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FROM STATS TO POLICY TO FUNDING, PUBLIC SAFETY TAKES CENTER STAGE
By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:40 AM CST
Public safety concerns were a large part of Monday night’s Pine Bluff City Council meeting.
During the council meeting and a public safety meeting beforehand, Pine Bluff police Lt. Bob Rawlinson handed aldermen a report showing overall crimes down by more than 10 percent for the year.
“We had another really good month,” Rawlinson said.
He and Police Chief John Howell mentioned the city’s Neighborhood Enforcement Team and Juvenile Judge Earnest E. Brown Jr.’s efforts as possible explanations.
“A combination of a whole bunch of things seems to be working real well right now,” he said.
According to the statistics, in October 2008 there were 765 recorded crimes and in October 2009 there were 474 recorded crimes, a reduction of about 38 percent.
Also crossing from the public safety committee meeting to the full council, aldermen voted to give the city’s uniformed employees a sick leave bank for catastrophic illness.
Council members added an emergency clause so the legislation is immediately in effect.
“Personally, I think it’s a good thing,” said 1st Ward Alderman Irene Holcomb. “When I retired from the Little Rock School District I had 110 days. I didn’t get paid for them and nobody could use them.”
Police Deputy Chief Ivan Whitfield said employees would be able to donate unused sick leave hours into the bank instead of being paid for them.
Whitfield said he has several days he would donate.
“It’s worth more to me to put it in the pool,” he said.
Howell said the Arkansas State Police have a similar program.
He added that a committee decides who receives hours from the pool and that applicants must have proof of his or her need.
“They’ll look at all kinds of documentation before they give a day,” Howell said.
Whitfield said he wanted to see the measure pass Monday night with an emergency clause because two officers are in need of a sick bank. One, he said, had brain surgery and another has cancer.
In other business, the testing of potential Pine Bluff public safety personnel will resume thanks to a $8,000 budget adjustment passed Monday night to the Civil Service Commission.
The commission had run out of funding and asked the fire and police departments to stop testing candidates until an adjustment was made, according to a letter sent to city officials last week.
Though the commission requested about $13,000 in September, the adjustment was not passed.
Civil Service Commission chairman Richard Borgman said the reduction in requested funds came from budgeting for the candidates in the pipeline.
In other business, council members also:
Rezoned property at 6713 Sheridan as B-3 Highway Commercial from residential.
Sent to committee for review a proposed ordinance dealing with the definitions of mobile homes and modular units in city limits.
Changed the zoning code to place institutional and non profit uses under Use Permitted on Review for B-3 Highway Commercial and B-4 General Commercial zones.
Heard the second reading of a proposed ordinance correcting a previous amendment that inadvertently deleted details on the city selecting technical services.
Heard the second reading of a proposed ordinance increasing fines on automobile salvage yards.
Heard the first reading of a proposed ordinance to update the city’s electrical code from the National Fire Protection Association.
Placed the cost of correcting certain nuisances, such as cutting grass, on the tax books as delinquent taxes.
Authorized city officials to form an interlocal agreement with the Houston-Galveston area.
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