City Newspaper Archives - 11/2007
POLICE: 'Zero' hour
Published by Christine Carrie Fien on Nov 13, 2007
"Zero tolerance is not our term. It came from the media," says Deputy Mayor Patricia Malgieri. "The media grabs onto snappy titles." (So does the city, apparently. City has received press releases from City Hall and the police department with the phrase "Zero Tolerance" in them.)
City Council will vote November 20 on whether to give Mayor Bob Duffy the $2.5 million he says he needs to fund the police effort through at least the end of the year. The word from Council is that the request will be approved.
"If you're bleeding, you've got to stop the bleeding," says Councilmember Bob Stevenson. "The city is bleeding to death, in a way."
Persisting questions: what will be cut to fund the effort, and what happens after the $2.5 million runs out if this is, as Malgieri says, a change in philosophy and not an initiative with an implied end date.
"We can afford to do this for awhile. We can't afford to do it forever, unless there's some other change in the way that we do business," says Councilmember Dana Miller.
Too, there are peripheral effects, such as the rising caseload at City Court.
Police Chief David Moore said the department has received six formal complaints since the crackdown began.
As of late last week, there were 497 misdemeanor and 112 felony arrests in five weeks of stepped-up policing. There were also 15 gun-related arrests, 17 prostitution arrests, 4,938 drug locations checked, and 8,257 corners cleared.
Article Photos
City Councilmember Dana Miller: police effort has to be more than a spending policy. File photo.
