Fairfield Considers Cutting Police Department to Save Money
The Fairfield City Council recently made an unconventional move: they voted to get rid of their police department in an effort to save money. But some city leaders say it’s a shortsighted response to a big budget problem.
The city lost its two largest economic engines in the span of six months — a Wal-Mart Supercenter and the U.S. Steel plant. Now the city council says they’re struggling to crawl out of an $8 million deficit. In response, members want to get rid of the city’s law enforcement.
“If I had to cut anybody, the police department would be the very last department that you would cut from a city,” says Fairfield Mayor Kenneth Coachman.
The current cost of running the police department is roughly $2.5 million a year, and the majority of that’s eaten up by benefits, Coachman says. If the department is dissolved, the city’s alternative would be to contract with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at an estimated $80,000 per deputy per year, he says. The sheriff’s office would then be responsible for benefits and retirement.
Coachman also is considering Chapter 9 bankruptcy as another option to help the city out of its debt crisis.
Chapter 9 provides financially distressed municipalities with protection from creditors by creating a plan to resolve debt. Coachman briefly discussed this option with other city leaders after Wal-Mart closed in January, but no action was ever taken, he says, adding that he’ll recommend it to the city council again “soon.” The only other option for Fairfield is annexation into Birmingham.
“I don’t want to be annexed,” says Fairfield City Council President Darnell Gardner. “And I can’t stress that enough. I think Fairfield can be saved … It’s my home. It’s where I was born, where my house is. It’s where my mother’s house is.”
Annexation and Chapter 9 bankruptcy would both be last-ditch options, says Gardner. But he also says cutting costs by methods like getting rid of the police department is the first step toward saving the city, though he admits he and the rest of the council are in the dark about many things:
“Still today, as president of the council, I don’t even know how many police officers we have.” He adds that what he calls a lack of transparency makes scrutinizing the city’s finances difficult.
Fairfield Police Chief Leon Davis and representatives from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office declined WBHM’s requests for comment.
The Fairfield Police Department is expected to close its doors on April 1. City leaders have asked the sheriff’s office for 12 deputies to patrol Fairfield, Gardner says. This would cost the city roughly $960,000 a year, a potential savings of just over $1.5 million. This is just a drop in the bucket for what Gardner says is truly needed to save Fairfield.
Argentina’s top court upholds Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s corruption conviction
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — one of Latin America's most recognizable political figures — is facing 6 years in prison and a lifetime ban from office after a major corruption conviction upheld.
The U.S. and China have agreed on a framework to resolve their trade disputes
After two days of talks in London, the U.S. and China have agreed in principle on a framework to carry out an agreement they reached on resolving their trade disputes last month, Chinese state media said.
Alabama executes Gregory Hunt by nitrogen gas for 1988 murder of Karen Lane
Hunt's execution marks Alabama's third this year, on pace to match the six it carried out last year, and the fifth time it used the controversial method.
National Park signage encourages the public to help erase negative stories at its sites
The Department of the Interior is requiring the National Park Service to post signage nationwide by June 13, asking visitors for feedback on any information they feel misrepresents American history.
Looking into Alabama’s ‘Blood Money’: how taxpayers foot the bill for lawsuits by prisoners
The Alabama Department of Corrections settled more than 100 lawsuits against its corrections officers for excessive use of force since 2020. Inmates say officers left them with broken bones and brain damage. Beth Shelburne, a Birmingham-based independent investigative reporter, found that taxpayers are covering the cost in her four-part series for the Alabama Reflector called "Blood Money."
TikTok superstar Khaby Lame was detained by ICE before being allowed to leave the U.S.
Lame, 25, produces nearly silent videos that have made him the most-followed personality on TikTok. But U.S. officials say Lame, an Italian citizen, overstayed his visa earlier this month.
