Law enforcement consolidation discussion on hold
BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Sheriff Gordon Smith was invited to present a plan to consolidate law enforcement agencies to city commissioners, but most commissioners voted to leave the future of the agency up to voters.
Starke Police Chief Jeff Johnson asked commissioners for a referendum on his position during the presidential primary in March 2024. Starke voters will be asked whether the police chief should be an elected position as called for in the charter.
Johnson, whose term ends in September 2025, said if voters eliminate the elected position, he will begin working on transferring policing the city over to the sheriff’s office.
Johnson presented first June 20, sharing some statistics, including numbers for the current year, during which there have been more than 22,000 calls for service he said. Most of these are what he called Priority 3 calls, which include property visits, follow-up investigations, complaints and citizen assistance. Priority 1 calls which includes fires, traffic crashes and major crimes such as assaults and robbery accounted for 526 calls. In addition, there have been more than 2,500 traffic stops and 56 warrant arrests. The numbers did not include special events such as parades, sports and the fair.
Addressing the city manager’s preliminary budget presented to the commission last month, Johnson said he opposes the brutal cuts. The chief was directed and managed to cut nearly $500,000 from next year’s spending with the assistance of his administration. He told the commission, however, that such cuts should occurr over three to five years.
City Manager Drew Mullins plans to use utility revenue that would have been transferred to fund police and fire and spend it on aging infrastructure, which has been neglected.
“The transfer of law enforcement to the county is not going to solve our financial problems,” Johnson said. “Revenue sources have to be found to help fund the police department through impact fees, grants, etc.”
Other complications he pointed out included the future of the police retirement fund, his salary through the end of his term, the audit required for the transfer of investigations and evidence, and the loss of grants.
Sheriff Smith said the men and women of the sheriff’s office and the police department work together every day. The discussion is financial, not personal, he said. It’s about living within a budget and providing the same or better service.
Based on May 2021 to 2023, Smith said the sheriff’s office already responses to an average of eight calls a day in the city limits.
“Combining would allow services to be delivered more strategically, efficiently and effectively with increased accountability and responsiveness,” he said.
Smith quoted The Office of Justice Programs to point out that most consolidations involve small city and county law enforcement agencies, usually where the population is below 50,000 residents. Of the thousands of small city police departments in the U.S., some operate with inadequate budgets, which limits community safety services.
He said the city and county already cooperate on combined dispatch, criminal investigations and emergency management. The sheriff’s office handles animal control and is assisting with code enforcement. Consolidation would allow a more comprehensive public safety strategy, including policies and practices, accountability, efficiency and cost savings for the city of Starke.
Having said that, Smith admitted the transition would not be easy.
“It involves complex political, legal and financial issues that affect a number of constituencies. It will require focused leadership and resources for at least three to six months to achieve formal combined services. This will be followed by several more months of patient adjustment and adaptive management to work out the inevitable kinks,” he said.
When it comes to claims the city commission would lose control of policing, Smith called them wrong.
“Anybody that tells you that, they’re full of hogwash. I’ll call them a liar because there’s not any one of you commissioners up there that’s ever called me and didn’t get what you were asking for,” he said, adding he is elected by voters both inside and outside the city.
County commissioners must also be willing partners, he said.
Smith’s plan included $37,000 in upfront costs to be paid by the city to cover uniforms, weapons, body cameras and transitioning vehicles and equipment. He tied the annual cost to the city’s property tax levy, with the first year’s cost being $345,000. This amount would be adjusted annually as tax rolls are recertified.
The sheriff said all Starke police employees will be considered for vacant positions at equal or higher pay. Starting salary is $22.03 an hour, and credit is given for years of experience. He promised better pay and benefits and opportunities for advancement.
Smith said the city is responsible for providing law enforcement and doing it in a fiscally responsible way that does not sacrifice the level of service. He said his office’s proposal would provide the same of better service and significant savings to the city. City commissioners would retain full control of their contracted services with the sheriff’s office, and the resources they pay for will not be reallocated elsewhere. There will be deputies dedicated exclusively to Starke.
“We are not outsiders. We work here, most deputies live here, and we would be proud to serve the city of Starke,” he said.
Commissioner Danny Nugent said he supported having two agencies because they work well together and get more done. He feared police response times would be negatively affected by a merger.
Commissioner Janice Mortimer thanked Sheriff Smith for an excellent presentation, but she supported Chief Johnson’s proposal for the charter referendum.
“Unlike the fire department, we have an elected position. The only authority we have over him is his budget, and he’s responsible to the people as well,” she said. “The referendum, I think, is the right way to go. It’s fair to the police department and it’s fair to the citizens, and to the sheriff as well.”
The sheriff said a decision is needed, otherwise the future of the officers is in limbo until the public votes. They won’t know if they should be preparing to leave the police department or not. It also means the positions the sheriff has been holding vacant so more of those officers would have a place to land would go away. He said he would need to start hiring for those jobs. If Starke officers are qualified and apply, Smith said he would hire them, and that places the police chief in a bad position.
“I think in fairness, you make a decision. The people elected you,” he said.
Commissioner Andy Redding said there was a $1.2 million difference between the police budget and what the sheriff was asking from the city for consolidation. Smith said the existing infrastructure of his operation is why he could make it work for $345,000 to cover the additional personnel costs.
Commissioner Shannon Smith agreed with a referendum on the chief’s elected position, but he did not think the commission should postpone a vote on consolidation.
“I couldn’t sit here and say there would be less service and vote for something like that,” he said. “I believe in my heart that we can pull this off together. The officers with the city have a better opportunity with (the sheriff) with better pay. I just believe that is the right way to go. I just can’t see us waiting another year to pull the trigger and do this.”
Mayor Scott Roberts questioned Chief Johnson about cutting back his administrative positions and eliminating investigations and other duties outside of patrol. That would cut the city’s police budget considerably, he said.
“We’d be like JSO’s road guys. We call them tape-pullers,” Johnson said, explaining if it’s something more than a minor problem, the tape-pullers secure the scene and wait for others to arrive. The service level would be negatively impacted, he said.
Roberts wanted to know the difference between the sheriff assigning two deputies to Starke and the chief doing the same, but Johnson insisted Smith couldn’t do with $345,000 what his department does with $1.5 million. Turning city policing over to the sheriff would nearly double the calls for service, he said.
Commissioner Smith said the police budget ballooned to more than $2 million one year, and the “cuts” proposed only lower the spending to what it was prior the anomaly.
“You said you took the half million off, basically it just put you back to where you were, and you’re not losing anything. That’s where I’m at. I just wanted to make that clarification,” Commissioner Smith said.
Redding, who had asked for an organizational chart for the police department, said a half million dollars was being spent on administrative positions. Even if those positions were cut, the budget would still be around $1 million, or $645,000 more than the sheriff was going to charge the city. He said he’s worn the uniform, and now he’s a commissioner.
“I respect the badge, and I respect every one of you, but we have to look at both sides,” he said.
Roberts said the discussion about the police budget will be ongoing.
The debate about the police chief’s position and future of the department can continue until the March presidential primary. Three commissioners, Roberts, Mortimer and Nugent voted in favor of holding the referendum and postponing any action on consolidation until then. Commissioners Smith and Redding voted against it.
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