Seventeen years ago, Aurora voters, spooked by the so-called “summer of violence,” agreed to beef up their police force.
But by approving a measure that requires two police officers for every 1,000 residents, well-intentioned residents created a budgeting nightmare and unwittingly tied the hands of city leaders who must balance the books.
As the city lays off workers, closes libraries and cuts services and salaries, it’s become painfully obvious that Aurora can no longer afford to continue hiring police officers based on an arbitrary formula.
Next year, Aurora has to hire 50 more officers, whether the city needs them or not, according to a 9News report by Deborah Sherman.
It just doesn’t make sense.
We think it’s bad public policy to put portions of any government budget on autopilot, even if it’s for a good cause such as public safety or education. City leaders, from the police chief to the city manager to the council and mayor, are the ones who should decide how many police officers are needed to adequately address public safety in the growing city.
Aurora residents should vote to overturn the mandate voters put into effect in 1993, yet what politician wants to make the case for fewer police officers?
Not only will he or she face a campaign against a well-funded, union- backed candidate, it’s likely political suicide to look as if you’re against increased public safety.
But Aurora can’t afford the program. It has cost the city about $120 million to increase the staffing ratio from 1.69 to 2 officers per 1,000 residents from 1994 to 2009, according to a story in the Aurora Sentinel earlier this year.
And while crime has decreased in Aurora since 1993, it also has been on the decline since then in big cities across the country and in neighboring Denver.
Since 2007, Aurora has collected an average of $9.2 million less from taxes and fees, the website Face the State recently reported. But the police budget has grown by $8.2 million over the same period, partly because the city has had to add 20 cops to meet hiring requirements. That puts a squeeze on other departments.
The city has hired 171 police officers over the past five years and, according to 9News, is now relying on highly paid police officers to do the work of laid-off desk clerks, lab analysts and private security guards. The officers make, on average, $85,000 a year, while civilians would be paid half that to do the same jobs, according to the report.
For example, Sherman reported that Aurora uses full-time police officers to conduct background checks for new police hires. It cost Aurora five times more than Denver to conduct the checks. Denver spends about $100,000 for about 250 background checks, while Aurora spent more than $600,000 in 2010 to conduct about 140 background checks.
Many economists expect municipal sales taxes will continue to lag for several years, which will only make Aurora’s problems worse. Before that happens, Aurora needs to convince voters to restore budgeting powers to city leaders.
