SHRINKING POLICE FORCE SHRIVELS LONG ARM OF LAW

Loss of Important Units "Horrible'

A 14-member police unit that provides drug education and helps fight gangs
and truancy in schools has been targeted for elimination.

So have detective units specializing in auto theft, burglaries, pawn shops,
fraud and property recovery.

The city's budget troubles hit home for the Police Department on Wednesday,
with the administration announcing how it will cope with the loss of 35
officers who stand to be laid off with the start of the new fiscal year July 1.

The emphasis will continue to be on responding to 911 calls, but with the
department shrinking to 876 sworn personnel, fewer investigative personnel
will be doing detective work, police officials said.

"It's horrible. . . . a sad situation," First Deputy Commissioner Crystalea
Burns Pelletier said.

Will the cuts make things easier for criminals?

"I think that's a fair statement," replied Harold Litwin Jr., chief of
operations and criminal investigations.

But Police Commissioner Rocco J. Diina said that while there is no denying
that the cuts will hurt, the department is taking a lot of innovative
steps, calling upon residents to do more.

"Our top priority is basic police services," Diina said. "Unfortunately,
some very productive units with some fine officers have to be eliminated.

"The public has to realize we will not be able to provide nonessential
services."

The schools will be hard-hit with the elimination of the 14-member
Community Services Unit, which provides such services as DARE (Drug Abuse
Resistance Education) and AIM (Attendance Is Mandatory) programs as well as
the Gang Suppression Unit and school resources officers.

"That's close to $1 million a year in salaries and fringe benefits,"
Pelletier said.

It would be up to the school district, which has its own financial crisis,
to fund those programs, she said.

The cuts would have a tremendous impact on how the school district provides
a safe and secure environment, school district spokesman Andrew Maddigan said.

"We hope creative minds can prevail and we can find some way these services
can be continued," he said.

Officers in the schools are specially trained for the jobs and are a
deterrent to possible violence and serve as role models, he said. The
Common Council has restored funding for 50 police jobs, but the number of
positions (not all of them filled) will still shrink from 972 to 876.

The actual number of layoffs is projected at 35. Unanticipated retirements
could reduce that number.

A "bumping" process under the police contract allows captains to revert to
the rank of lieutenant, and lieutenants and detectives to return to the
rank of police officer. Left with no one to bump and facing layoff are the
officers with the least seniority.

Litwin said that the Police Department is looking for ways to have the work
of the eliminated units picked up by others but that there is no getting
away from the fact that there will be fewer detectives on the payroll to
solve crimes.

Targeted for elimination are:

The four-member Auto Theft Squad, which specialized in car-theft rings.

The seven-member Burglary Task Force.

The four-member Property Recovery Unit, whose duties include regulating
pawn shops.

The six-member Special Frauds Squad, which deals with crimes against banks
and insurance companies as well as computer fraud and identity theft.

The 14-member Community Services Unit.

Positions to be eliminated are one of the two captains assigned to the
Police Academy, a detective assigned to the academy, a detective assigned
to the commissioner's office and a police officer assigned to
Administration & Communication. To be eliminated from the districts are the
positions of two captains, four lieutenants and 16 detectives.