While council members emphasize that disbanding the Brooksville Police Department is not something they are seeking to do, asking the Sheriff’s Office about what it would cost them to provide a level of service equivalent to the city police force would imply that the option may be on the table. Many community stakeholders came to that conclusion following the Nov. 27 special meeting. Council members stated on Dec. 4 that the inquiry is part of their thorough evaluation of the costs relating to law enforcement, due to the worrisome budget situation.
The idea of disbanding the Brooksville Police Department has come and gone over the years. Longtime residents and business owners recall similar discussions in the 90’s. In the latest bout, budget talks over the summer revealed serious funding issues, which sparked council members to put “all options on the table.” To attempt to resolve the budget shortfall cuts in service or personnel would be expected. All options would potentially include disbanding the Brooksville Police Department, Fire Rescue or opting out of a Sheriff’s Office MSTU established by the county. Although there wouldn’t be a direct impact on the budget with the MSTU, it would s lower county taxation for city taxpayers as they currently pay for both the city police department and full Sheriff’s Office services. Duplicated services by Sheriff’s Office include patrol and investigations.
The MSTU would potentially mean $1.4 – $1.7 million in savings for city taxpayers and more room in the millage to fund essential services like the Brooksville PD. However, the majority of council members weren’t comfortable with unknowns as far as how the county would actually implement or structure it, and voted down sending a letter to the county in regards to establishing the MSTU on Nov. 27.
At the end of the Nov. 27 meeting, the city council directed staff to contact the Sheriff’s Office for specific costs relating to being fully served by the Sheriff’s Office with the level of service remaining equivalent to what they have now with their police department.
Following the Nov. 27 vote which took the MSTU off the table for the moment, Council Member Kemerer stated, “The primary option now would be which way do we go?” Prefacing that he may get a lot of grief for this, he continued, “I would like to propose the city manager, I would like him to sit down with the Sheriff. I want to find out first what we need to come up with… The level of service can be purchased from the Sheriff’s Office and we all know that triggers can be put in to ensure that level of service is received or financial penalties are incurred. And I think at that point that would give us a much better idea… the number won’t make the final decision I don’t think… we need to get ready to find out [from the residents] what their true desires are and at least if they’re going to keep it [Brooksville PD] they’re going to know the premium they are going to have to pay.”
Mayor Battista stated, “I think most of us would agree that we need to move on in that vein and I think a course of action be outlined by the city manager to start establishing contact and a process to bring the sheriff’s office to have that discussion.”
Council member Bernardini said, “I certainly agree with what council member Kemerer said. And I think the thing I look for is the truth… ”
Kemerer and fellow council members did hear from the citizens en-masse during the next council meeting on Dec. 4, 2017. City residents, business owners and non residents filled the council chambers to capacity in support of keeping the Brooksville Police Department as they are aware that without a police department, the existence of a city is vulnerable.
Many business owners in the city expressed that crime will certainly go up without the Brooksville PD.
Mark Dwaine, owner of Jewels-n-Time pawn shop in Brooksville for 15 years, stated,
“I want to voice my opinion that they [Brooksville PD] are the best of the best. I deal with them on a daily basis. Without them I think the city is going to be in trouble. I don’t think the sheriff can handle the amount of bad people that we have in the city.”
Detective Tracy Schofield of the Brooksville PD really put the issue into perspective. He’s been a police officer for 28 years, has worked for municipalities for 19 of those years and has been with the Brooksville PD for 4 and a half.
“I care about this city and I want it to be better and I want you guys to have a good police department. I know that’s what you guys want. When we talk about the Sheriff’s Department, it’s not against the Sheriff’s Department. Most of us that work with the Sheriff’s Department, the detectives, the officers- we have a great relationship with them. We work really well with them. I like the Sheriff. I talk to him on a regular basis, it’s not about them. It’s about the relationships that we, because we work in the city on a regular basis, have with citizens. You’ve seen a number of business owners and residents and even some residents that aren’t from our city talk about relationships. That only happens over time.”
