Sheriff eyes sharing cop services
By RON SELAK JR. Tribune ChronicleWARREN - The notion of police agencies sharing or even possibly consolidating services isn't new, but it is taking on greater importance now as communities in Trumbull County continue to experience less operating revenue.
The latest stab at regionalization being taken by the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office is a proposal to compare and analyze common areas of service provided by the sheriff's office and the Warren Police Department.
''We're not saying we do things better than Warren. We're saying let's take a look at what each other is doing,'' said Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere.
The initiative to regionalize governments has been gaining steam in Trumbull County, but developments in Warren that caused the layoffs of 40 workers - 20 alone in the police department - is causing officials to develop new and creative ways to save money while still providing a high level of service.
''Economics have forced everyone to take a look at it,'' said Ernest Cook III, chief deputy, Trumbull County Sheriff's Office.
Warren officials have said on previous occasions that they are not opposed to discussing shared services.
Later this month, Cook will be making a police service consolidation presentation to the Trumbull County Council of Governments. It's a group of locally elected officials that have been brainstorming ways to solve crises facing all communities, like budget cutbacks.
''What is happening is out of necessity,'' said Tony Paglia, vice president of government affairs for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber. ''Now we have to start looking at this stuff really seriously.''
Some of the issues that likely would be examined include communication systems, equipment and records management, Altiere said. Other issues that would need addressed would be contractual obligations and personnel, Cook said.
''The goal is to be good stewards,'' Altiere said. ''We have to spend money wisely.''
There is grant money available to implement colloborative efforts, Paglia said, but it can only be used for purposes related to transition into shared services.
''If things are going great and communities have the money, they don't want to change anything,'' Paglia said. ''But the reality is, things are not going to get better anytime soon as far as government revenue. I hope everyone really starts to take a hard look at what various communities can do together.''
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Monkey90
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01-09-09 3:13 PM
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They don't want to consider it because they are too busy hiring their buddies at $80g a year to sit on their butts doing nothing, retiring, and getting hired again. This plan wont work. I like this readers comments to regionalize the useless crap, like politicians. Lets cut them out of jobs and see how they like it. How many mayors do we need to mismanage our money? And trustees to close down police depts? This makes the most sense of all this talk I've heard so far!
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gistol
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01-09-09 2:49 PM
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Why don't they consider regionalizing government and cutting down on duplicate buildings and duplicate positions: Health Department, Building Inspectors, Auditors, Safety Directors (what does he do anyhow?). Safety Forces are NEEDED in EVERY city & municipality. A regionalized Police or Fire Dept is a joke. Warren is not a city park with uniformed officers working to establish a 'presence' in the community. Too many officials sucking up the budget/tax dollars and leaving no cash to provide the services the residents need and want. All this time and resources spent on proposals and projections should be spent on cutting costs, not on cutting more safety services. Didn't Ernie Cook run out of the $8 mill given from Warren for their portion of the Sheriff Dept in June 08 or 07 and Warren agreed for more? And now he wants ALL Warren's $$$ to 'regionalize'? Anybody remember this?
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reader
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01-09-09 2:24 PM
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Outsidethebox--Where is the investigative reporting? Why isn't one of the newspapers handling this story completely? I agree that Warren's state of the union is horrible. Start at Southern Blvd and drive down West Market Street. Count the boarded up, window smashed, siding off businesses and homes. By the time these structures get to that state, do you think anyone could live in them or would want to? Instead of handling the further decay of Warren's crime-riden areas with an active police department and a well-thought out plan, Warren continues to die--one crime, one house, one foreclosure, one person laid off at a time.
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TomSmith
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01-09-09 2:22 PM
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My point exactly Outside.. I have worked both, Projects and farming communities. They are 2 completely different policing styles. One of the main jobs of a deputy is to politic for the Sheriff day in and day out, they have no idea how to deal with the dirt bags in this city. Again, they do not have the resources for it.
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OutsideTheBox
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01-09-09 1:25 PM
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Just wait until the weather warms up and the worms start coming back outside to cause trouble! Go ahead and send Warren police home, who deal with the scum every day, and bring in the deputies who work the roads up in Greene, Mecca, etc. and see how well that works out for ya, O'Brien. (I mean no offense to the deputies here, none at all. My point is that Warren is it's own beast).
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OutsideTheBox
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01-09-09 1:23 PM
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Warren is supposed to be a big, thriving city. Poor management, along with a horrible economy, have dwindled it to its sickly, decaying, crime ridden present state. Do the citizens of the outlying areas of Trumbull County really want to take on the burden of Warren's disappointingly embarrassing budget woes? By the way, blue and red has been laid off for only a little more than a week, and I believe crime is up already around 14%. Thank your mayor! Send him a card!
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OutsideTheBox
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01-09-09 1:19 PM
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Reader, the budget is open to the public at City Hall, you just need to go and request a copy. Bring a blank CD though, because the report is very long and they charge like 5 cents per page to print. Also, the safety forces and the public were told that the levy money was for safety forces only, but yes - it went into the general fund. So yes, we were all flat out lied to. However, I believe that if Council tries to regionalize, the levy money automatically goes away because the police department would be dissolved. They would form Trumbull Metro Police Department, and I believe that cancels out the levy. I doubt Rucker and Novak realize this, though. The reason OB laid us off is because he's decided that he wants a 60 man department, not 85. This is why, even after saving half a million dollars and ending well into the black for 2008, even with all of us employed, he refuses to call anyone back.
