It seems as if Kansas City Councilwomen Jan Marcason and Cathy Jolly are on a crusade to justify their vote to cut the police department budget, yet at the same time wage a PR campaign blaming everyone else but themselves for the cuts. At a time when one of the top priorities in Kansas City should be to cut down on crime, Marcason and Jolly are playing politics with public safety dollars.
Both councilwomen wanted the recent police budget task force discussions closed to the public so they could form a united front and work out issues behind closed doors. Yet within hours of each meeting they were trashing Chief Jim Corwin and assuming they know more about his budget than he does. One would assume that the Police Chief knows what he needs and does not need, and one would assume that the councilwomen would show him more respect.
For some reason the City Council does not understand Corwin when he says that the cuts they are proposing will lead to fewer police on the streets, plain and simple. To break it down for the KC Council, the public safety budget cuts would include early retirements, leading to as many as 80 police officer vacancies over the next year. Also,
reductions in overtime and civilian layoffs would probably pull additional officers off the streets to fill civilian positions. And, unless new money is found, the current academy class will not be hired. All this means there will be fewer cops on the streets. That flies in the face of a council promise a few years back to add 20
additional officers every year.
Maybe the council is so concerned about the dress code at Power and Light that they cannot evaluate the police budget with a clear-mind. We at the Source wonder how much money was wasted by the city council prolonging meetings over the Power and Light dress code. Maybe the next time the council decides to micro-manage the lives of KC citizens they should think twice, and save the money for more cops?
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