News Topic - Manpower
Articles 1 - 10 of most recent articles
City to remove 'blue light' crime cameras
Arguing that the technology requires too much manpower to be effective, Baltimore police are phasing out the first generation of blue-light cameras -- among the city's most visible crime-fighting tools.
Baltimore Sun – May 16, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Maryland: Baltimore
Arguing that the technology requires too much manpower to be effective, Baltimore police are phasing out the first generation of blue-light cameras -- among the city's most visible crime-fighting tools.
Baltimore Sun – May 16, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Maryland: Baltimore
Local Fire Departments Not Meeting Fed Standards
At a time when resources are shrinking and budgets are being slashed emergency calls are up in many cities and towns, causing concerns about manpower and response times. Even more alarming is the discovery that many local fire departments don't meet federal standards.
cbs4boston.com – May 16, 2008 03:42 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Massachusetts: Boston
At a time when resources are shrinking and budgets are being slashed emergency calls are up in many cities and towns, causing concerns about manpower and response times. Even more alarming is the discovery that many local fire departments don't meet federal standards.
cbs4boston.com – May 16, 2008 03:42 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Massachusetts: Boston
Jeannette OKs temps for public works
Jeannette is looking to add some manpower to its public works department.
PittsburghLive.com – May 15, 2008 04:53 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Jeannette is looking to add some manpower to its public works department.
PittsburghLive.com – May 15, 2008 04:53 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
Staffing grants open to area fire departments
Federal grants totaling $165 million will be doled out in the coming months to fire departments seeking to boost manpower.
SavannahNow.com – May 15, 2008 03:30 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Georgia: Savannah
Federal grants totaling $165 million will be doled out in the coming months to fire departments seeking to boost manpower.
SavannahNow.com – May 15, 2008 03:30 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Georgia: Savannah
ATF chief: Cities need money to fight crime
Violent crime has increased in some cities in recent years in part because local police are too cash-strapped to fight it, the ATF chief said Monday.The comments by Michael J. Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, echo pleas by mayors across the country for more federal dollars to combat crime.In an interview with The Associated Press, Sullivan called battling violent crime the No. 1 priority of ATF and said the agency is trying to help cities with federal task forces and technology.Sullivan also said many cities no longer have the police manpower to respond to calls as quickly as they once did."Some of these jurisdictions that have seen an uptick with regard to violent crime — it's coming at a time when their budgets have been pretty strapped," Sullivan told the AP."In fact, some of the jurisdictions have seen a decrease with regard to patrol officers who are available or detectives available to follow up on some of these incidents," Sullivan said. "And that obviously is a compounding effect with regard to what's going on, with regard to crime."He described funding squeezes in many cities, like Chicago and Detroit, that "contribute to the potential of an uptick with regard to violent crime, because they don't have as many resources to respond as quickly to it as they once did."Even so, Sullivan said, violent crime rates remain at what he called "record lows."Murders, rapes and robberies appear to be on the downswing after two straight years of violent crime increases, according to the most recent local police data reported to the FBI.However, violent crime rose slightly in small cities and rural areas, while murder rates jumped by 5 percent in suburbs and 3.2 percent in mid-sized cities during the first half of 2007, the most recent data available.Mayors and police chiefs nationwide have long linked surging violent crime to dwindling federal grants that previously paid to hire more cops. The Bush administration, facing its own budget crunch while funding the war and reconstruction of Iraq, has scaled back the money available to cities to crack down on crime.The Justice Department has offered to spend $200 million this year to combat violent crime in cities, but that likely won't cover the cost of hiring new police officers.Ron Ruecker, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said federal, state and local funding cuts have forced police to scale back manpower and money devoted to battling gangs, drugs and career criminals."Every time we turn around, the staffing pressures that most of us are dealing with are having an impact in these others areas," said Ruecker, the public safety director of the city of Sherwood, Ore., a suburb of Portland, Ore. "You definitely can tie the decrease in funding