With poll: Despite crime being down, Ann Arbor officials say cuts to police department must be avoided

Police Chief Barnett Jones addresses the Ann Arbor City Council Monday night.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

The Ann Arbor Police Department released unofficial year-end crime statistics for 2009 this week, showing a total of 3,182 crimes in eight major categories: murder, assault, arson, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, robbery and rape.

In 2008, the total for those crimes was 3,429, according to official statistics reported by the FBI.

Violent crimes came down by 18 percent from 2008, while property crimes came down 6 percent.

Another trend: The number of police officers in the city has been declining for the last decade. But city officials say that trend can't continue.

Police Chief Barnett Jones said the number of sworn police officers has dropped from 216 to 124 since 2000. He told the Ann Arbor City Council this week that any further staffing cuts could have serious consequences.

Specifically, he said, it could hinder proactive policing methods that have helped solve crimes in neighborhoods - like a rash of burglaries on the Old Northwest Side officers investigated and put a stop to this past fall.

"If we lose those police officers, I may lose my proactive ability to do things like that," Jones said.

Crime statistics for the city of Ann Arbor. The figures for 2002 through 2008 are official statistics reported by the FBI. The 2009 figures are preliminary and were reported by the police department.

The city's ability to maintain adequate police services dominated the discussion Monday when the City Council met for another budget session. The city is trying to close the gap on a $5.2 million deficit in the general fund for next fiscal year. Because public safety makes up half the general fund, police and fire services face the largest cuts.

"Obviously with any reduction, it's going to impact how responsive or proactive we'll be able to be," said Deputy Chief John Seto. "That's what the chief is talking about, and obviously everyone is concerned about what's going to happen."

The police department already has $3.8 million in savings worked into its fiscal year 2010-11 budget due to cutbacks last year - mostly by eliminating vacant positions and offering early retirements. The city offered buyouts to officers and expected 18 to go, but 24 took the offer, along with two dispatchers.

The department needs to trim an additional $1.98 million from its $26.5 million budget to meet a 7.5 percent reduction all departments were asked to make.

In the police department, that means the potential elimination of another 17 positions by laying off nine sworn police officers and cutting seven positions in the community standards division and one management assistant.

"I totally stand behind what the chief said the other night: We can't afford to lose any police officers," Hieftje said Wednesday, adding he can't recall Ann Arbor ever laying off a police officer and he doesn't want to start now.

Still, he said, layoffs in the police department aren't off the table.

An Ann Arbor patrol car sits outside city hall this week.

Ryan Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"Like other cities in Michigan, we have tough decisions to make," he said. "Safety services has been growing as a percentage of our general fund budget. We will again look to other areas and do our best to minimize cuts in safety services, but it is very difficult to control costs if you put 50 percent of the budget off the table. It would not surprise me if there were layoffs in the police department this budget year."

The jobs of hundreds of police officers are on the line all across Michigan as communities are hit hard with the realities of a bad economy. The city of Troy asked residents to approve a 1.9-mill tax increase on Tuesday, but voters defeated it by a 12,631-7,316 margin. About 47 officers are slated to lose their jobs now.

Voters in nearby Bloomfield Township approved a 1.3-mill public safety millage by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin, which will keep fire and police services safe from cuts for now.

Jones told Ann Arbor council members on Monday he's spent the last three years and seven months shifting officers around to keep an adequate number patrolling the city's streets. But he says he's running out of bodies to reassign.

The last official comparison of crime statistics between Ann Arbor and other Michigan cities was reported by the Michigan State Police for the first half of 2009. According the figures, Ann Arbor is the second safest of the seven largest cities in Michigan, trailing only Sterling Heights, where Jones used to work.

Ann Arbor had only a fraction of the crime that communities like Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids experienced.

Deborah Cauffiel, neighborhood watch coordinator for the Ann Arbor Police Department, said residents can help keep the city safe by playing an active role in deterring crime.

"I would hope that people, on their own, would see the need in that, whether or not there's cuts," she said. "Either way, we like to encourage people to become involved in the neighborhood watch program. It's just a good thing all around."

Cauffiel said she works with more than 300 residents who serve as "block captains" for neighborhood watch groups. Each of them represents about 10 to 15 homes on average.

Residents can get a neighborhood watch group started by contacting Cauffiel at (734) 794-6900, ext. 49346.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.