Menino resolves to add police
Seeks 140 new officers, double previous plan
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday that he intends to boost the Boston Police Department by about 140 officers over the next year in response to the surge in violent crime troubling several neighborhoods of the city.
The increase is double the 70 new officers that Menino called for when he unveiled his city budget proposal in April, and the addition appears to be aimed at quelling the pressure from community leaders and city councilors over violence in the city. The number of homicides hit a 10-year high in 2005, and the number of shootings increased by nearly 80 percent this year.
``It's an issue that was continually raised during the council sessions," Menino said in an interview yesterday. ``I sat down with my budget people last Friday, and I said: `What is a number we can afford? How can we make it happen?' It's something I want to work with the council on."
Menino's proposal would bring the police force, currently at about 2,092 uniformed officers, back to the 2001 level. The 70 additional police officers the mayor proposed yesterday would cost between $2.6 million and $2.7 million next year and would come from between $5 million to $7 million that the city is expecting in additional state aid, according to Lisa Signori, the city's chief financial officer.
The new officers would be part of two 70-officer recruiting classes next year -- one in September, the other in April -- and would more than make up for the 24 or so officers who retire each year, Menino said. The numbers do not include about 40 additional officers that Menino is hoping to add by consolidating the city's Municipal Police Department with the Boston Police Department.
But Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a nonpartisan financial watchdog, questioned yesterday whether the city could afford the additional costs, particularly when it is negotiating with nearly every union and doesn't know how much it will take to settle their contracts. Tyler said the city had been planning to use the additional state aid to cover union contracts.
``How then do you pay for collective bargaining?" Tyler said in an interview. ``The fact is that these are fairly large numbers. Doubling the class, plus then the expectation of what might happen with the merger of municipal police means a fairly substantial increase in one year. . . . How do you pay that added cost on an ongoing basis?"
Tyler said the city needs to add officers to respond to the violence. He suggested other ways to put more officers on the street, such as redeploying desk-job officers and making more of an effort to rein in sick time and injury leave.
Menino had insisted for months that the city could not afford hundreds more officers. But yesterday he said the city must dramatically increase police hiring, even if it means sacrificing elsewhere.
``I hear from all the residents out there about the issue of violence, and I'm very concerned about it myself," Menino said. ``It's a bold move, but I think it's a necessary move. . . . It's going to be a very tight budget. We're not going to have some of the frills we've had in the past." He did not provide details on what he might cut.
Menino confirmed his budget plans on the same day that the city launched a new gun buyback. He said 36 guns were turned in yesterday in exchange for $200 Target gift cards.
Community leaders said yesterday that hiring more officers is one of many factors to successfully fight the upsurge in violence in Boston.
``We need them," Christopher Sumner, executive director of the Boston Ten Point Coalition, said, referring to the proposed 140 new officers. ``It will definitely have an impact. . . . You can't do all of this other stuff without having police on the ground floor."
Emmett Folgert, director of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth, praised the mayor's pledge to double the number of officers, citing the city's tough fiscal climate.
``I think it's an extraordinary effort to hire more police, given the lack of support from the federal government," Folgert said. ``It may not seem that way, but it's a major effort. This is a significant step -- to have more police officers on the street -- to reduce crime. The next step that needs to happen is to bring more resources to the table for diversion programs."
Before he disclosed the plan to hire more officers, Menino was facing criticism from city councilors over his proposed budget. In interviews yesterday, a majority of councilors said they would reject Menino's proposed budget at tomorrow's council meeting unless he dramatically increased the police force.
Earlier this year, City Council President Michael Flaherty went even further, proposing 300 to 350 new officers.
``Public safety is the number one issue facing the city," said Councilor Robert Consalvo, chairman of the council's Ways and Means Committee, which has held 30 budget hearings.
Councilor Michael Ross, who is releasing a Youth Crime Prevention Report today, has compiled data that show that as the number of police officers has declined, the number of shootings has skyrocketed. Between 2000 and 2005, about 200 police positions were cut and the number of shootings doubled, according to a preliminary version of his report.
Even though Menino is calling for more officers, the City Council is still likely to reject his budget tomorrow.
Almost every year, the council rejects the budget and makes suggestions for individual projects in the districts. Generally, after some negotiations, the mayor releases a new budget, and the council votes on it.
Donovan Slack contributed to this report. Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 