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Mark33
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01-09-09 12:28 PM
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It sounds like Handala hit a nerve.
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Handala
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01-09-09 11:58 AM
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"Handals"...another typo Colisimo?Oh well,since you cant shoot straight I guess the A is a bit close to the S to expect any better from you!.Tell me Tom, did you attempt your "Hostage Negotiation" skills trying to talk yourself out of shooting yourself?Hmm?
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reader
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01-09-09 11:53 AM
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AND, while I am it, that safety force levy was to go for safety forces. Now, someone here indicates that the money went into the general fund. Is that ture? General fund monies can be spent for any expenses. Before we start talking regionalization, I want an itemized accounting of the monies received from that levy and an allocation as to where the money was spent. After the levy was sold on the fact that the money was to be spent on safety forces, what is the legality of spending it elsewhere if indeed it was?
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reader
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01-09-09 11:45 AM
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Let's get back on track.After all of these lay offs, I have not received a letter from the auditor's office that states, "Dear______, Because all of these people (7.2% unemployment and a crashing unemployment computer system) getting laid off, we are reducing your taxes." The state hasn't reduced my taxes, nor has any local communities. Now another group wants to raise my gasoline taxes! I know it is rather circular, but more unemployment, more foreclosures, the less my property is worth on the market, more restaurants closing, less Playhouses and diner theaters to attend, more businesses closing, more decline in the area's population, less representation (census)in government. And the answer to all of this is more lay offs via regionalization. I hope someone with a little intelligence gets back to the drawing board on this one.
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Sassysue
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01-09-09 11:15 AM
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Personal insults help how?
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TomSmith
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01-09-09 11:03 AM
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Here ya Go Handals.. I'll get you started. www . NutriSystem . com
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TomSmith
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01-09-09 10:59 AM
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Handala, Sounds to me brother that you have a connection to the SO, you wouldn't happened to be a reserve hoping to finally land that f/t position you have been dreaming about all of your pathetic life? Let me guess you are that overweight deputy I see at the fair every year sitting on the bench eating corndogs and slurping down a 1 gallon container of Pepsi. It never fails. Every time I see you, you have a glob of ketchup on the one uniform you own. If you plan on working in Warren City, you'd better loose a hole bunch of weight my little fat buddy or you ate never catchin those copper thief's and crack heads.
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Billdog
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01-09-09 10:10 AM
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Share police or have no police. I think I like sharing. They tought me in Kindergarden that sharing is good.
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Mnich82266
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01-09-09 8:31 AM
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OutsideTheBox, the money from the levy goes to the General Fund. Mikey made sure to put that in the fine print.
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TomSmith
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01-09-09 8:14 AM
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Reader is right on the mark. I cannot believe that people are even considering this. If this happens it will be a huge disaster. The SO is always interested in obtaining more power and money. If you give them the city, you will see a Gestapo force like you never dreamed of. Hey, maybe that's what we need. I can promise you that the SO wont give a rats ass about a few black preachers protesting over how one of Warren's so called "upstanding citizen" was just smacked around during an arrest. Man, I bet Cook and Altiere are just creaming their jeans over the idea of getting all of Warren.
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SURV69
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01-09-09 7:31 AM
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Generally, I like the idea of consolidation . . . as far as I see it the more consolidation, the better . . . almost. I think it could make sense in so ways to have county-wide police force. CERTAINLY logistics would have to be considered, such as dispatching, communications and if precincts would be set up and how would they operate. I like the idea
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escaped
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01-09-09 7:29 AM
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"The way this article sounds, the sheriff's department is heading the initiative against the Warren Police Department without the Warren Police Department having any input." This is exactly what O'Brien and his backers want - get rid of the safety forces.
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OldManGrump2
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01-09-09 7:21 AM
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No regionalization of police services. It's a bad idea for Warren and Trumbull County.
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OutsideTheBox
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01-09-09 5:56 AM
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Doesn't the levy money disappear if the Warren Police department is disolved? I don't believe tha it sticks around for whichever new agency takes their place.
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goat13
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01-09-09 5:40 AM
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zzzzzzz......zzzzzzz.....
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reader
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01-09-09 5:40 AM
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And shouldn't Mr. Cook be working with the Warren Police as a team for his upcoming consolidation of service presentation? That concept was not mentioned in this article. The way this article sounds, the sheriff's department is heading the initiative against the Warren Police Department without the Warren Police Department having any input. As I am reading this, it sounds like the sheriff's department needs the money and jobs of the Warren police personnel. The reporter could clarify that the departments are working together for those people who voted a levy in support of the Warren safety employees.
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reader
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01-09-09 5:27 AM
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tle catch phrase. But it usually implies the loss of more jobs.
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reader
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01-09-09 5:26 AM
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Ah the politics of it all. Most of us have had the opporunity of working some place where a group or usually administrators, neither of whom really understand what we do for a living nor understand the daily operations, decides the way the business is run needs to change. Newton Falls did this. They ended up having to pay for the Sheriff's services anyway. And I believe the cost was almost equal to the cost they had with their own force. So before groups endorce this combined service, I hope someone looks into the cost of all of this. Second, the article states that "the initiative to regionalize governments has been gaining steam in Trumbull County." The group pushing this is the Chamber of Commerce. Exactly, what is its mission statement and what has this group done EFFECTIVELY for the Warren area in the last two years? The only bottom line I am seeing is the encouragement of additional unemployment in the Trumbull County. "More with less" is a nice lit
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