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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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When flint separated from the county 911, the Flint 911 was part of the Fire Department instead of the Police Department. While her title remains a mystery, Pamela Coleman, Flint 911 administrator and provisional Police department, appears to still be in line for a high priced job even though the 911 duties are being transferred to the county.
The latest budget shows staffing levels of 100 for the Flint Police. However, one has to remember there are 15 civilian positions within the Police force. Also the special millage for Police is set to end.
That has inquiring minds asking why the Flint administration is so set on creating a position for Coleman that will pay her about $83,000 a year for supervising 6 part time people. Her salary alone will pay for at least two officers. Many are expressing the belief the administration doesn't really care about the people. The hierarchies are determined to do what they want and in this case it reflects badly on them.
Coleman, as 911 administrator, is responsible for ongoing training of her staff. However, the proposed part time candidates from her unit who were to transfer to the Police Department all failed their test. |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:50 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:51 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Experience
Pamela Coleman
Adjunct Faculty Instructor
Baker College-Flint
September 2013 – Present (1 year 11 months)|Flint, MI
Teach 911 Emergency courses as part of Baker's Criminal Justice curriculum.
911 Director
City of Flint
2013 – Present (2 years)
Manages the daily operations of the Public Safety-911 department for the City of Flint.
911 Supervisor
City of Flint
2004 – 2011 (7 years)
Supervised dispatch employees |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:05 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:09 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint 911 dispatchers to get customer service training after handling of Domino's fight call
David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
on March 10, 2014 at 6:00 PM, updated March 10, 2014 at 7:20 PM
The manager of a Ballenger Highway Domino's Pizza restaurant claims Flint police never showed up when she called multiple times to report an angry customer. The incident allegedly escalated and resulted in a store employee being assaulted by the customer.
Katie McLean | Mlive
FLINT, MI – Flint police Chief James Tolbert said he was "not quite satisfied" with the way a 911 call about an assault of a Domino's Pizza employee was handled by city emergency dispatchers.
Domino's Pizza manager Heather Napthen called 911 three times Feb. 20 after an irate customer came into complain about a $97 pizza order.
Despite reporting the alleged assault of an employee who tried to get a license plate number off the vehicle, Flint police were never sent to the restaurant.
Dispatchers told a manager that there were no police cars available at the time. Even later, no police were dispatched and the employee was told to make her complaint over the phone.
Tolbert said the department is still investigating whether police were responding to other calls.
All police department employees will go through some public service training as a result of this incident, he said.
"I just want to be a little more friendly on the phone -- a little more professional on the phone," said Tolbert.
He also said while response time should depend on the priority, everyone who requests a police car should get one.
"That's not the way we should do business," said Tolbert. "We are going to change that (not sending a car) immediately. We are always going to get there."
Flint 911 Director Pamela Coleman could not be reached for comment.
Tolbert also said dispatchers did a good job of advising the manager to not send an employee outside to take down a license plate when the suspects were outside. He said going outside to get the license plate number was "probably not the best thing to do."
When the woman first called, Napthen told the woman that she could not get a full refund because the order was too old but said she offered a partial refund or some store credits. Five minutes later, Napthen said the woman drove up to the store and began yelling at her.
After the customer did not calm down, Napthen called police.
The first call came in at 4:45 p.m. Feb. 20 when Napthen asked for police help with an irate customer, according to a review of the 911 tapes obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
Seconds later, Napthen called again and said the customer was going to assault her and the employee. Napthen goes on to say that the suspect is leaving and that an employee went out to get the license plate number.
The dispatcher advises Napthen to get the employee back inside and let the suspects leave, but is told by Napthen that worker is being assaulted.
"Oh my god, this girl is hitting my employee. I need someone out here now," Napthen says, according to the tape.
The dispatcher responds, "OK ma'am nobody is available to come to you right now."
Napthen calls again about 30 minutes later, and after arguing back and forth, the dispatcher gives a number to the victim to call to make the complaint.
According to the narrative of the call by the dispatcher, the two were "rude and upset."
"It could have been handled a little more professionally (by 911)," said Krystal Talbot, 24, who reported she was assaulted and has since quit her job. "Working in a minimum wage job, I know there is a standard to hold yourself up to so customers will come back."
Tolbert said while the situation could have been handled better, it is unlikely the assault could have been stopped because it happened so quickly. |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:11 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:19 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:03 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint crime doubled as size of police force was cut in half, analysis shows
David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
on August 25, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated August 25, 2013 at 3:52 PM
Roberto Acosta | MLive.com
RELATED: Find details on police and crime trends in your area.
