Mayor Christian Price was the swing vote in a decision not to accept a grant for MPD. Photo by Mason Callejas

The Maricopa City Council voted to reject a federal law enforcement grant on Tuesday that would have allowed the hiring of two additional officers to a police force that is currently overextended.

The council voted 4-3 against accepting a Department of Justice grant, citing the expenses the city would have to incur as part of a “cost sharing” requisite tied to the grant.

Had the grant been accepted, the city could have hired two new officers — a crime prevention officer and a youth liaison officer.

The three-year cost of hiring two entry-level officers is roughly $550,000. As part of the DOJ’s Policing Services Hiring Program (CHP) the grant would have awarded  $250,000 to the department to help cover the costs, leaving about $300,000 for the city to cover.

As the council heard presentations by Police Chief Steve Stahl, City Manager Gregory Rose and members of the community, an impassioned discussion occurred through which the burden of the decision was revealed.

Councilmember Peggy Chapados spoke in support of the DOJ grant, indicating the hiring of two new officers would likely not have been so contentious if the expense they currently incur for three school resource officers (SROs) was instead absorbed by the school district.

“I think that we have to acknowledge that we are footing the bill at 100 percent because MUSD has failed for two budget cycles, six years, to apply for a grant that would have funded those [SRO] positions,” Chapados said.

However, speaking to the issue at hand, Chapados felt “the burden falls on the seven of us and every director to come up with, in three years, the difference to fund and keep those [two new] officers.”

Councilmembers Nancy Smith and Vincent Manfredi, Vice Mayor Marvin Brown and Mayor Christian Price all expressed a strong will to work with MPD in addressing their needs. However, considering the uncertain economic landscape on the horizon, they could not bring themselves to support the added $300,000.

Smith emphasized she strongly supports law enforcement, but when considering the long list of future financial implications, such as a shifting financial burden with Copper Sky, unforeseen costs of the 347 overpass construction and the minimum wage increase, the risks are too great.

“It’s important to know that we support public safety,” Smith said. “ But we have to look at the risks.”

Councilmember Henry Wade, undeterred by the economics of the debate, joined Chapados, and later Councilmember Julia Gusse, voicing support for the grant. He agreed there are certain risks that need to be avoided but when it comes to the safety of the community and its first responders, those risks superseded any added costs.

“I don’t know how much one of those gun belts weighs, what that bullet-proof vest weighs, what the idea that ‘I’m leaving my family and I may not see them again’ weighs,” Wade said. “But I have a very difficult time looking at this in a numerical equation as opposed to the life of a person on the street.”

Price said he “wrestled” long and hard with this decision, knowing they may have to “sacrifice” another line item in the budget book; the difficulty being the line item could be another person’s job. He said, above all, the decision was about the mandate the council has to protect the interest of the constituents.

“So we talk about lives, but we also have 50,000 people that dictate that we live within our means,” Price said. “If I could, I would give you the dollars, Chief Stahl, to handle 50 more police officers tomorrow, but that’s not in that book, it’s not in the budget.”

After the votes were cast and the decision was made, Stahl expressed resolve, saying the department “will continue to pursue any and all options as they become available.”

He went on to say Maricopa was one of only two cities in Arizona offered the grant, and the DOJ may not place the city in such high esteem the next time the grants are being offered.

Earlier in the night when opening his presentation he gave assurance to the city that despite the department being overextended in some areas, and no matter the decision reached regarding the grant, “we [the department] are not bleeding. We will not bleed.”

1 COMMENT

  1. Good job, council. You made the right decision.

    Just because Fry's has oranges on sale for half price doesn't mean I'm going to buy them, especially if I have to borrow money to pay for them. The Department of Justice offers a grant, which is already taxpayer money gathered through federal income tax, but requires the taxpayers to spend an equal amount to get it. If they're really concerned with public safety, just grant the amount, maybe with some use stipulations and restrictions, and don't require the city to inflate it's payroll.

    One of the problems with grants that require the addition of personnel is that the entity receiving the grant is then burdened with either paying to keep the personnel once the grant is over or eliminating the positions and letting them go.