Public safety: the big budget magilla

IN THIS TOWN, the 800-pound gorilla wears a badge . . . especially at budget time.

Public safety - police, fire and prisons - near and dear to all of our hearts, is an expensive proposition: Those three departments cost nearly $1 billion a year, with half of that going to police; all three represent 25 percent of the city's spending. So today's City Council budget hearings on all three departments - beginning at 10 a.m. - is critical.

Obviously, no one wants to compromise safety, and most politicians would almost rather lose an election than suggest they don't support police and firefighters. But that doesn't mean Council shouldn't be asking hard questions at these hearings. Here are a few that we hope get aired:

* How can we cut spending on public safety?

Elected officials often claim public safety is a "fixed cost" that cannot change. But in tough times, there should be no sacred cows.

Should the mayor consider furloughing police officers, since he was given that power by the FOP contract awarded two months ago? How could the use of technology - especially mobile Internet - make crime-fighting more efficient? We'd also like to know how the Police Department plans to coordinate with District Attorney Seth Williams some of the city-court reforms just agreed to by the D.A. and the state Supreme Court. More efficient courts will have a big impact on the police budget; when can we expect to see results? Can the Police Department add to these reforms?

* How can police lower overtime costs?

A recent arbitration decision ordered that Officers Patrick Gallagher and Vincent Strain, fired after the police beating of three suspects, be reinstated, with both back pay and lost overtime. How did overtime become a guaranteed part of the salary for police?

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority found that when compared with other major cities' police departments, Philadelphia's had one of the highest levels of staffing. Despite the large number of offices, we also have one of the highest overtime averages - more than 7,000 hours compared with a national average of 4,600 - for uniformed officers. The city has made some progress in reducing overtime, cutting it by $6 million last year. What more can be done?

* How can we keep driving down prison costs?

For more than a decade, the city's prison costs have risen dramatically: a $149 million budget in 2001 now exceeds $248 million. One of the biggest accomplishments of the Nutter adminstration has been to reverse this trend, spending almost $9 million less on prisons last year than budgeted.

Let's press prison administrators on how to reduce spending even more. Streamlining procedures and upgrading technology have helped. Now, we have to go after the big savings, through reducing the inmate census enough to close a prison. That kind of dramatic decrease will take more than just efficiencies. It will require a change in policy, particularly finding alternative sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders.

_ What structural changes should be considered in the Fire Department?

"Right sizing" the Fire Department became a flash point during last year's budget proposals, but we've yet to see any detailed report that would help us understand if we have the right number. The Nutter administration is pushing for separating emergency medical services and firefighters into two bargaining units. And since

PICA points out that service demands have switched from primarily responding to structural fires to responding to EMS calls, we'd like to know why, and what the budgetary impacts may be.

(Further details on these departments can be found at www.ourmoneyphilly.com). *