with an uptick in crime, including violent crime."In an hourlong, wide-ranging interview, Sullivan also touched on several other topics facing the ATF, a force of about 3,000 agents. They included:—Steps to investigate and prevent explosives attacks within the U.S., focusing particularly on the feared use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that are a constant threat to coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sullivan said there's no evidence of insurgents or terrorists abroad bringing IEDs to the United States, noting that nearly all the annual 3,500 suspicious explosions in the country are investigated as the work of criminals — not terrorists."It's intended to build upon the potential risks associated with explosive devices here domestically," Sullivan said. "Clearly we should be doing it, but not unnecessarily alarming the American public to things that aren't happening."—Tensions between ATF and its larger sister agency, the FBI, resulting in competition and overlapping of time and resources on similar projects. Sullivan described the bulk of the tension, as reported in Saturday's editions of the Washington Post, as personality driven and said much of it has dissolved in recent years. "We have to make sure that we're constantly complementing, not competing with one another," he said. "There's clearly more work to go around than can be accomplished by any one agency."—Whether the Senate will ever vote on Sullivan's own confirmation. Sullivan, still the U.S. attorney in Boston, was nominated as ATF's chief in March 2007. But Idaho's Republican senators so far have blocked the nomination out of concern the ATF has become overly aggressive in enforcing gun laws.Sullivan said the ATF last year did compliance checks on about 10,000 gun dealers and brokers, and suspended the licenses of 97 — fewer than 1 percent. He said the ATF is trying to balance regulating gun dealers equally across the country.
Charlotte.com – May 13, 2008 09:51 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: North Carolina: Charlotte
Violent crime has increased in some cities in recent years in part because local police are too cash-strapped to fight it, the ATF chief said Monday.The comments by Michael J. Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, echo pleas by mayors across the country for more federal dollars to combat crime.In an interview with The Associated Press, Sullivan called battling violent crime the No. 1 priority of ATF and said the agency is trying to help cities with federal task forces and technology.Sullivan also said many cities no longer have the police manpower to respond to calls as quickly as they once did."Some of these jurisdictions that have seen an uptick with regard to violent crime — it's coming at a time when their budgets have been pretty strapped," Sullivan told the AP."In fact, some of the jurisdictions have seen a decrease with regard to patrol officers who are available or detectives available to follow up on some of these incidents," Sullivan said. "And that obviously is a compounding effect with regard to what's going on, with regard to crime."He described funding squeezes in many cities, like Chicago and Detroit, that "contribute to the potential of an uptick with regard to violent crime, because they don't have as many resources to respond as quickly to it as they once did."Even so, Sullivan said, violent crime rates remain at what he called "record lows."Murders, rapes and robberies appear to be on the downswing after two straight years of violent crime increases, according to the most recent local police data reported to the FBI.However, violent crime rose slightly in small cities and rural areas, while murder rates jumped by 5 percent in suburbs and 3.2 percent in mid-sized cities during the first half of 2007, the most recent data available.Mayors and police chiefs nationwide have long linked surging violent crime to dwindling federal grants that previously paid to hire more cops. The Bush administration, facing its own budget crunch while funding the war and reconstruction of Iraq, has scaled back the money available to cities to crack down on crime.The Justice Department has offered to spend $200 million this year to combat violent crime in cities, but that likely won't cover the cost of hiring new police officers.Ron Ruecker, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said federal, state and local funding cuts have forced police to scale back manpower and money devoted to battling gangs, drugs and career criminals."Every time we turn around, the staffing pressures that most of us are dealing with are having an impact in these others areas," said Ruecker, the public safety director of the city of Sherwood, Ore., a suburb of Portland, Ore. "You definitely can tie the decrease in funding with an uptick in crime, including violent crime."In an hourlong, wide-ranging interview, Sullivan also touched on several other topics facing the ATF, a force of about 3,000 agents. They included:—Steps to investigate and prevent explosives attacks within the U.S., focusing particularly on the feared use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that are a constant threat to coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sullivan said there's no evidence of insurgents or terrorists abroad bringing IEDs to the United States, noting that nearly all the annual 3,500 suspicious explosions in the country are investigated as the work of criminals — not terrorists."It's intended to build upon the potential risks associated with explosive devices here domestically," Sullivan said. "Clearly we should be doing it, but not unnecessarily alarming the American public to things that aren't happening."