He said that deputies assigned by the sheriff’s office will do their best, but they just don’t have the relationships established with the community members which helps them greatly in doing their jobs.
“…We know the suspects. We know the offenders and they know us. So having an opportunity to talk to them and build relationships even with them because today they’re our suspect, tomorrow they’re our victim. It takes a long time to do that,” said Detective Schofield.
Dr. Robert Sullivan, who lives just outside of city limits spoke to council emphasizing that while it may be a good business decision to save money to eliminate their police department, it is not a good decision from a criminal justice and public safety standpoint.
“The detective here was 100 percent right. There will be a marked reduction in service,” he said.
Battista stated, “For me, we would never give up quality of service you receive. It will be as good as you have now or better or we would never go there. The quality of service is what we look for but we are in extremis when it comes to money. There are some economic reports that if we don’t change things very quickly, in a couple of years we are going to be in desperate straits and we have a cap on our millage that we can charge and we are going to be pressing that very closely. ”
He commended the Brooksville PD and Chief Turner.
“They’re all great people…Chief Turner is an extremely good Chief of Police. It’s his drive and ability to lead his people that puts that force on the street and the quality of that force is attributable to Chief Turner… but we have some problems financially… We would never go with the Sheriff’s Office if they couldn’t guarantee the response times. ”
He said that the city can’t go much further than they are now on taxes. “There’s no way to raise the money in reality.”
Complimenting the citizens, Council Member Kemerer, said “I’ve never seen a better organized group that came in and gave me… 14 different reasons why we should keep our police department. It helps us to think through this process.”
Kemerer read from a statement which explained that because of the budget situation, council is thoroughly evaluating costs related to every department. Kemerer read in part,
“To properly evaluate law enforcement services we needed to evaluate the impact of an MSTU… with this portion of our law enforcement service evaluation behind us, we now need to review precisely what services our police department provides and see if any options exist to reduce departmental costs. Among other things to find the difference in cost between the two agencies to provide the same service on an apples to apples basis.
“Please understand that in this evaluation cost differences are a consideration they are not a determining factor. Issues such as oversight, ease of adjusting service level, what the community feels about the department and how much they’re willing to pay come into play and are just as important to any decision ultimately made.”
Council Member Betty Erhard stated that she is “disheartened” by the rumor that council wants to disband the police department simply because they ask for information from the Sheriff’s Office. She said that they are doing what they are fiscally responsible to do. “If you want to know anything about where I stand, I have a business card. It has my number, it has my email address. Don’t hesitate to call me… I have no problem driving in my car to go meet with you and discuss it.”
Council member Kahler stated, “I’m very encouraged by the attendance tonight. I agree with councilman Kemerer that this is how all of this started- with the budget crisis and us evaluating everything. I think if there is misunderstanding, it is because everyone on this dais, agreed back in July or August and has agreed multiple times that we could not afford to continue to have Sheriff and police services. So last week when we decide we are going to keep sheriff services, that means we aren’t going to keep police services. And that is a logical conclusion when you said we are only going to do one or the other. That has been said multiple times. Councilman Kemerer initially brought that up and all of us have sat here and nodded and said ‘yes that makes sense.’ ”
As far as the MSTU goes Kahler stated, we are paying the same amount as people in the unincorporated area, but not receiving the same level of service. “For me as a conservative, I think that people should only pay for the service that they are getting.”
Mayor Battista, Council members Bernardini and Erhard did not recall ever agreeing that it is a one or the other situation between the Sheriff’s Office and Brooksville PD. However, the logic still remains that with the Sheriff’s Office providing an equivalent level of service to the city, a city department would no longer exist.
City constituents are still supportive of the MSTU option, with several Southern Hills residents submitting letters to council asking them to support the MSTU. Other stakeholders are taking a more forceful approach as recall petitions are circulating for Mayor Robert Battista, City Council Member William Kemerer and City Council Member Betty Erhard in relation to recent actions.