Chief Says Police Budget Inadequate
Coquille police have made several high profile arrests in the past two years involving everything from drugs and sex crimes to murder and armed robbery.
By Robert Jump
Looking back over the past two years, Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels is questioning whether the city can maintain it’s current level of police service under it’s current budget.
“Based on what we felt were the expectations from our citizens, the city manager and the city council, in direct regard to the police department and what they want the police department to look like, we feel confident that we have reached that goal,” Dannels told Coquille-Today.Com. “Obviously we’re not saying we’re done, we want to keep striving to go beyond that.”
Coquille police have regained the confidence and respect of the community, through the department’s professionalism, according to Dannels and in addition have created what he termed “one of the best cultures around” in regard to work environment. However, he is concerned for the future.
“Unfortunately, and this is causing some frustration, can we continue to hold all of that in place, education, prevention and the enforcement practices we have going with the budget we have,” he said.
Retention and recruitment are the police chief’s primary concerns.
“Right now being a small agency and given the training our officers have received, they have acquired marketable skills and the salary aspect of that is we are the second lowest paid agency on the south coast, excluding Powers,” Dannels said. “That’s a challenge for us where we’ve done everything else.”
According to Dannels, other law enforcement agencies are actively recruiting Coquille’s police officers.
“These officers are highly sought after by other agencies,” he said. “We got to get salaries and compensation to match.”
Dannels is requesting officers receive and additional $300 a month per officer bringing the annual base salary to $40,572 and the top annual salary to $50, 784. The increase to the annual budget is $18,000 for five officers, not including employee related expenses.
“That increase would bring us inline with our competitors and the local market,” Dannels said.
However, that isn’t all Dannels is requesting. Overtime has increased dramatically with the cost of the Leah Freeman murder investigation in 2009 resulting in spending $25,000 over budget. Overtime costs for the Freeman case during Jan. and Feb. of this year reached nearly $20,000.
“As the trial and pretrial investigations begin in 2011 I anticipate time and costs to increase,” Dannels said.
Dannels is also asking for additional personnel in the form of a part time sworn duty officer and an office staff increase of 20 hours per week each.
“A sworn officer would bring back our community codes enforcement, parking, and back fill on our road officers,” Dannles said. “The increase would require an addition 20 hours in the office per week the current position is only 30 hours per week.”
Currently the Coquille Police Department consists of seven full-time police officers and one administrative officer. Volunteers supplement the department.
The police budget in Coquille has always been an issue. This is nothing new. Mr. Dannels needs to realize that Coquille is a small town, and unfortunately that is going to be the case. Small towns are usually the stepping stone for an officer to reach a higher pay grade in a larger community. That is just a fact of life I’m afraid.
What would Ms. Reaves know, we never had a P.D. before Mr. Dannels arrived.
Just stating my opinion…no need to be rude.
Coquille is a small town which has went through a major change in the last 20 years. We now have schools problems along with sewer issues. The Police department needs to do the best they can on what they have. We all feel the pinch of a bad economy. Actually Coquille is better off with the number of officers we have than Bandon or many other small towns.
There are a couple of other interesting comments I’d like to publish, but they’re lacking last names.
As for me, I understand times are tough, but I also wonder if it might be less expensive to retain officers rather than train new ones every few years after the investment made in training.
Also, by the time other agencies begin recruiting the officers have gained quite a bit of experience as well, and that has to be worth something too.
Citizens need to think about what has taken place in Coquille during the past two years and decide what level of service they want from their police department and what they’re willing to pay for. It always comes down to that.
These are tough issues the city faces, I’m glad to see some discussion and really hope the others will provide me with last names so their views may be published as well.
Robert Jump
I agree with what you said Robert. It would be less expensive to retain officers. No small town budget however, is going to be able to afford the type of wage an officer can achieve in a larger city with a larger budget after years of experience. That’s all I was saying.
I telephoned Coquille City Manager Terence O’Connor for a couple of followup questions and that provided some interesting information.
The cost of sending an officer to the police academy is $16,721 for wages and benefits. There is no tuition for the 16-week police academy. There is no tuition because the state and cities split revenue from traffic citations.
