SIDNEY — “One of the top goals of every law enforcement agency is to ensure a safe community for residents and visitors,” Shelby County Commissioner and Streets & Safety Plus Committee Chair Bob Guillozet said. “Certainly another is to utilize our limited resources in an efficient and effective manner.”

The city of Sidney has placed a .5% municipal earned income tax levy on the March 19, 2024, ballot. The tax, if approved, will replace the .125% tax currently being levied for the repair or streets and bridges. It will be used to provide general funds for the needs of the city if it is passed.

“Sidney Police Chief Mark McDonough, Deputy Chief Aaron Rode and the officers and staff are working hard to help make the Sidney Police Department one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the State of Ohio,” Guillozet said. “They also strive to provide the services our community feel are important. To do that, the passage of the levy is essential.”

“Two things have impacted city operations across the board,” Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst said. “To balance the state budget during the Great Recession in 2011, the state cut in half the Local Government Fund. Two years later in 2013, they cut the fund in half again. Despite the fact that the state’s coffers are filled with money today, the fund has not been restored. I estimate that those cuts total more than $20,000,000 for the city alone. Those are funds that could have been used to complete projects that instead simply continue to remain unfunded.”

“The second factor is also financial, and it is the nearly unprecedented rate of inflation that has impacted all of us,” Barhorst said. “I’ll provide just a couple of examples. When I first served on city council, a new, fully equipped police pursuit vehicle cost approximately $22,500. By the year 2000, the cost had increased to $45,000. Today, the cost is just over $90,000!”

“The second example is the number of calls to which officers respond,” Barhorst said. “This past year, officers responded to an average of more than 85 calls for service per day. Because we (like most every department in the United States) are understaffed, the workload has caused some officers to leave not only our department, but law enforcement and seek employment in another field.”

“As law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio can attest, we are in a critical time of recruitment and hiring of police personnel,” Police Chief Mark McDonough has said. “In order for our agency to be competitive in the job market, we must ensure our sworn and civilian staff pay is commensurate with our neighboring agencies. In order to accomplish this goal, we would need to address entry-level and lateral-entry pay to allow our agency to attract, recruit, select and hire the best individuals.”

“We also need to focus our efforts on employee retention, including pay and benefits as well as personal and professional growth opportunities,” McDonough said. “This enables our officers to be the best trained and equipped in our region, something that will pay huge dividends over the long term.”

“Prior to the pandemic in 2019, the average number of full-time law enforcement officers in cities across the county was 2.3 per 1,000 residents,” Deputy Police Chief Aaron Rode said. “The rate of full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 inhabitants was 2.2 in cities in the Midwest.”

“Using the latest city census figures (20,589 residents), the Sidney Police Department (SPD) ratio of officers per 1000 residents is at 1.8. Our current authorized strength is 37 although we have not had that number of officers for quite some time,” Rode said. “The national ratio of officers per 1000 residents shows the SPD is understaffed. We are in the process of hiring 10 officers to fill the ranks of recent retirements and resignations. In order to do accomplish this, we must address both the recruitment and retention efforts Chief McDonough outlined.”

“Mayor Barhorst already outlined some of the operational cost increases,” Campaign co-chair and Vice Mayor Steve Wagner said. “Costs associated with uniforms, equipment, patrol vehicles, and technology continue to rise, and council has to find the financial resources that will allow the department to continue to recruit and retain great people.”

“In order to provide the services our community has grown accustomed to receiving, we have to look at long-term funding to not only maintain the current level of service,” Wagner said. “We also have toforecast funding needs based on trends observed in our community as well as national trends,” Wagner added.

“Patrol vehicles seem to double in price every ten years,” Councilmember Scott Roddy said. In addition to his other responsibilities, Roddy is an investigator with the Shelby County Coroner’s Office, and interacts with local law enforcement agencies frequently.

“We also must provide our officers with uniforms that are more user-friendly,” Roddy said. “This will help to decrease Bureau of Workers Compensation medical claims and increase officer efficiency. We must also provide the necessary equipment officers need, including technologies to help solve crimes, address traffic issues, and assist with employee scheduling.”

“Maintenance costs continue to increase as well,” Roddy said. “Not only do we need to have the funds to maintain the facility, but maintain the department’s vehicles, and maintain the technology so important to law enforcement officers today.”

“We also have to continue to provide the training opportunities our officers need to meet and exceed Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) standards,” Roddy said. “These include the initial police academy training, as well as training in areas such as field operations, leadership, supervision, mental health and management.”

“As we look ahead, the SPD needs to needs to be able to meet the increasing service needs of our community,” McDonough said. “Contingency planning is a must in order to ensure the safety and security of our residents, businesses, and visitors.”

“We need to continually engage in strategic planning in an effort to keep abreast of changes in federal, state, and local laws, rules, and policies,” McDonough said. “As changes in legislation that impact things like increases in employer pension costs, Supreme Court and lower court decisions on how law enforcement must operate, and costs associated with collective bargaining agreements, we must constantly maintain vigilance to ensure that we are operating in a financially sound manner.”

“In order for the SPD to remain a highly effective organization, they have to get some relief in personnel scheduling.” Guillozet said. Prior to the Great Recession (2008), the department had 40 sworn officers. They really need to get back to that staffing level.”

“The increase in personnel would allow for more patrol officers on the street, increase the number of officers available for both detective and community services work, and allow the department to do more direct patrols within the city,” Guillozet said. “That would include patrol, and bicycle patrols, foot patrols, and traffic enforcement.”

“It is essential that Sidney continue to be a safe place to live, work, worship and raise a family,” Barhorst said. “Passage of the levy will allow us to build on the strengths of our community, and address a few weaknesses so that we will continue to meet the needs associated with the dramatic growth that is taking place in our community. “