Westfield City Council President Christopher Keefe, center, listens to a conversation between City Councilors David Flaherty, left, and James Brown Jr., right, during a discussion at lst night’s City Council meeting. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The City Council voted, against the recommendation of the Finance Committee, to appropriate funds for a police downtown beat patrol Thursday night.
The Finance Committee had recommended keeping the $33,704.79 appropriation from free cash to the Police Department overtime account in committee for further consideration.
Capt. Michael McCabe, appearing before the Finance Committee on Wednesday Jan. 11, said the overtime account is being used to increase the police patrol presence in the downtown area at the request of Mayor Daniel M. Knapik.
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty, a member of the Finance Committee, moved to table the account, a motion approved by the committee members.
“It doesn’t seem to be a pressing issue,” Flaherty said at that meeting. “Do we really need this? I’d like more of an explanation.”
Flaherty, who introduced the item Thursday night to the full council, with the recommendation to keep it in committee, said the $33,000 represents only six months of the downtown beat patrol program cost.
“This is a new position to have an officer walk that beat,” he said. “I work downtown and I see a police officer every five minutes. We have to have time to evaluate this request.”
Ward 2 Councilor James E. Brown Jr. made the motion to set aside the committee’s recommendation and take it out of committee for immediate consideration of the appropriation.
Ward 5 Councilor Richard E. Onofrey Jr., chairman of the Finance Committee and who had voted with Flaherty at the committee session to table the request, said that he talked with mayor Daniel M. Knapik since the finance session last week.
“I had a conversation with the mayor who told me that downtown business owners, residents and community organizations such as BID (Westfield Business Improvement District) and WOW (Westfield On Weekends) would all like to see it done,” he said.
Onofrey said that based on his discussion with Knapik, he’d support the appropriation.
Brown, whose ward encompasses half of the downtown area, said that BID is “looking for council support of their effort trying to draw people downtown.”
“This is a cheap way to do that and it’s good law enforcement work,” Brown said. “Beat officers and community policing are exactly what we need. Patrol officers drive by, but don’t interact with people the way an officer on foot does. A beat officer will know everybody and will know is somebody doesn’t belong there.”
Ward 3 Councilor Peter J. Miller Jr., whose ward encompasses the other half of the downtown, said that the Police Department community policing program turned the greater Franklin Street neighborhood around and that a similar effort downtown will improve that neighborhood. Miller said that he has spoken with downtown business owners, college students living downtown and the organizations seeking to revitalize the downtown through business and cultural programs.
“We need to work to make (people) feel safe downtown,” he said. “Having someone dedicated to that is important, to do proactive police work.”
At-large Councilor James R. Adams said that the daytime beat program dovetails with the current community policing effort downtown during the evening hours.
“Community policing officers will follow up the day shift” to supplement and extend police coverage.
Community policing officers were flexible, non-traditional shifts, such as from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. or from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., bridging the traditional eight-hour police shifts.
The council voted unanimously to approve the funding request.
