News

Study: Could firefighters help police in Saginaw?

Monday, February 05, 2007

SAGINAW (WJRT) (WJRT) -- (02/05/07)--Firefighters helping fight crime? Poor record keeping and slow response time. Saginaw's crime problem needs immediate attention according to a new public safety report.

Last week it was announced that the resources of the Michigan State Police will be redeployed, producing a strong police presence in the city.

The plan is a two-year commitment.

The report claims that firefighters are on a fire scene two hours a day, and that they have ample time to do other things between calls for service.

A criminal justice consultant group wrote the 28-page report about police and fire department efficiency. One part that is drawing a lot of controversy is the use of firefighters to do some police work.

The report, which looked at a brief period in 2005, recommends that Saginaw firefighters be trained to enter data and take police reports.

The fire stations eventually would become mini precincts. But they are not recommending firefighters to become full-fledged police officers. The idea is already raising eyebrows.

"To ask fire department to take police reports is (not a good idea)," said Union President Ruben Vasquez.

"No. 1, they don't have training in our area and for them to understand, there's certain training behind that. To ask them to take police reports is going to cause a lot of problems to go back."

The study recommends paying a stipend to encourage volunteers within the department.

On the police side, the report criticized police response time, citing the average response to the most serious calls is 12 minutes.

Vasquez says the department has been working on the problem.

"I truly believe if they did the study now with the changes we have in place you would see a totally different outcome with response times much shorter," he said.

Union President Maurice Patterson says this is a collective barging issue and everything would have to be negotiated.

The experts point out they do not recommend a consolidated public safety department; a revision of the city charter could do that.

Get more News »