House approves 15 new employees for DPS

Alarmed by the state of the Department of Public Safety, the House of Representatives yesterday approved 15 new employees for the police to beef up patrol troops on the island.

In a resolution adopted by the House, members also urged Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to expedite hiring of the fresh police officers after they discovered that the administration has dilly-dallied in approving requests by the DPS to fill in vacancies.

The department is “very short-handed on personnel to effectively carry out its mission,” according to the House Resolution 11-151 offered by Rep. Frank Cepeda, chair of the House committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations.

The committee has conducted two oversight hearings on DPS in which public safety officials have decried the lack of funds given to the agency. They maintained it has imperiled their operations, putting at risk peace and order in the community.

Due to the 13.4 percent cut in the budget, DPS is facing deficit of at least $2.8 million by the end of the current fiscal year as personnel costs exceed the budget allotted to them by the Tenorio administration.

The shortfall represents overtime of more than 300 police officers and other public safety employees. Also, because of the funding cut, the DPS request for additional manpower from the Office of Personnel Management to fill the 42 vacancies has been in limbo for the past six months.

The DPS approval was one among several resolutions, bills and committee reports adopted by the House during the three-hour session yesterday. These were:

HB 11-355, mandating animal quarantine. It now heads to the Senate for action;

HR 11-152 to 159, commending several government agencies and private organizations for assisting the CNMI government in administering close to 500 illegal Chinese immigrants who are currently staying at a temporary shelter on Tinian;

Commemorative Resolution 11-15, recognizing May 9-15 as Police Week in the CNMI and May 10 as Police Officer’s Memorial Day;

CR 11-16, honoring police officers who, through their courageous deeds, lost their lives or have become disabled in the line of duty;

HJR 11-53, marking June 3 as a House and Senate joint session to hear the State of the Commonwealth address by the governor;

Standing Committee Report 11-67, recommending passage of HB 11-276 which will amend chapter 2 of the Commonwealth Code;

SCR 11-68, reporting on SB 11-61 seeking elimination of housing benefits for government employees (see related story);

SCR 11-70, reporting on HB 11-397 restricting coverage of medical benefits granted to nonresident workers;

SCR 11-71, reporting on HB 11-79 or the Deportation Amendment Act of 1999.

The House also rejected HB 11-354 which will forbid animal cruelty in the Commonwealth, but members agreed to refer it to JGO for further deliberation.