With police and fire pension rates on the rise and a $1.8 million budget deficit before Galesburg City Council, issues with public safety staffing and resources remain.
Last night, council met for a work session where aldermen and city officials were briefed on some of the concerns leaders of both departments have.
Galesburg Fire Chief Tom Simkins and Galesburg Police Chief David Christensen both indicated that personnel has dipped in recent years due to cutbacks and Galesburg sits below state averages.
For police, Christensen says low personnel numbers means response time to more dangerous situations are sometimes hindered.
“If we were completely saturated and had a domestic quarrel or a fight call come in, we’re going to try pull a officer, but it’s very dangerous to send a single officer to a domestic quarrel to a domestic quarrel or a bar fight or any other emergency type call,” Christensen says.
Christensen adds that “unobligated” or general patrol times some days are affected as well.
GPD has lost three officers since 2012. They currently operate with 50. The average for cities similar to Galesburg is 56.
For the fire department, Simkins says nine firefighters have been lost since 2004 and the department now operates with three-man engine companies as opposed to four. Response times have increased as well.
Options to eliminate further positions for both departments were presented, though City Manager Todd Thompson says staffing may need to increase, at least for police, as numbers are already low.
No action was taken last night. A proposed budget is expected later this year.
