News Room March 30, 2004 Oversight Hearing on Proposed FY2005 Budget for the Metropolitan Police Department Charles H. Ramsey Chief of Police Metropolitan Police Department Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement to the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on the Judiciary, the Honorable Kathy Patterson, Chair, on March 30, 2004, at the Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Download* a printable version of the testimony, Madame Chair, members of the Committee and Council, staff and guests–thank you for the opportunity to present this opening statement outlining the Metropolitan Police Department’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2005. Other members of the Department’s Command Staff are with me to assist in responding to your questions. The text of my prepared testimony is posted on the Police Department’s website, mpdc.dc.gov. The Department’s proposed operating budget for FY05 is approximately $398 million dollars from all funding sources. The proposed FY05 budget represents an increase of approximately $20 million dollars from the Department’s approved budget for FY04, or an increase of about 5.4 percent. Compared with actual spending from FY03, the FY05 budget represents an increase of about 7.3 percent. Of the $398 million dollar gross budget, $355 million dollars–or just over 89 percent–is locally funded. Eighty-four percent of the proposed FY05 local budget–approximately $298 million dollars–is for “Personal Services” to cover the salaries, fringe benefits and other costs associated with our sworn and civilian employees. The budget supports a total of 4,563 full-time equivalent employees (or FTEs). This represents a slight reduction in the total number of FTEs, which is explained primarily by some interagency changes in responsibility that I will cover later in my testimony. The remaining 16 percent of the budget–approximately $57 million dollars–covers a variety of “Nonpersonal Services” to include supplies, utilities, telecommunications, rent and the like. I am pleased to report to the Committee that this budget funds the Department’s major priorities in the areas of sworn staffing, neighborhood patrols and community policing, civilian support, victim services, traffic safety and information technology. For example: The proposed budget for “Personal Services” will allow us to maintain our staffing at 3,800 sworn members. Our current, FY04 budget includes funding to support 3,800 officers, and we remain on track to reach that goal by the end of this fiscal year. With the proposed budget for next year, we will be able to stay at 3,800 officers throughout FY05. This is significant because a federal grant (from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services) that has paid for 200 police officers is expiring. The proposed budget for FY05 includes the local “PS” funds to continue supporting these officers. The FY05 budget also includes continued funding for our recruitment efforts. Because of attrition, we will need to recruit and hire additional officers during FY05 in order to remain at the 3,800 level. This budget funds our ongoing recruitment efforts. In addition to supporting 3,800 officers, the FY05 budget will enable us to put even more of those officers out on the street–in operational assignments in our neighborhoods. The budget includes $1.2 million dollars to begin the process of “civilianizing” 83 administrative and support positions that are currently held by sworn police officers. These positions include cellblock technicians, front-desk customer service personnel in our district stations, crime analysts, firearms instructors and others. Recognize that all 83 of these positions will not be civilianized on October 1st, the beginning of the fiscal year. But over the course of the year, we will be able to staff these functions with qualified civilian hires, which will allow us to move more sworn personnel to operational assignments. In his State of the District Address, the Mayor identified civilianization in the MPD as a priority, and this budget is a major step forward in meeting that goal. Page 1 of 4                       1   2   3   4   * This document is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF) and a PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF reader or learn more about PDFs.