DARE, SROS NOT TARGETED FOR CUTBACKS, DOTSON SAYS

Chattanooga Police Chief Jimmie Dotson said Thursday that school resource
officers and Drug Abuse Resistance Education program officers would not be
reassigned, as a recent report to the mayor recommended.

"The mayor stated that DARE and the SROs will not be cut," Chief Dotson
told employees during a staff meeting about the report, submitted to Mayor
Bob Corker in late July by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service.

The report recommended 55 full-time and 26 part-time civilian jobs be cut
from the Police Department payroll. It also suggested reassigning some
sworn officers within the department, including eight school resource and
four DARE officers.

Mr. Corker said police employees will find out Aug. 21 what jobs will be
eliminated, when he is expected to submit his 2001-02 budget to the City
Council.

Todd Womack, a spokesman for Mr. Corker, said no specific jobs at the
Police Department have been targeted.

"We're still fine tuning which positions will be eliminated," Mr. Womack
said. "We have no intention at this point in the budget process of
eliminating DARE or school resource officers."

The recommended cuts at the Police Department are part of an overall effort
to cope with an estimated $15 million to 20 million city budget shortfall.

On Thursday the Times Free Press obtained Chief Dotson's written response
to the advisory service report, in which he tried to justify keeping many
of the Police Department's civilian employees on the city payroll.

"Our assessment of this report is that MTAS did not have sufficient time to
make an appropriate assessment of the necessary staff reductions," Chief
Dotson wrote. "Therefore, we must challenge some of their recommendations."

Chief Dotson's response states that he supports some reductions in
positions that do not directly affect the department's ability to provide
the city with police service. But he lashed out at some suggested cuts,
saying "the drafters of the report are not familiar with the units that
they are recommending be cut."

The advisory service's report suggests that the department's legal counsel,
Shelley Parker, return to the city attorney's office, and that the four-man
pawn shop unit be disbanded.

Chief Dotson said these recommendations would not save the city any money
and would hurt the community.

"The legal adviser is paid less now than he was when he worked at the city
attorney's office," Chief Dotson wrote.

The pawn shop unit should be expanded, not eliminated, the chief wrote.

"The PSU is a vital component not only of our enforcement efforts but also
impacts very favorably on the department's quality of life initiatives,"
Chief Dotson wrote.

Sgt. Alan Chance, the pawn shop unit's supervisor, said the advisory
service's recommendations were "completely flawed."

The pawn unit now relies on the efforts of three part-time police service
technicians to track down and recover stolen property. Their jobs were
recommended for elimination.

"The pawn unit is wiped out," Sgt. Chance said.