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Posted: 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015
CLOSER LOOK: MIDDLETOWN
Closing Middletown
jail, dispatch center could bring savings
City wants to reduce public
safety spending 12 percent over a five-year period
By http://www.journal-news.com/staff/ed-richter/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
Middletown city officials are
already crunching numbers and reviewing operations in an effort to find ways to
save taxpayer dollars as they begin the budgeting process for the coming year.
One of the goals of city administration
is to reduce public safety spending from the general fund from 72 percent to 60
percent over a five-year period. Meeting that goal is going to require a
continual review of how public safety services are delivered, officials say,
which could mean taking a closer look at the city jail and dispatch center.
The
city could save as much as $2.2 million dollars by closing its jail and
transferring its dispatch operations to either Butler
or Warren
counties. While those moves could save Middletown
some money — some officials say that amount wouldn’t be the entire $2.2 million
— they could create more problems than they solve.
Middletown is one of only five cities in Ohio to have a
full-service jail. The vast majority of lock-ups in Ohio are run by counties. Some cities,
villages or townships across the state have temporary holding facilities where
they can detain offenders for anywhere from six to 12 hours.
Middletown spends a little over
$1 million a year to operate the city jail, and those who support the continued
existence of the facility say it is a needed deterrent to crime.
Middletown
Municipal Judge Mark Wall said closing the Middletown City Jail would cost the
city more in the long-term. Wall said people arrested by police know they could
be going to jail and end up in his courtroom to face possible consequences. It
is one of the advantages Middletown has over
other area cities such as Hamilton,
he said.
“I
don’t see any cost benefit for closing the jail, and I see this as a detriment
to the community,” Wall said.
Middletown police Chief Rodney
Muterspaw said budget discussions about closing the jail and/or the communications
center happen every few years. He said closing the jail would become a
logistical challenge for the court and local law enforcement who utilize it.
Some
potential costs to closing the jail could include adding transport officers and
vans to shuttle prisoners from the county jail to the municipal court,
Muterspaw said. The city jail, which doesn’t double or triple bunk inmates,
houses an average of 60 to 70 prisoners a day, Muterspaw said.
“It’s
convenient to have a jail here,” he said. “No one wants to come down here.”
Middletown
Mayor Larry Mulligan said continuing to operate a full-service jail and a
communications center is something for the city administration to look at. But
he cautioned that it would not be a straight-on savings of $2 million to $3
million.
“We’re
always looking for ways to save money, and if we can get those services through
neighboring communities, that would be something to look at and consider,” the
mayor said. “It’s a question of service and costs and trying to balance both.”
Councilman
Dan Picard said the jail and dispatch center have been actively looked at and
discussed during budget time each of the six years he has been on council. To
him, it’s “not a pressing issue.”
“If
it was financially beneficial to the city, it needs to be considered,” Picard
said. “But it has to have significant savings for me to go along with it.”
City
Manager Doug Adkins has said that the national average of city spending for
public safety is about 57 percent of its operating budget. If the city could
reduce its public safety spending to 60 percent of the general fund, that could
free up more than $3.57 million that could be used for other needs such as
roads, sewers and other aging infrastructure, Adkins said.
Several
communities around the state have closed jails and consolidated or outsourced
dispatching, Adkins said. Hamilton
has not operated a city jail in decades and it transferred its dispatching
center to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office in 2013.
Hamilton police Chief Craig
Bucheit said the cost savings of the dispatch center has come in close to
$700,000 in the last two years alone.
“The
new dispatch center has fielded tens of thousands of calls since the
consolidation, and for the average citizen calling 911, the transition has been
seamless,” Bucheit said.
Geography
could be a complicating factor for Middletown
in closing the jail or transferring the dispatch center. The city straddles
both Butler and Warren counties.
“If
we give up dispatch and/or the jail, do we have two separate dispatches and
jails depending on where the call originated, or does one entity cross into
another county to cover all of Middletown?”
Adkins said. “How do we pay for that? Do we transport jail defendants to both
Warren and Butler
county jails and back? There are local court questions as to the availability
and cost of video arraignment.”
Adkins
also said any change with operating the jail may also have an impact on how
Middletown Municipal Court operates and could require changes in when court is
in session, with the judge’s permission, or how it handles bail/bonds and
probation. He said it could also impact changes in court costs as well as
transportation and technology costs.
“We
will be addressing all of these issues over time, but with multiple
jurisdictions and/or departments involved, it will be a slow and methodical
review and final recommendation to City Council,” Adkins said. “We have to get
it right the first time.
“Once
the dispatch and/or jail are transferred, it is likely a permanent move. We
need to make sure we understand the financial and operational effects of such a
change and too many of the variables can’t be accurately quantified at this
time,” he said.
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