FLINT, MI – Ten years ago, the Flint Police Department had enough personnel to fill a mid-size theater at Rave move theaters; by 2011, its staff couldn't fill even the smallest.
The Flint police department has shrunk nearly 50 percent since 2003, according to an analysis by MLive Media Group. In the same time, crime went up nearly 50 percent.
Back in 2003, the city's police department boasted 242 officers. By 2011, there were 122. Violent crime, as has been well documented, also skyrocketed, nearly doubling from 12.2 violent crimes per 1,000 people in 2003 to 23.4 in 2011.
Flint bucks a statewide trend that saw an overall decrease in crime despite a reduction in officers, the MLive analysis showed.
Statewide, nearly one in 10 full-time officers were lost in the past 10 years – 1,870 in all. The state's overall population fell less than 2 percent.
But crime rates across Michigan dropped even further. From 2003 to 2011, the last year statewide figures are available from the FBI, serious violent and property crimes dropped 22 percent.
Flint police officer Kevin Smith, president of the police officer's union, said the rise in violent crime and decline in police presence is not just a coincidence.
"When you got more officers, they get to know their neighborhood," said Smith. "They know who the good guys and bad guys are if they are policing it on a consistent basis."
Now, officers are just responding to call after call, he said. A new initiative is supposed to keep officers in one of four areas of the city, but there are so many calls for service that officers are often leaving the area to go to calls in other parts of the city, said Smith. The idea is to keep officers in one area of the city so they get to know the people in the area, but it hasn't worked that way, Smith said.
Consider this: In 2003, there were 28 homicides, while in 2011 there were 52, even as the city population dropped 20,000. The city reached the 2003 mark for homicides by June 2011. The city then wasn't constantly topping the most violent city in the nation list, as it has from 2010-12.
State and federal law enforcement have jumped in to do what they can to help. There are 26 troopers and eight detectives working in the city, and 10 more will be coming at a later time, according to the commander of the Michigan State Police Flint post. The ATF had a surge of extra agents in the summer of 2012 that netted guns and drug seizures.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting felons in possession of guns and just recently started to handle armed robbery of businesses cases because prison sentences are longer in federal court.
Smith said the last time police were on top of criminal activity was 2008, when there were 229 city officers.
"We still had crime, but not to this magnitude," he said.
Jamal Williams, 30, has been a victim of crime. He said he was robbed at gunpoint a couple years ago.
"It was violent, it was scary," said Williams. "Having a gun next to your head, it's crazy."
For the crime rate to improve, he said, the economy needs to get better and there needs to be more jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, Flint had a 10.1 percent unemployment rate in June while the rate for the state was 8.8 in July. Williams said he sees all type of crime where he lives, on the city's north side.
"Everything," he said. "You name it."
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling blames the economy more than the reduction of officers. He said Flint has been hit harder than other areas of the state in the last decade.
"The economic effects of two recessions on the city have created an environment where crime has been hard to control," said Walling.
Walling said there needs to be more job training, youth violence prevention programs and after-school activities. While there are some, they haven't reached the scope needed, he said.
"The existing programs are making a difference, but there is a large number of youth that are not being reached," Walling said.
Walling said a return to 2003 staffing levels is not an answer.
"It would be an expensive mistake to assume that the longstanding public safety challenge in Flint can be solved with only additional personnel," he said.
The police millage that passed in November – 6 mills over five years that would raise $5.3 million in the first year – helps balance the police department staffing levels as grants expire, and officials said 10 new officers would be hired.
Kathy Edgar, 65, has lived in Flint for 42 years and the city around her has changed drastically, she said. The crime, she said, is "awful."
A lack of police officers and respect among youth are to blame, she said.
"I don't know what these young kids are doing," she said. "They are doing stupid things. I didn't get this old by being stupid." |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:05 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I first heard this story 2 days ago on the Detroit news station. When they said starting salary for police officers was $14 an hour, I was startled. Today's Detroit News carried the story and repeated the $14 starting salary. They noted that after taxes, pension sharing and benefit sharing, the officer only netted about $8 hr. Who would risk their life to try to live on that?
Fewest cops are patrolling Detroit streets since ... - The Detroit News
6 hours ago ... Detroit — There are fewer police officers patrolling the city than at any time since
the 1920s, a manpower shortage that sometimes leaves ...
