make it a point to keep in mind the very important

premise that we are here to serve the needs of our community. Therefore, balancing operational

issues within our department will be met with the public’s best interest in mind. We must never

loose sight of idea that, as public servants, we must remain thoughtful caretakers and guardians

of our community.

Strategic Plan

The strategic plan of our department is to encapsulate several core principles. These

principles are defines in our agencies Mission, Vision, Values and Goals.

Mission- To serve people through direct engagement and improve all quality of life.

Vision- Reduce crime and built trust within our community.

Values- Integrity, Courage, Accountability, Respect for People and Excellence

Goals- Build trust through transparency

Act as guardians of the community

Develop and value community relations

Promote employee wellness & safety

Train & educate, both us and the community we serve

Thank you for your attention to this legislative review. As always I will make myself

available to answer any and all questions in regards to the upcoming budget cycle and our

departments goals and priorities.

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ADDRESSING COMMUNITY AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES

Each of these goals aims to increase trust between the community and our law

enforcement officers as well as to improve community relations. One of the most important

directions our agency is taking is centered on Community Oriented Policing (COP). COP is a

philosophy that supports the systematic use of community partnerships to address conditions

within the community being policed. COP is a collaborative partnership between individuals

within the community and police agencies. The goal in COP is to increase trust in the police and

develop solutions together. These efforts are done through effective communication, outreach,

and education. Faith-based groups members are a huge part of the success to COP. Each group

is a valuable mechanism to creating effective communication (Grant & Terry 2012).

With COP in mind the budget calls for an increase of 10 officers in FY 19/20. There will

be 20 officers hired in this budget cycle, however 10 are anticipated to be lost to attrition. The

addition of these 10 new officers will also assist with any upcoming challenges facing the

community.

Line item budgeting is the more preferred budgeting system for law enforcement

agencies in that it can accurately predict the needs for the following year. General reoccurring

costs in personnel, capital and operational expenditures can be more accurately predicted (Carlee

2008). The line-item budget is what we will adherent to moving forward with our budgeting

process. Our proposed budget will begin by listing our line-tem personnel expenditures,

followed by our capital expenses then finally operation costs. At the conclusion of the line-items

listed we will provide further explanation for decisions made.

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PERSONNEL

Sworn Employees (all salaries include pay and benefits)

1 Chief - $175,000 1 Captain - $150,000

2- Lieutenants - $250,000

14 Sergeants - $1,960,000

10 – Detectives $800,000

48 Police Officers - $3,600,000

Civilian Staff (all salaries include pay and benefits)

10 Dispatchers - $600,000

3 Auto Mechanics $210,000

1 Crime Analyst $75,000

1 Property Room Clerk - $50,000

5 Admin Clerks - $200,000

Total Personal Costs: $8,070,000

CAPITAL COSTS

New Fleet – Five (5) vehicle replacements @ $38,000 each - $190,000.

Body Cameras – 82 cameras @ $800 per camera $65,600.

New Dispatch / Automated Records System – $300,000.

Taser Replacements – Purchase price for a Taser is $400 @ 82 officers are $32,800.

K-9 Dogs – $16,000 for 2 service K-9’s

Facial Recognition Technology – $2,000, for 2 camera systems.

GPS Trackers - $100,000

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Crime Mapping - $300.000

Less lethal Force Options - $200,000

Total Capital Costs: $1,206,400

OPERATIONAL COSTS

Vest Replacements – $76,000

Uniform –$76,000.

Training Costs –$30,000

Recruiting / Advertising Costs – $1,500,000

Ammunition –$22,000

Safety Equipment (gloves and other misc. protective equipment) –$13,000

Office supplies –$6,600

Total Operational Costs $1,723,600

Total personnel, Capital and Operational costs budgeted for FY19/20

Personal Costs: $8,070,000

Capital Costs: $1,206,400

Operational Costs: $1,723,600

Total $11,000,000
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EXPLANATION OF BUDGETING DECISIONS AND JUSTIFICATIONS

When deciding on our department’s capital and operation costs we took into

consideration that some items were non-negotiable and were necessary to be included into this

FY’s budget. These items were vests, uniforms, recruiting costs and ammo. Recruiting will be

addressed under personnel.

