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.
Blake Lively accuses ‘It Ends With Us’ studio of harassment and smear campaign
In a legal complaint, the actor says co-star Justin Baldoni and his team launched a smear campaign as a way to silence Lively's narrative about his and a producer's alleged repeated sexual harassment.
Millions face wintry weather for what could be a record-setting holiday travel season
More than 119 million people are expected to travel for Christmas and Hanukkah, which both fall on the same day this year, through the New Year, according to AAA.
Review by Senate Democrats finds more unreported luxury trips by Clarence Thomas
A report by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee found additional travel taken in 2021 by Thomas but not reported on his annual financial disclosure, including trips on private jets and a yacht trip.
Where did Barry Jenkins feel safe as a kid? Atop a tree
Director Barry Jenkins is best known for films like "Moonlight" and "If Beale Street Could Talk." On Wild Card, he opens up about where he felt the safest as a kid.
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 20, including five children
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 20 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said.
This Christmas I’ll be grieving. Here’s how I’ll be finding joy.
Since her husband's death, newscaster Windsor Johnston has been looking for ways to recapture joy and continue her healing journey — one that's taken her to a place she'd never expected.