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/07/08/detroit-cops/29896105/ - 373k - Cached - Similar Pages |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:17 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Fewest cops are patrolling Detroit streets since 1920s
George Hunter, The Detroit News 9:20 a.m. EDT July 9, 2015
Detroit — There are fewer police officers patrolling the city than at any time since the 1920s, a manpower shortage that sometimes leaves precincts with only one squad car, posing what some say is a danger to cops and residents.
Detroit has lost nearly half its patrol officers since 2000; ranks have shrunk by 37 percent in the past three years, as officers retired or bolted for other police departments amid the city's bankruptcy and cuts to pay and benefits.
Left behind are 1,590 officers — the lowest since Detroit beefed up its police force to battle Prohibition bootleggers.
"This is a crisis, and the dam is going to break," said Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association. "It's a Catch-22: I know the city is broke, but we're not going to be able to build up a tax base of residents and businesses until we can provide a safe environment for them."
Police Chief James Craig acknowledges he doesn't have as many officers as he'd like.
"These officers do the most difficult job in the country, and they need to get paid more," he said. "It's hard to keep people when other cities can offer so much more money."
Starting pay for Detroit officers is about $14 per hour, Diaz said. "But when you factor in the pension and benefits they're paying for, they're bringing home roughly $8 per hour after taxes. It's difficult to be a Detroit cop and make ends meet. You can't blame them for leaving so they can feed their families."
The department lost between 30 and 35 officers monthly last year, although that's slowed to about half that, Assistant Police Chief Lashinda Stair said.
A $75 million budget cut in the 2012-13 fiscal year — which represented 18 percent of the total budget — forced the department to shed 380 officers. There have been new graduating classes from the police academy added to the ranks since then, but officials say there hasn't been money to hire enough new cops to replace those leaving.
East side resident Ray Rutyna, 68, said squad cars are scarce in his neighborhood near Seven Mile and Hoover.
"You very rarely see a marked car drive by," he said. "They'll come if something happens, but you don't see them patrolling much. It's too bad, because we need them over here."
Staffing challenges
Police officials say staffing problems are exacerbated by a new contract provision that allows officers to go home sick after four hours with a full day's pay, and without using a sick day. The department's Lieutenants and Sergeants Association union has had the same arrangement for years.
"That's hurting us," Craig said. "You may think you have a precinct staffed, but if a few officers go home sick, you suddenly find yourself running around to replace them."
Diaz said officers often go home because they're exhausted from working double shifts necessitated by the manpower shortage.
"Being as my officers are falling from fatigue, the use of this benefit will not cease until we get more bodies," Diaz said.
About 15 percent of the city's officers are in administrative positions, although plans are under way to move them to patrols. The police department will put 400 more officers on the street in the next year, said Alexis Wiley, chief of staff for the mayor's office.
Plans call for hiring 150 new officers, and using civilians to fill administrative jobs currently assigned to cops, freeing them to patrol. A recently launched program will allow retired officers to serve as Police Assistants to handle some non-patrol jobs, allowing more sworn officers to be redeployed, Wiley said.
Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore, a Detroit cop for 10 years, said at least 550 new officers are immediately needed.
"I thought more was going to be done during the bankruptcy to immediately bolster the police department, but we haven't seen that," he said.
The city's post-bankruptcy plan calls for a $114.2 million increase to the police department's $315 million budget by 2018.
"Something needs to be done now," Moore said. "If you have only one or two marked units working in a precinct, that's a safety issue for the officers as well as the citizens."
The vast majority of people who apply to become Detroit officers are rejected because of criminal records, unpaid tickets and other issues, Stair said. Last year, of the 2,462 who applied, only 131 were hired.
Deployment shuffle
Precinct captains staff each shift with two to seven squad car units, said Deputy Chief David LeValley, who oversees deployment.
"We never start out a shift with one car," LeValley said. "But there are times when units get pulled to other precincts, there might be only one car. It's not an ideal situation."
Deployment decisions are based on recent crime trends, LeValley said.
"We try not to pull cars from higher-crime areas, but that changes every night, or during different times of the day," LeValley said. "We're constantly monitoring data to see which days and shifts need increased staffing."
Special Operations squads and undercover "30 Series" vehicles can be rerouted to patrol during busy times, LeValley said, although he said redeploying specialty units takes them away from their duties.
"The (manpower) numbers are what they are," he said. "But we're figuring out how to best deploy people. We try to be predictive — but we have no way of knowing when people are going to pick up the phone and dial 911."
