Fairfield Considers Cutting Police Department to Save Money

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/03/Fairfield1.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:450;s:6:"height";i:315;s:4:"file";s:22:"2016/03/Fairfield1.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:6:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Fairfield1-336x235.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:235;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Fairfield1-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Fairfield1-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Fairfield1-444x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:444;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Fairfield1-379x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:379;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Fairfield1-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => Birmingham Public Library
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:194540;s:14:"optimized_size";i:117913;s:7:"percent";d:39.390000000000001;}s:5:"sizes";a:7:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:50:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Fairfield1.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:91262;s:14:"optimized_size";i:40253;s:7:"percent";d:55.890000000000001;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Fairfield1-336x235.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:21766;s:14:"optimized_size";i:16301;s:7:"percent";d:25.109999999999999;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Fairfield1-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:21869;s:14:"optimized_size";i:16481;s:7:"percent";d:24.640000000000001;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Fairfield1-444x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:33426;s:14:"optimized_size";i:25164;s:7:"percent";d:24.719999999999999;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Fairfield1-379x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:26217;s:14:"optimized_size";i:19714;s:7:"percent";d:24.800000000000001;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1637606300 
1458905337

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.

 

Judge indefinitely postpones sentencing in Trump’s hush money case

The decision to indefinitely adjourn next week's sentencing date comes several days after both lawyers agreed that a stay would help sort out unprecedented legal questions.

Trans health care under Trump may follow the abortion playbook and its Hyde amendment

Republicans spent $222 million on anti-trans and LGBTQ advertising in the campaign. Various policy initiatives are on the incoming administration's to-do list.

6 tourists in Laos have died after drinking tainted alcohol

Tourists from the U.S., Australia, Denmark and the U.K. have died. A tourism police officer said a "number of people" had been detained in the case but that no charges have yet been filed.

TV’s Dr. Oz invested in businesses regulated by the agency Trump wants him to run

The celebrity doctor recently held investments worth tens of millions of dollars in health care, tech, and food companies which could pose significant conflicts of interest.

‘Iced Cherries’: Joe D. Nelson’s take on modern folk and age old tropes

It may be unusual for a musician to refer to his own music as a trope. But that’s what Birmingham singer-songwriter Joe D. Nelson does with his latest album Iced Cherries. 

Searching for tiny dung beetles that clean the vast forest floor

Creating a census of the dung beetles of Massachusetts gives clues into the health of forests and fields.

More Education Coverage