By Steven Alford
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi police plan to operate on a $63.9 million budget next fiscal year, which will fund about 450 officers and more than 230 civilian employees.
The department’s budget is about $400,000 more than last year. The city’s overall budget will have its first public hearing July 10. A boost for the police budget will come from about $10.1 million in grants and another $1.8 million from red-light camera citations.
About 35 full-time positions were moved off the books when about 70 part-time positions for school crossing guards were cut.
A majority of the department’s costs are paid to personnel, more than 60 percent of its proposed budget .
This year police have budgeted a 4 percent pay increase for officers, or about $1.4 million across the board.
The proposed budget also includes about $1.5 million to lease dash-cam video cameras for patrol cars during a five-year period, or about $303,775 annually.
The city’s risk management fund will help pick up that cost.
“We’re going to essentially be investing in the Police Department,” Assistant City Manager Troy Riggs said.
The cameras are something that can foster credibility for the department and cut down on lawsuits, he added.
Cost-cutting measures include delaying a new police academy until January, absorbing positions for those about to retire and cutting overtime in several areas, such as beach patrols and special events. Though some sacrifices had to be made, Police Chief Floyd Simpson said he is satisfied with what the department has put together.
“You always wish that things were better so that you could do more, particularly for me in the area of technology,” he said. “But I’m happy where we are at, and I’ve got my eye on the future.”
Savings have been found by getting out of some city leases including police office space at the Tax Appraisal District.
Cutting the combined leases will save the department about $82,651 in payments.
Money from drug seizures also has helped pay for $313,000 in construction. After opening a new impound lot in March, police are able to impound more vehicles and enforce insurance laws, another revenue generator.
While the amount of sworn officers is projected to dip to about 437, or 14 below authorized strength, 18 cadets graduated from the police academy in May.
It will take about a year before they can patrol alone.
To compensate, next year police plan to rely even more so on datadriven policing with crime analysts crunching data and pointing officers toward crime hot spots.
Crime reduction must continue to be a priority for city officials, Simpson said, because crime rates are one of the first things outside businesses and future residents look at.
“Corpus is like many cities. We have to dig ourselves out of a pretty significant hole before we can start reaping the benefits of better economic times,” Simpson said. “But I think it’s going to be sooner than later.”
Copyright 2012 SCRIPPS Howard Publications