Rocky seeking 90 more officers

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's public safety push is on.

And if the City Council thought his request for 15 new police officers was a lot, the mayor hit them with a new figure Tuesday — 90.

In delivering his 2005-06 fiscal year budget proposal, Anderson said the city needs to add 90 new police officers by 2010. This year's proposal includes a $1.4 million tax increase for 15 new officers and two police support personnel.

While that tax increase may be too much for some council members to swallow, Anderson said in four or five years the city will need another 75 officers. The mayor's plan would require the city to add 15 to 19 new officers each year to meet that mark.

"The increase of 15 officers we are requesting this year is designed to move us toward this long-term goal and to maintain the high quality of public safety service provided by our police department," Anderson said.

Anderson was optimistic Tuesday that the city could pay for the 75 additional officers without depending on property tax increases each year leading up to 2010.

Jumps in property values, higher franchise fees and new revenue from increasing sales tax growth could fund the new officers, the mayor said.

A safer city makes property values go up, Anderson said. Residents will recoup this year's tax hike "with a corresponding increase in property values due to this minor increase for more police enforcement," he added.

The proposed police increase is a major departure from the city's recent policies on police staffing. Since 1998, City Hall has decreased the number of sworn staffing in its operations division from 414 to 410.

The mayor maintains the new officers are needed to patrol downtown and the city's parks, among other duties. The new officers would be required to maintain a ratio of 1.53 officers per 1,000 service population in the city.

Even with 15 new officers this year, Salt Lake City's force will remain below the national standard of two officers per 1,000 service population.

While the city's population is only about 180,000, its daytime population (or service population) swells to 380,000 as commuters and students work and study in Salt Lake City office buildings and higher-education facilities.

As the service population grows leading up to 2010, Anderson said more and more officers will be needed to maintain public safety.

City Council members insist they are committed to public safety, but none say they are excited about raising taxes. Four of the seven City Council members are up for re-election this year.