CITY POLICE CHIEF ASKS FOR $2.4M MORE TO COMBAT DRUGS

ASHEVILLE -- Stepping up the fight against hard-drug dealing would cost
an additional $2.4 million, says Police Chief Bill Hogan. Hogan
presented the price tag as part of an increased drug suppression plan
requested by the top elected city body. In addition to putting more
money into high-crime areas, the city would have to look at shifting
attention from neighborhoods with less crime, he said.

Many of the proposed changes would improve policing throughout the
city, he said. But more police attention would definitely go to areas
suffering higher incidences of drugs and violence.

"Police go where crime is. We devote more time, spend more time where
crime occurs," he said after last Tuesday's city council meeting. It
remains to be seen whether the council will fulfill the additional
budget request. City budget discussions for the next fiscal year begin
Tuesday. The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Councilman Bryan Freeborn raised the idea of funding part of the
request or phasing it in over more than a year.

"I can understand the need and desire to do a surge," Freeborn said to
Hogan. "But can we also do this in an incremental approach and what
would be the positive and negative impacts of that?" The chief said he
would sit down with commanding officers and work out the top
priorities for funding as well as whether phasing could work. But
Councilman Carl Mumpower, who has criticized police and city officials
for what he says is poor drug enforcement, said the city should fund
the full request this year.

He also thanked the chief in what looked like a continued warming of
relations between the councilman and police.

"I think we should get behind you not incrementally," he said. "Let's
create a surge and hold you accountable for doing the good work." At
Mumpower's suggestion, the council asked Hogan to continue to give
regular progress reports.

Progress is often measured in the number of drug arrests, Hogan said,
and those have gone up since the formation of the police Drug
Suppression Unit with 36 percent more felony drug arrests and 44
percent more misdemeanor arrests. But the new effort, which includes
more police, more community outreach and more social programs, should
actually lead to fewer arrests, he said. "The hope is when you create
more police presence, you drive it down. Sometimes it is displaced
from one area to another, or it just can't be done as frequently as it
used to be," he said.

Councilman Brownie Newman said the idea of reducing arrests was the
best scenario and asked the chief to report more on how increased
efforts could lead to that.

"If we can deter crime and have less arrests, that means we can build
less jails in the future. That is a trade-off that is easy to make,"
Newman said. Mayor Terry Bellamy, meanwhile, supported the use of
police and resident interaction, neighborhood groups and social
programs. "It's not police only. It's a comprehensive approach to the
issue," Bellamy said.

Sidebar

Spending Breakdown of recent police spending in millions.

2005-06 2006-07 City $75.6 $77.8 budget Police $15.2 $16.5 budget
Percent 20 % 21.2 % of city budget