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Councilmember Poole asked the Mayor if he could say a few words before the <br /> ordinance was considered. Mr. Poole said he would first like to address Mr. <br /> Birmingham's remarks. He said the $400,000.00 that Mr. Birmingham is referring <br /> to is the budget for the City's 911 Dispatching Department. He explained that the <br /> city currently operates the 911 dispatching for the entire county. The remaining 1.2 <br /> million in the budget is for law enforcement. The study conducted by Davis <br /> Business Planning said the city could have 4.5 officers on the street 24/7 compared <br /> to the 2.6 that we are currently paying for. Mr. Poole said he would also like to <br /> comment on a couple of statements made by the Sheriff and County Judge at last <br /> Thursday's Interlocal meeting. He said the Sheriff and Judge insinuated that they <br /> were unaware of the discussions to discontinuing the interlocal agreement and if <br /> we, the city, had asked they could put four more officers on the street. Mr. Poole <br /> said if that were possible and sustainable, why has it not been done. He said at the <br /> interlocal meeting, Judge Griffin said if the city and county split law enforcement, <br /> we would no longer have a SWAT Team, Dive Team, Drug Task Force or Reserve <br /> Officers. Mr. Poole reminded the council that all those Special Forces are <br /> volunteer positions and there is no reason why the city and county cannot work <br /> together to have them. He noted that Batesville is the only 1St class city that does <br /> not have its own police force and he is sure other cities our size and larger have <br /> those Special Forces either together or independently of the county. <br /> Councilmember Bryant said it is his understanding that the county has not given <br /> the sheriff deputies raises in the past 6 or 8 years except for maybe a small amount <br /> to cover a tax increase. He said the officers are at the bottom of the pay scale for <br />