NYC council to renew call to hire 1,000 more police officers
Source: AP
By JONATHAN LEMIRE
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York City Council is poised to renew its call to hire 1,000 more officers for the police department, potentially setting up a repeat clash with Mayor Bill de Blasio about the headcount of the nation's largest police force.
The council will release its budget presentation on Tuesday and will include funding to hire the additional officers, council staffers told The Associated Press on Sunday. The council made the same proposal a year ago but it was rejected by de Blasio and not included in the final budget for fiscal year 2015, which began July 1.
"In order for NYPD to continue to keep New Yorkers safe while also implementing new reforms and initiatives we need to increase the overall headcount of the department," City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a statement Sunday night. "The Council's plan to increase headcount while also including cost control measures is fiscally responsible and will go a long way toward ensuring public safety and better community relations."
The council, which is composed of 48 Democrats and just 3 Republicans, has largely marched in lockstep with de Blasio, a Democrat, as he has acted to expand the role of city government in people's lives, particularly the less fortunate. But the debate over hiring the additional officers a year ago was a rare moment of disagreement as de Blasio turned down the request, citing record low crime numbers and suggesting that the money would be better spent elsewhere.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0b49eb4353214c54ac372f0afa28c9c9/nyc-council-renew-call-hire-1000-more-police-officers
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Seems like the absence of all those tickets being written and constant harassment by police was perceived as a breath of fresh air.
But maybe they gotta find a way to make up the revenue they lost during that temper tantrum..
