Is Clovis ‘way of life’ in jeopardy over too few police officers working the streets?
According to data in the FBI’s annual Crime in the United States report, Clovis is the safest city in the San Joaquin Valley.
The 2019 report, the most recently done, shows Clovis has fewer violent crimes than Modesto, Visalia, Madera, Merced and Hanford. For property crimes, it would rank third on that listing of cities, behind Madera and Hanford, which are smaller.
The relative safety of Clovis is not lost on its leaders. On the city’s website, Police Chief Curt Fleming expresses pride in the safe living in the city of 123,000. “The ‘Clovis Way of Life’ is not just a motto, but also a culture and a belief,” he says.
So it was understandable that City Council members reacted with alarm recently when Fleming told them that public safety was at risk because his department is understaffed.
In fact, if staffing does not get increased, police may have to stop responding to more minor calls for service, like alarms and animal complaints, Fleming explained. “We stopped going to those noninjury accidents in 2008 (the start of the Great Recession) and the public was not happy.” So the officers resumed taking such calls.
The Clovis Police Department has four less officers now than it did in 2006. The department is authorized to have 106 officers, but actually needs 138, according to a law enforcement consultant.
Fleming said there is .82 of an officer for every 1,000 residents. At that level, Clovis would be well below the national standard of 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, as outlined in the FBI statistics.
Clovis is last among police agencies in the central San Joaquin Valley for the staffing ratio.
“This is a shocking story in the city of Clovis,” exclaimed Council member Lynne Ashbeck after listening to Fleming. “This is not the Clovis story.”
Actually, it is. The numbers for some time have been making it clear that Clovis needs more police. In a follow-up interview, Ashbeck said Clovis police chiefs have been saying for about the last five years that more officers were needed if public safety was to remain strong.
Fleming’s report was different this time, Ashbeck said, because the situation feels like a tipping point, one where Clovis leaders must find a solution to maintain their safe-city reputation.
Public safety issue
Like many cities, Clovis spends most of its general fund dollars on public safety. In the current general fund of $77 million, police and fire receive 74% of the funding. The Police Department itself is budgeted for $39 million.
A key factor is how retirement and health benefit costs keep eating up more of the police budget. In 2006, 57% of the budget went to salaries. This year salaries are about 40%.
Ashbeck, who has been on the council since 2001 and is currently mayor pro tem, believes the Police Department is efficiently run and won’t be able to find much extra money in its budget for hiring.
One possible way to raise new money, she said, is through a public safety tax. “A public safety tax in Clovis is an investment you can trust,” she said.
Such a levy could take the form of a hike in the sales tax that must be approved by the voters. Fresno officials talked about that possibility in 2018, but ultimately Measure P dealt with funding parks improvements. Voters approved the measure.
Clovis voters have also supported public needs they see as worthwhile. The Clovis Unified School District got a bond measure approved last fall, for example, to fund new construction and facility modernization.
However it shakes out, it is clear Clovis leaders heard Fleming’s warning.
Council member Vong Mouanoutoua said people move to Clovis because of good schools and strong public safety.
“If we lose that or even lower it, then we have lost what Clovis is,” he said.
Looks like it is time for the City Council to sharpen its budget pencils.
