Lawmakers looking to cash-strapped local police for extra security
offered, providing adequate security to U.S. lawmakers is a “high priority.”
“The magic words here are going to be communication and planning,” he said. “Local police are going to be extremely receptive to this. It’s going to come down to planning and communication so they don’t get caught short with the knowledge that it’s happening.”
For others, providing additional security is bound to be complicated by the budget crises facing many police agencies.
A quarter of U.S. cities have reported cutting their public safety budgets in the past year, according to a report by the National League of Cities.
Representative Donald Payne (D-New Jersey) represents Newark, which just cut 13 percent of its police force, or about 163 officers, to help close an $83 million budget deficit. Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) represents Oakland, which last year slashed nearly 10 percent of its police force, or 80 officers, to help close a $31 million budget deficit.
Dallas police and fire unions last year agreed to pay cuts and mandatory unpaid leave to help the city close a $130 million gap. That city’s congressional representation is split among several lawmakers — Ralph Hall, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Pete Sessions, Sam Johnson, Jeb Hensarling, and Kenny Marchant — who may pull from the same resources.
Jim Pascal, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police union, noted that more than 80 percent of police departments have 10 or fewer officers.
One retired New York City Police Department officer who has provided security detail for a U.S. lawmaker said it’s going to create a lot of strain on police departments because “like so much else, you don’t want anything to happen on your watch.”
Nonetheless, Pascal said, despite the cutbacks and grim financial picture, police unions and former officers say local law enforcement will accommodate any security requests from lawmakers.
“It’s important to state they’re going to do what needs to be done, but it will cost an extraordinary strain and something will be left undone,” Pascal said.
“Monitoring, in general, is just another thing that has been placed on the plate of local and state law officials. At the same time, robberies, car thefts, none of that is going away. So the cops have their hands full,” added Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations.
Johnson said overtime costs will go up for employees, agencies and municipalities — costs that he expects the federal government to pick
