The Clarkston Police Department expects to officially reclaim its midnight shift and resume a 24-hour presence in the city beginning at 11p.m. June 30.
After nearly six-and-a-half years of outsourcing midnight services, the city council voted unanimously to cancel a subcontract with Independence Township for midnight policing provided by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Returning the midnight shift’and making the city’s top brass into a ‘working? chief’will save about $15,000 a year, said interim Chief Jim Thompson.
Contract cancellation requires 30-day written notice.
The city doled out about $31,000 for midnight police service during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
Full time policing provided directly through OCSO, rather than through a subcontract with Independence Township, would run approximately $430,000, according to estimates provided by Undersheriff Mike McCabe May 27. A subcontract with the township would total around $175,000, including the township’s standard 10 percent fee for services provided to Clarkston residents.
Thompson said the city will see other benefits in addition to anticipated cost savings.
‘We’ll have a dedicated car in the city patrolling the streets and watching for crime,? he said. ‘The contract with (OCSO) reads that they will respond to calls for service. I don’t know how much neighborhood patrol they were doing.?
The return of the midnight shift is also likely to increase the number of tickets written within the city.
‘I’m sure there’s going to be an increase in the number of traffic violations we’re writing,? he said. ‘Simply because until about two or three in the morning there’s still a good amount of traffic on M-15. Everyone knows we go home at 11, and it’s like a free-for-all out there.?
Thompson assured city council members the department will be ready to handle the midnight shift when the fiscal year begins July 1.
Three new part-time officers were hired in anticipation of the change, and with interview and background checks complete, only licensing and swearing-in procedures remain.
The department is in the process of performing background checks on several other candidates, as well’fully staffed, eight part time, and two full time officers, including the chief, would comprise the city’s force.
The OCSO began policing the half-square mile, 962 resident city in March 2001 under the recommendation of then-Clarkston Police Chief Paul Ormiston, who at the time told The Clarkston News such a change would allow greater police presence in the city during daylight hours.
‘The whole concept is not a money saving scheme,? he was quoted as saying. ‘It is an attempt to increase the level of service during the hours which it is most needed, which are days and afternoons.?
In November 2003, then-Chief Ernest Combs asked the council to bring back the midnight shift, and continued arguing for the switch until he left the department in March 2007.
In further preparation for the switch, the city council also approved up to $6,000 for a new in-car computer for the city’s Crown Victoria police car. The funds will be drawn from the police budget.
According to numbers released at Tuesday’s council meeting, $26,828.10 remains in the city’s $237,088.81 police budget, with less than 30 days left in the fiscal year.
Leftover money, said City Manager Art Pappas, would roll back into the general fund.