—Tensions between ATF and its larger sister agency, the FBI, resulting in competition and overlapping of time and resources on similar projects. Sullivan described the bulk of the tension, as reported in Saturday's editions of the Washington Post, as personality driven and said much of it has dissolved in recent years. "We have to make sure that we're constantly complementing, not competing with one another," he said. "There's clearly more work to go around than can be accomplished by any one agency."—Whether the Senate will ever vote on Sullivan's own confirmation. Sullivan, still the U.S. attorney in Boston, was nominated as ATF's chief in March 2007. But Idaho's Republican senators so far have blocked the nomination out of concern the ATF has become overly aggressive in enforcing gun laws.Sullivan said the ATF last year did compliance checks on about 10,000 gun dealers and brokers, and suspended the licenses of 97 — fewer than 1 percent. He said the ATF is trying to balance regulating gun dealers equally across the country.
Charlotte.com – May 13, 2008 09:51 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: North Carolina: Charlotte
Buffalo City Police overtime at Canisius College
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - We've received many emails questioning the Buffalo Police Department's unprecendented amount of manpower used during a recent Canisius College event. But was it all necessary and how does the police department justify the overtime?
WIVB - TV – May 12, 2008 9:11 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - We've received many emails questioning the Buffalo Police Department's unprecendented amount of manpower used during a recent Canisius College event. But was it all necessary and how does the police department justify the overtime?
WIVB - TV – May 12, 2008 9:11 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: Buffalo
Turcotte seeks expansion of Cedar Grove police force
CEDAR GROVEAs the Cedar Grove Commission moves toward giving residents a vote on whether to dissolve their city, the police department wants to expand.Since he was hired by the City Commission in 2006, Chief Guy Turcotte has doubled the size of his department.The department had eight full-time officers and about 20 reserve officers, city officials said, but a resignation earlier this year left the department with seven full timers.Turcotte said last week he wants to replace the lost position to aid the department as other officers leave for military training. One officer left for training last month and will return later this month. Another officer will leave May 31 for two weeks, Turcotte said. Turcotte also has one full-time dispatcher and four part-time dispatchers. He wants to move two dispatchers to full time so the city's dispatch office will be open at all hours. Currently, the calls sometimes switch over to the Bay County Sheriff's dispatch."It is in my budget," Turcotte said. "There no reason not to do what I asked."However, the commission did not approve Turcotte's request to advertise for the position during a recent meeting.Commissioner Tony Brannen said Friday the city is more than $1.2 million over budget, and Turcotte has enough officers to cover the city."Cedar Grove is not that big of a town," Brannen said.Turcotte said the possibility of dissolution does not change his need for another officer."Some of the people on the commission are working hard to dissolve the city, but we still have a city," Turcotte said. "We're all trying to work together to improve the town."Brannen added if Turcotte really needed the manpower, he should call Sheriff Frank McKeithen and ask him to send a deputy to cover part of the town while the officers are on their training mission."It's not that easy," Turcotte said. "It's not the sheriff department's responsibility to cover our shifts."Brannen said part of the problem is a lack of cooperation between city employees and other agencies."I am in no way against the employees or the officers of Cedar Grove. I appreciate the job that they are doing for the people of Cedar Grove. I want to thank them very much," Brannen said. "I want to try and find a balance in Cedar Grove and allow the people to decide what they want to do."Meanwhile, Turcotte said his mission is to teach the commission about the value of a police force."I'm just trying to educate them on what a police department does for its town," Turcotte said. If he does not get to hire the new officer, the department still will function with an increase in overtime, he added."I'll work with what I have," Turcotte said. "I'll make it work."