Craig said crime statistics suggest the creative deployment tactics are working.
As of last week, there were 139 homicides in 2015, up from 128 during the same period last year, but down from 150 in 2013. There have been 475 non-fatal shootings this year, up from 473 last year, compared to 546 during the same period in 2013. There have been sharp reductions in robberies, carjackings, and property crimes since 2013.
"We're not letting our staffing challenges stop us from doing our job, which is taking criminals off the street," Craig said.
A recent spate of multiple shootings at parties presented staffing problems, Craig said.
"When you have officers at several major crime scenes, it doesn't leave many to patrol," he said.
'They're being preyed on'
Detroit's population has dwindled to about 700,000, but police and union officials point out officers still must patrol the city's 143 square miles.
Detroit's violent crime rate of 45 per 100,000 residents, the highest in the United States last year, is about the same as it was during the mid-1970s, when the city was known as the Murder Capital, and the police department had about 4,000 officers to serve 1.5 million residents.
Currently, there are 448 citizens for every officer, as opposed to in the 1970s, when the citizen-to-officer ratio was around 380. But former Detroit Police officer David Malhalab said the ratio of criminals to law-abiding citizens has increased since then.
"A lot of families who had the means moved out to get away from the crumbling schools and high-crime neighborhoods," said Malhalab, a 23-year police veteran. "That left behind a lot of criminals, and the poor residents who couldn't afford to move. They're being preyed on by the criminals."
Rutyna said he'd like to see more officers patrolling.
"When I was a kid, you'd see them two at a time walking the beat on Seven Mile," he said. "But those days are long gone. You've got to be realistic. Just seeing a car come by more often would be a good start." |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| "Starting pay for Detroit officers is about $14 per hour, Diaz said. "But when you factor in the pension and benefits they're paying for, they're bringing home roughly $8 per hour after taxes. It's difficult to be a Detroit cop and make ends meet. You can't blame them for leaving so they can feed their families." |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:24 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Whenever flint experiences a crisis of violence, the state sends in more state troopers. Flint is on tap for 4 more state troopers out of the latest graduating class. These troopers are now attempting the same community policing techniques once used by Flint Police. The problem with our local police was that the administration rarely, if ever, allowed community policing to function as it was intended. Officers were constantly called to other areas.
The State Troopers say they are being successful, but at what? They are somewhat secretive about these alleged successes.
Meanwhile many officers are looking to jump ship and apply for jobs paying better. Can't blame them. |
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Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:48 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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City of Flint Police Department
Last night the Flint Police Department responded to the area of Kellar Ave and Stewart St in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, they found a young male subject with a gun shot wound. The officers on scene did an outstanding job collecting suspect information from witnesses, arresting three subjects, and locating the weapon used in this assault. Well done Officers Suttles, Coe, and Matteson! |
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Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:36 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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For many months, there has been a heavy use of overtime to avoid hiring police. The police are getting worn out, especially with the 12 hour shifts. How does this affect the budget and is the millage being used for what it was intended? The citizens and the Fire and Police were deceived when they campaigned for the millage to maintain out levels of safety personnel.
Will we be like the City of Pontiac where Police were disbanded and their duties assigned to the Sheriff Department. County officials keep saying we are moving towards a Metropolitan Police Department run by the Sheriff.
I haven't see too many reports of excessive force from within the Flint Police in recent years. I remember arguing with a Flint Journal reporter at a press conference about aggressive Flint Police after the Marlon Veal death and near riot on Paterson and Dupont.
The female reporter alleged the Black police were harder on minorities than the White police were. My experience was that the Black police, in most instances, expected more from the community and most lived in the city.
If I remember correctly, Marlon Veal was a leader in the notorious West Side Gangster Disciples (no longer existing). I read a case where he chased a female in the snow and beat her with a shovel when she fell. She required surgery and a colostomy bag. I was told by officers that Veal had shot a female through her home's window on Begole because she refused to date him. His trial over the first girl wasn't over yet when the second incident occurred.
Police came out in force to search for him when he and another got trapped in the basement of a house on Paterson, just west of Dupont. A gun battle ensued and Veal was dead. It was not until an autopsy was completed that it was revealed that Veal killed himself instead of being taken. That evening a near riot occurred near te scene of the shooting. Rest in Peace tributes were painted in the area for years. |
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Sat Jul 25, 2015 7:11 am |
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