A Tough One

Last Thursday I was privileged to attend what turned out to be a tremendously enlightening forum on the future of our city. In particular, the forum addressed the current state of law enforcement in New Albany and some potential solutions to the accelerating decline in public safety that we face.

In the aftermath, I've conferred with a number of others who attended the forum and we've agreed on one thing: it would be awfully hard to convey the import of that evening in even a month of blog postings. First, a little background.

New Albany police officers, acting as members of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lee Deich Lodge 99 (FOP), presented what can only be called a "state of the city" report. Lodge president Paul Haub, a city detective, was joined by shift commanders Julie Condra and Eric Higdon and detective Carrie East. Their report was couched in terms of solutions, but was nonetheless jolting.

Many of us had become aware of portions of the dismal diagnosis of the current state of public safety, but none of us had ever been given the opportunity to hear such a comprehensive exposition of the deteriorating state of affairs and the difficult choices we, as a city, must face in the coming months and years.

The overriding sentiment of the attendees was that more, many more people needed to hear this presentation. We were assured that such opportunities would occur.

It is remarkable that such a presentation had never been made before in such a public way. The FOP leadership, during the past 18 months, recognized that much of what they "knew" had never been shared with the residents of New Albany, the people most affected by the structural and political impediments to modern law enforcement.

The FOP, which serves as the collective bargaining unit, or union, for our police force, recognized that it had become imperative to make the public aware of these critical deficiencies.

Traditionally, the city executive and force leadership demurred from frank talk, at least in public, about these problems. It was believed, perhaps rightly, that blunt discussion of the problems the NAPD faces might reflect badly, that it might lead to a belief that our force was failing to perform its job. It is to the credit of the incoming administration, and particularly new chief Greg Crabtree, and the union that these serving officers were permitted, indeed encouraged, to engage in this serious educational effort.

This blogger would be doing a disservice to try to relay all that was learned. May I just say this: You MUST take advantage of the next opportunity to hear this presentation, which we are assured will come. Hearing it from me won't have nearly the impact it will have once you've heard it from our line officers.

But I will try to give you a few highlights so you can decide for yourself if it's worth your time.

The Tribune reported recently that the national average force strength for municipal law enforcement agencies is 2.4 officers per 1,000 in population. For New Albany, measured against the most recent U.S. Census department estimate of ~37,000 residents, that would translate into 88 officers. That counts Ottumwa, Iowa and Berkeley, California. It includes Atlanta, Georgia and Midway, Kentucky.

Do you know the current force complement of New Albany's police department? 55 officers. By the time you read this, the number might be nearer to 60 officers. Add three in senior management (chief, assistant chief, and major) and you get to 63. Consider that half a score of officers are expected to retire within the next three years and you begin to see that New Albany has, through design or neglect, decided over the past decades to divert resources from law enforcement. That must change.

It is often bandied about that New Albany's police force is "the highest-paid force in the state of Indiana." Not true. Not even close. It might have been true for a year or two in the 90s, but it is no longer the case.

Consider that these 55 officers, or 55 plus a few more first-year officers, must cover 21 shifts each week, holidays, weekends, what have you. Consider further that each of these officers is entitled to vacations of up to four weeks, comp time, personal time, holiday time, and convalescent leave when injured, and the complement is further reduced.

For the sake of argument, let's say that 50 officers are available during any given week. With 21 shifts to cover, that means these 50 officers can provide 250 shifts a week. Divide by 21 and you get something like 12 officers per shift. But even our restricted force is organized to have evidence technicians, shift supervisors, and an investigative corps of detectives. Subtract a few undercover officers and you quickly see that on any given shift on any given day, New Albany is served by about 7 cops. That's seven available to respond to traffic accidents, traffic enforcement, domestic disturbances, assaults, rapes, robberies, and burglaries. Major cases don't happen every day, but those impose an added burden on the force structure.

We, the civilians, might argue whether that is enough for a city like ours. But there is one group in our midst that has made its decision. That group has decided that New Albany is underpoliced.

That group knows that New Albany's residents and New Albany's leaders have decided that 55 or 60 officers is enough. They know better.

Our lack of seriousness about making New Albany safe and law-abiding has put out the welcome mat to lawbreakers.

I think it's fair to say that in much the way that New Albany has figuratively put out a sign welcoming sprawl and another sign welcoming slumlords, it has invested in neon signage that says "Welcom Crimnals." Typo intended.

Don't take my word for it. Seek out an officer (off-duty, please) and ask him or her whether the trend for crime in New Albany, if all things remain the same, is positive or otherwise.

I'll concede that skepticism is legitimate. It's remotely possible that someone could argue in support of the current "getting-by" approach to law enforcement.

We were surprised (and you will be, too) by who among our elected leaders have gotten the message. We have no reason to believe they have found a solution yet. It will take creativity and boldness and great courage to change the direction. But I came away convinced that there is hope that New Albany can become a haven, a relatively crime-free sanctuary, and a peaceful, thriving city with an unlimited future.

We are not that city today. How you respond in the next few months will make all the difference.

NA Shadow Council will be sure to pass on the dates of future FOP public appearances. It's up to you whether you avail yourself of the opportunity to confront the reality.