MONROE - A resolution authorizing application for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office for an additional police officer for a direct school assignment passed in a 7-1 vote Wednesday at the City of Monroe Common Council meeting.
Alderman Thurston Hanson voted against the resolution.
"I don't want to be adding any city employees on city budgets as tight as they are," Hanson said during an interview after the meeting.
"Times are tough. We have to make due with what we have," he added.
The resolution states that "recent incidents at the Monroe High School and Middle School have indicated an increased need for a police officer to be directly assigned" to the city's schools.
Monroe High School had two evacuations, on March 26 and March 30, and the Middle school one evacuation on March 31, after threatening messages were discovered in the schools.
The reasoning did not persuade Hanson of the need for adding a police officer.
"Cops (in the school) wouldn't have prevented any of this," Hanson said. "These kids were discrete, whether cops were there or not."
Monroe is one of a few schools in the Badger Conference that does not have an officer, Police Chief Fred Kelley told the Public Safety Committee on Monday. Police officers currently rotate, as available, to cover the schools, he said.
The presence of an officer in the school "may or may not" have prevented the threatening notes found in the schools, but having an officer in the school would reduce response time, Kelley added.
During the council meeting, Alderman Paul Hannes questioned the resolution's wording regarding the city's financial liability if it is awarded and accepts the grant. The resolution would commit the city to support the position's salary "from normal city budget funding in the future."
COPS money cannot replace local funds the city would devote to hiring sworn officers. It only can be used to hire additional officers.
In committee, Hannes said he has no problem with the grant program, if the school district would help pay part of the fourth-year expense. Hannes said the school's portion of the funding would be taxed over a larger population.
Kelley; Alderman Mark Coplien, chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee; Mayor Ron Marsh; and Alderman Charles Koch, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, made assurances the application was just a first step, and that any negotiations with the school for partial funding would come later.
The grant provides 100 percent funding for the salary and benefits of a full-time, entry-level officer for 36 months, but there is a 12-month retention period at the conclusion of the grant, the cost for which the city would be responsible.
The estimated cost of an entry-level officer wages and benefits is about $63,000.
The city also would be responsible for additional costs for salaries and benefits that are higher than entry level. There is no local funding match requirement for COPS Hiring Recovery Program.
The grant application requires the city to identify its plan and source for retention funding.
The COPS Hiring Recovery Program is a competitive grant program designed to address the full-time sworn officer needs law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Up to $1 billion in grant funding was appropriated for the initiative through the federal economic stimulus of 2009.
Depending upon the timing of the grant awarding and the city's acceptance of the grant, an officer could start at the beginning of next school year, or as early as May.
Kelley made the initial request to apply for the grant to the Public Safety Committee, which approved it Monday, and the Salary and Personnel Committee recommended Wednesday that the Council pass the resolution. The deadline for application is April 14.
Alderman Thurston Hanson voted against the resolution.
"I don't want to be adding any city employees on city budgets as tight as they are," Hanson said during an interview after the meeting.
"Times are tough. We have to make due with what we have," he added.
The resolution states that "recent incidents at the Monroe High School and Middle School have indicated an increased need for a police officer to be directly assigned" to the city's schools.
Monroe High School had two evacuations, on March 26 and March 30, and the Middle school one evacuation on March 31, after threatening messages were discovered in the schools.
The reasoning did not persuade Hanson of the need for adding a police officer.
"Cops (in the school) wouldn't have prevented any of this," Hanson said. "These kids were discrete, whether cops were there or not."
Monroe is one of a few schools in the Badger Conference that does not have an officer, Police Chief Fred Kelley told the Public Safety Committee on Monday. Police officers currently rotate, as available, to cover the schools, he said.
The presence of an officer in the school "may or may not" have prevented the threatening notes found in the schools, but having an officer in the school would reduce response time, Kelley added.
During the council meeting, Alderman Paul Hannes questioned the resolution's wording regarding the city's financial liability if it is awarded and accepts the grant. The resolution would commit the city to support the position's salary "from normal city budget funding in the future."
COPS money cannot replace local funds the city would devote to hiring sworn officers. It only can be used to hire additional officers.
In committee, Hannes said he has no problem with the grant program, if the school district would help pay part of the fourth-year expense. Hannes said the school's portion of the funding would be taxed over a larger population.
Kelley; Alderman Mark Coplien, chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee; Mayor Ron Marsh; and Alderman Charles Koch, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, made assurances the application was just a first step, and that any negotiations with the school for partial funding would come later.
The grant provides 100 percent funding for the salary and benefits of a full-time, entry-level officer for 36 months, but there is a 12-month retention period at the conclusion of the grant, the cost for which the city would be responsible.
The estimated cost of an entry-level officer wages and benefits is about $63,000.
The city also would be responsible for additional costs for salaries and benefits that are higher than entry level. There is no local funding match requirement for COPS Hiring Recovery Program.
The grant application requires the city to identify its plan and source for retention funding.
The COPS Hiring Recovery Program is a competitive grant program designed to address the full-time sworn officer needs law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Up to $1 billion in grant funding was appropriated for the initiative through the federal economic stimulus of 2009.
Depending upon the timing of the grant awarding and the city's acceptance of the grant, an officer could start at the beginning of next school year, or as early as May.
Kelley made the initial request to apply for the grant to the Public Safety Committee, which approved it Monday, and the Salary and Personnel Committee recommended Wednesday that the Council pass the resolution. The deadline for application is April 14.