We need to house police in the same building with social services staff to help victims, witnesses

Opinion 

Over the past decade, our local government, through its land use decisions and budget process, has created an infrastructure deficit that continues to have significant impacts on our quality of life as residents and our ability to entice businesses to bring more high-paying jobs to our community.

That infrastructure doesn’t just include roads – it’s also schools, public transportation, parks and libraries. These services, and their need for greater support and investment, frequently get the media coverage and attention they deserve.

One that doesn’t, however, and is of critical importance to our community, is the Prince William County Police Department. In 2008, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors adopted a public safety plan that included recommended staffing levels of two sworn officers per 1,000 residents. But as the population in our community continues to grow, our police department hasn’t grown with it. In fact, it isn’t even close.

At the end of 2011, our department had 571 sworn officers, which put staffing at just over 68% of the level mandated by the Board. My opponent for chairman claims that we’ve added new officers significantly during his tenure. But the reality is that over the four years ending in 2014, only a net of 22 additional sworn officers were added despite significant population growth.

Because of that growth, instead of being 267 officers short of meeting the public safety guidelines, we’re 287 officers behind or 67% of where the Board states that should be. In other words, our department is not gaining ground but losing it.

While it is certainly true that overall crime rates have declined in Prince William County overall for the last 20 years, and that’s certainly a good thing, the decline isn’t necessarily attributable to police staffing. Many different economic and demographic factors affect crime rates.

The real cause for concern is the safety of our police officers and their ability to perform important proactive services such as crime prevention and community outreach instead of focusing strictly on reactive policing. Make no mistake; we have a tremendous group of officers at all levels in our police department who want to be more proactive. But they simply don’t have the staffing or support they need to prioritize these functions.

The Board of County Supervisors needs to be more creative and forward-thinking in terms of creating opportunities for our officers and county staff to work better with our citizens. One example that has been suggested by police officers but found no support is the creation of a Victim/Witness Advocacy Center in our community. The concept is to house officers in the same building with Social Services staff to provide victims of and witnesses to crimes a more welcoming environment in which to interact with law enforcement. We know that there are crimes that go unreported. And we know that some witnesses are leery of coming forward to share valuable information that can help solve crimes.

It makes perfect sense to reallocate staff, without added expense to taxpayers, in a way that helps our officers do their jobs and makes residents more willing to come forward. Our community deserves this, and it is time for the Board to make it happen. Our police officers need our support. They need to be paid competitively and offered the benefits warranted to them based on the sacrifices they make on our behalf.

This year, the 401a program was reinstated for local government employees. But the 0.5% they were offered as a match for retirement was nothing more than a slap in the face to hard-working county employees, particularly when considering that departments were told to “find the money” within their existing budgets.

A few hundred dollars a year for retirement for folks who risk their lives on our behalf is unacceptable. It is completely irresponsible to continue to claim that we value public safety but refuse to invest in the people who keep us safe. We owe it to ourselves, and especially our children, to make public safety a top priority. That means investing in our officers.

Our department should reflect the diversity in our county, and we need to do more to ensure that our officers can not only work but also live in our community. It will make us safer, and help bring us together.

Rick Smith is a candidate for Chairman of the Prince William board of supervisors.