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DPS draws up plan to reduce power, water consumption
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Posted on Sep 05 2000
The Department of Public Safety has ordered all its division heads and staff to cut down on their water and electricity consumption in preparation for the turnover of payment of utility consumption to various government agencies by the Department of Finance.
DPS Commissioner Charles W. Ingram, Jr. said payment for utility consumption is not even included in the Fiscal Year 2001 budget of the department.
The department asked for a $3.6 million increase in appropriation but was only given an additional $158,000 by the House of Representatives when it passed the budget last month. The amount is still way below the $17.6 million which Mr. Ingram had asked the lawmakers to provide.
According to Mr. Ingram, DPS will make an assessment of the use of water and electricity so that it can make a thorough evaluation on the areas which need to be cut. A 10 percent reduction on utility consumption is being targeted by DPS.
“We just have to make do with what we have right now and postpone all the things that we wanted to do,” he said.
The $3.6 million increase in funding for FY 2001 was meant to cope with the expected increase in police and fire personnel as well as for replacement of obsolete equipment in the department.
Police training and academy will put 55 firefighters in one cycle and 45 police officers in one cycle to begin work after graduation.
With the planned acquisition of 16 new patrol cars in FY 2001, the Police Division will need money to install lights, sirens and other equipment to these vehicles.
One of the most critical is the planned promotion of some police officers to middle management level since there is an increasing number of inexperienced policemen on the road lacking in proper supervision. This would mean an additional $100,000 for salaries and wages to pave the way for the promotion of qualified personnel.
Funding for medical care of inmates in compliance with the requirement of Federal Consent Decree has to be increased to $20,000.
A staff psychiatrist at the Division of Corrections should work full time which would cost the approximately $100,000 including salary and all benefits.