NewsHerald.com – May 12, 2008 11:51 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Florida: Panama City
CEDAR GROVEAs the Cedar Grove Commission moves toward giving residents a vote on whether to dissolve their city, the police department wants to expand.Since he was hired by the City Commission in 2006, Chief Guy Turcotte has doubled the size of his department.The department had eight full-time officers and about 20 reserve officers, city officials said, but a resignation earlier this year left the department with seven full timers.Turcotte said last week he wants to replace the lost position to aid the department as other officers leave for military training. One officer left for training last month and will return later this month. Another officer will leave May 31 for two weeks, Turcotte said. Turcotte also has one full-time dispatcher and four part-time dispatchers. He wants to move two dispatchers to full time so the city's dispatch office will be open at all hours. Currently, the calls sometimes switch over to the Bay County Sheriff's dispatch."It is in my budget," Turcotte said. "There no reason not to do what I asked."However, the commission did not approve Turcotte's request to advertise for the position during a recent meeting.Commissioner Tony Brannen said Friday the city is more than $1.2 million over budget, and Turcotte has enough officers to cover the city."Cedar Grove is not that big of a town," Brannen said.Turcotte said the possibility of dissolution does not change his need for another officer."Some of the people on the commission are working hard to dissolve the city, but we still have a city," Turcotte said. "We're all trying to work together to improve the town."Brannen added if Turcotte really needed the manpower, he should call Sheriff Frank McKeithen and ask him to send a deputy to cover part of the town while the officers are on their training mission."It's not that easy," Turcotte said. "It's not the sheriff department's responsibility to cover our shifts."Brannen said part of the problem is a lack of cooperation between city employees and other agencies."I am in no way against the employees or the officers of Cedar Grove. I appreciate the job that they are doing for the people of Cedar Grove. I want to thank them very much," Brannen said. "I want to try and find a balance in Cedar Grove and allow the people to decide what they want to do."Meanwhile, Turcotte said his mission is to teach the commission about the value of a police force."I'm just trying to educate them on what a police department does for its town," Turcotte said. If he does not get to hire the new officer, the department still will function with an increase in overtime, he added."I'll work with what I have," Turcotte said. "I'll make it work."
NewsHerald.com – May 12, 2008 11:51 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Florida: Panama City
Staffing woes affected decision
Two Vanderburgh County poll workers who made political statements in front of a television crew during Tuesday's primary were not removed because their supervisor promised it would not happen again and because of manpower shortages, a key election official says."It's not like football, where you have players on the bench, ready to go," said Tom Massey, the Republican president of the Vanderburgh County Election Board.
CourierPress.com – May 11, 2008 05:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Indiana: Evansville
Two Vanderburgh County poll workers who made political statements in front of a television crew during Tuesday's primary were not removed because their supervisor promised it would not happen again and because of manpower shortages, a key election official says."It's not like football, where you have players on the bench, ready to go," said Tom Massey, the Republican president of the Vanderburgh County Election Board.
CourierPress.com – May 11, 2008 05:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Indiana: Evansville
Howlett Street Fire Requires Extra Manpower
Read full story for latest details.
WKBW TV – May 8, 2008 2:56 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: Buffalo
Read full story for latest details.
WKBW TV – May 8, 2008 2:56 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: New York: Buffalo
Sevier firefighters take control of brush fire
Firefighters say theywere called toWalker TrailWednesday afternoon, and said strong winds and a lack of manpower initially made the fire hard to control.
WBIR.com – May 8, 2008 11:59 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Tennessee: Knoxville
Firefighters say theywere called toWalker TrailWednesday afternoon, and said strong winds and a lack of manpower initially made the fire hard to control.
WBIR.com – May 8, 2008 11:59 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Tennessee: Knoxville