As wallets are snapping shut in the face of more bad news about the economy, even the Brookline Police Department is not immune to analysis of its expenditures.An article by Andreae Downs in the Boston Globe explains that Brookline's Chief of Police Daniel O'Leary met with the Efficiency Initiative Committee to give details on some of the department’s programs and cost-saving measures.
The report focuses on an important turning point back in 2002 when the Brookline Police Department moved into a space with a dispatch center shared by police, fire and emergency medical personnel. As a result, civilians assumed the task of dispatching and more officers could cover the field.
The additional officers – six in total—were divided between providing more traffic coverage and developing new safety programs. Brookline added more protection and services for its residents without hiring more officers.
Turning to the issue of efficient spending, the Globe reports that at the meeting, Chief O’Leary addressed the department’s policy of sending a police car to the scene of medical emergencies. He acknowledged that many officers do not have a background in emergency medical response, but that a police presence on the scene is useful.
"When the Fire Department or the EMTs arrive, we relinquish the situation," he tells the Globe. The role of the police is to secure and stabilize the scene, and officers have the ability to redirect traffic, if necessary. In addition, Chief O’Leary indicated that there are some positions he would like to see staffed by civilians, but there are no plans to do so.
Click here for the complete article.
--Bridget O'Sullivan
1 comment:
Just to clarify, all police officers are certified first responders who provide emergency medical treatment prior to arrival of emergency medcial technicians from the Fire Department and paramedics from Fallon Ambulance.
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