Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson is once again claiming that public safety concerns tops his list of priorities for his newly proposed $810 million dollar budget for the city.
The mayor said his budget would pay for hiring 100 police officers, and stated "You will see more police on our streets this year"
In truth the police department is currently over 100 officers short of its authorized strength and recruiting efforts have failed to keep up with the current rate of attrition. The mayor realizes that he has to make such statements publicly because it's bad politics not to put hot button issues like public safety at the top of his priority list, but the reality is our police, fire and E.M.S services are in much worse condition now then prior to merger.
MetroSafe, the new digital communications that promises to help emergency responders communicate with one another, still does not exist. The mayors office has grouped all the dispatchers and communications services into one building that is labeled "MetroSafe", but after 4 years of merger the police department is still unable to communicate between all 8 divisions.Louisville firefighters have worked without a contract -- and without a pay raise -- for two years. "Sounds like he doesn't value his people," said Craig Willman, president of the Louisville Professional Fire Fighters, who attended the speech. "It looks like he's talking about cuts on the horizon. You can't do more with less."
Council member Doug Hawkins, R-25th District, disputed that the mayor's emphasis is on public safety. "How can he say public safety is the No. 1 priority when he's leaving the firefighters hung out there without a contract?" Hawkins asked.