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Improving Safety in Our Capital City
June 27, 2008
Public safety is the fundamental responsibility of local government. As your City Council representative, strengthening the Columbia Police Department is my top priority.We all know that if our neighborhoods are not safe, nothing else matters, and it is clear that safe and secure business districts and corridors are essential to economic well-being of our City. Without a doubt, our citizens expect Columbia to set the standard for excellence in public safety in our state and region.
Recent studies of the Columbia Police Department reveal challenges that we must acknowledge and address. If we are to reach our potential, we must put in place comprehensive policies that attract and retain the best and brightest personnel, provide dynamic career path alternatives, and utilize state of the art equipment and technology.
Achieving this goal will require collaboration among the City Council, the City’s senior management, the Police Department and the community. It must be done. The people of our Capital City deserve no less.
City Council and the City Manager bear the responsibility for the external initiatives to help rebuild the Columbia Police Department and have taken new steps to meet its obligation.
For the 2008-09 year that begins July 1, Council has approved $300,000 to hire 7 new police officers and agreed to fund an additional 7 officers next year. The new budget also includes over a million dollars to increase compensation and benefits for police officers to help regain our competitive position for hiring and retaining the best law enforcement personnel in the Midlands.
This is a good start, but Council must stay the course in the years to come to ensure that additional resources are dedicated to our Police Department to achieve our overall goal.
The appointment of our new Police Chief, Tandy Carter, affords the department an unparalleled opportunity to move in important new directions. Under Chief Carter's leadership, the Department must make the internal improvements that will reassure City Council and the community that the Department’s existing and new resources are used in the most effective ways possible.
I pledge my full support to plans and initiatives that will strengthen our Columbia Police Department and ensure in every way that Columbia be known as one of the safest cities in our country.