Vest replacement, Ammunition and Uniforms

Vests were at the recommended 5-year replacement period and will be replaced in this

budget year. Uniforms and ammo are also a reoccurring line item that was anticipated and

included into the budget.

Uniform allowance

Each officer gets a yearly uniform allowance of $1000 each, which has been budgeted.

Body Worn Cameras

In an effort to increase community transparency, our department will purchase body worn

cameras (BWC) and data storage. The cost of one camera and applicable video storage is

$800.00 per officer. We have eliminated the required wearing of the BWC for the Chief,

Captain, LT and Detective positions in an effort to maximize savings by purchasing cameras for

uniformed patrol officers.

Automated License Plate Readers (LPR)

At a cost of $300,000, money allocated for LPR’s is be not being included in the overall

budget and is pending Grant submission and approval. Knowing that grants are never a

guarantee if the grant is not awarded then LPR’s will be addressed in FY20/21.
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Recruiting / Advertising Costs

Our department is committed to hire twenty (20) officers to attain a net of ten (10)

officers after attrition. To accomplish this goal $1,500,000 has been allocated to fulfilling this

goal. The money allocated will be

Training Costs

During this budget cycle, our department has allocated $30,000 for training. All classes

are $500 per attendee. Some classes officers are being sent to will help attain several of our goals

and objectives. These classes include sensitivity training, force options training, leadership

training, intelligence led police training, community policing theory, investigation development

class and gang identification.

New Dispatch/Automated Records System

Our current system is antiquated and in need of being upgraded. As part of the

justification for allocating such a large amount of funding is a result of taking into account public

safety. Slow response times of officers are in large part due to staffing concerns, however

increased communication systems will certain aid in increasing arrival times. Thus reducing

further victimization of our citizens. Therefore monies allocated to complete the system upgrade

will be factored into FY19/20.

New Vehicles

Currently our department has sixteen (16) police vehicles, nine (9) are Ford Explorer

SUV’s and seven (7) vehicles are the old Ford Crown Victoria’s that are not in good condition.

We have budgeted for the purchase of five (5) additional Ford Explorer SUV’s. We believe this

purchase will allow us to add to the current fleet and maintain staffing needs until the next fiscal
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year. After the $300,000 upgrade to our new dispatch system is complete this FY we anticipate

being able to add to our fleet with the capital budget funds in the future.

CONCLUSION

Violent crime is on the rise. Public trust of police has been negatively impacted by high

profile physical confrontations. The community demands more from their guardians. These are

a few of the facts facing our agency that we must address. In addition, we must take steps to

meet the demands of the community by being thoughtful stewards of the funds allocated. We

need to formulate our budget priorities in a manner that puts us in the most advantageous

position to meet these goals. It is why we have focused this FY on adding more officers, more

vehicles, increase response times by optimizing our communications system and finally focus on

training, specifically less lethal options and de-escalation.

As part of the future training described our departments purchase of the new BWC’s will

provide the transparency to the community they deserve. All officers in uniformed operations

will be equipped with a BWC and trained how to effectively employ it. In addition to helping

reduce crime, LPR readers will help in our fight to combat crime by allowing us to pinpoint

where offenders’ locations are before, during and after their criminal activity.

Finally, by increasing our staff we will look to add increased presence in our schools.

Our departments’ leadership will take advantage of the additional resources to implement

programs that might deter youth against joining gangs or choosing to engage in criminal activity.

Thank you for your attention in the matter of reviewing Anytown USA’s budgeting goals. We

look forward to interacting with you in the days and to come.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chief of Police/Any town USA

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Reference

Grant, H., & Terry, K. (2012). Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Koss, J. P. (2005). Operations Budgets: Capital & Expense. Beverage World, 124(9),62.

Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-

com.contentproxy.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=dth&AN=18477548&site=ehost-

live&scope=site

Lombardo, J. (2018). Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Budget FY18/19. Retrieved

from: https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Finance/FACAgendas/FY2018-

2019%20Tentative%20Budget.pdf

Ramsey, C., & Robinson, L. Co-Chairs (2015) The Presidents Task Force on 21st Century

Policing