Also, according to O’Connor, the $18,000 it would cost annually to give each of five officers a $300 a month pay raise does not include health insurance or PERS retirement which are both prorated according to salary. Health insurance currently costs about $1200 per month and increases by 10 to 12 percent each year.
Robert Jump
Mr Jump, I was trying to put things in perspective. Coquille basically is not growing but slowly losing population over the last few years. We all want good police protection but there comes a time when people simply can’t afford for the better things in life. Many people in Coquille lost much respect for the CPD after the Bryant and Ulmer debacles. Many people had very bad experiences with one or both. Now we have some new officers. Now, with that said, the water and sewer rates in Coquille make it hard for many to pay the bill each month. The time has come when citizens of Coquille can’t pay anymore for these extra perks.The new chief needs to think about doing the best with what he has.
I no longer live in Coquille and no longer pay taxes there, so perhaps I shouldn’t be commenting on this subject. But, I graduated from Coquille High (1953) and have lived there off and on since that time. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the town.
One of the biggest mysteries to me is the mindset of its citizens. For some, there is hope for a better future. For others, and I fear it’s the majority, all is doom and gloom — Coquille is destined to die a slow death along with the timber industry. If that is truly the majority, that will be its fate.
If there is any hope, I think investing in your police department should be your number one priority! It makes no sense to put time energy and money into swimming pools, libraries, river walks etc. if safety and security isn’t ahead of the game. You have recently made great progress. Keep it going!
It may or may not be a doable thing, but it does need some looking into.
I have to agree with Mr. Elliott, Coquille has made some recent strides and it would be a shame to see those negatively impacted by an image of lawlessness.
I see the future tied directly to what takes place on the former Georgia Pacific mill site. It seems a pretty good guess that if the area is ever to stop traffic long enough to attract visitors that is where it will have to take place. I’m not saying that’s the only thing going on here, but when it is finished it will certainly be the most visible. If visitors can be enticed to stop there, then possibly some of them can be directed downtown. The River Walk is a big part of that.
It wasn’t long ago, that on any given day the area next to the river where Boy Scouts have earned their Eagles by pouring concrete pads for picnic tables to sit on was occupied by drunks and illegal campers. Thank Coquille P.D. for making that area a place that is safe for visitors to go. What good would a River Walk be if the yahoos are down there shooting meth and getting blind drunk? Days ago, Coquille P.D. was rounding them up underneath the old railroad trestle, which will one day be a viewing platform. Would you stop there with your family to have a burger and fries and maybe wonder downtown to the “quaint little shops” that will one day be there if all that were taking place? Likely not.
Let’s take a real look at our police department. One of the things that Chief Dannels has done is trained officers in specific duties. It isn’t possible for a department as small as Coquille’s to train all of it’s officers to do specific tacks such as drug intoxication recognition. Recently Officer Sean Sanborn, who coordinates the South Coast DUII Taskforce, underwent training to become a drug recognition expert. Scanner heads can hear his name all the time as he is constantly being requested by other agencies for his expertise. There are others. Not many probably know that Officer Ray McNeeley is the department’s detective, and all of Coquille’s officers have had specific training that make them not only able to function as they have, but it makes them highly sought after by other agencies.
There’s no way Coquille can afford to keep an officer that’s bent on leaving solely on the basis of money and benefits. According to Chief Dannels, the City of Gold Beach is currently offering a $1,000 bonus to any police officer willing to sign on. The community may not be able to compete, but it ought to at least be able to discuss the issue.
I spoke with Chief Dannels again and got some additional facts. I should have that together as a story on training later this week.
Robert Jump
Here’s something to consider: I live in Klamath Falls, now, but lived in Coos County for 12 years, so I still read the news coming from my old town. KF voters told the sheriff to tighten his belt when a recent levy to fund the department was voted down. So he shut down over half the jail pods. Crime increased immediately, since just about everything is now a book and release crime. People are being arrested for 10+ FTAs, and then booked and released. This is no exaggeration. Take a moment to read about what is happening here (our paper is the Herald and News, and has an online presence) before you decide you will absolutely not pay one more red cent for your police protection. Engage in some serious consideration. This isn’t an effort to scare anyone into one thing or the other, but simply offering a visible possible outcome for the voting public to consider.