City of Buffalo: Mayor not going to quibble about money for police and fire to protect the safety.
As part of my series of posts from a community meeting yesterday, Mayor Brown attended and spoke to a nice size crowd of block club leaders in South Buffalo.
“We take the safety of every neighborhood in the City of Buffalo very seriously, and public safety we see as a critical priority to strengthening this city, growing this city and moving Buffalo forward.” Mayor Brown stated.
The Mayor said he, along with the support of the Common Council, has taken a position that [the City] is not going to quibble about money for police and fire to protect the safety and health of the residents of the City of Buffalo.
Brown acknowledged a “historic” $117 million surplus and stated that while there was an “over-spent” for police & fire, there are extra recourses available. Specifically said, “Your taxes are not going to go up.”
He went further to say that the police department is doing an excellent job in cracking down on drugs, gangs and people trying to move guns through the City of Buffalo, but then stated that crime is down over all.
“We’re going to continue to provide our police department and our police officers with the recourses that they need and the tools, technology that they need to continue to send crime in the right direction, and send the criminals on the run.” Mayor Brown affirmed.
Also talked about was the City’s process of installing 60 high-tech surveillance cameras that he said will be a major deterrent in areas of increased crime, in neighborhood commercial districts and areas to protect homeland security.
The Mayor’s goal is to present another 40 cameras in the City’s upcoming budget, bringing the total to 100 cams throughout the City of Buffalo by the end of the year.
“Protecting our neighborhoods and putting more pressure on the criminal element.” He said.
Additionally, the Mayor is currently trying to lobby Albany for the ability to put red light cams in neighborhoods as well, serving as protection in busy intersections of motorists and safety pedestrians.
“We believe” Brown said “that it can reduce accidents by serving as deterrent at some of these intersections would give us the ability to more effectively & efficiently deploy our police officers to areas where they can, again, crack down on the criminal element.”
The Mayor stated that if the red light cams are installed, it could generate $3-8 million in revenue, of which is planned to put additional officers on the streets and use another amount to help negotiate a contract with City of Buffalo Police officers, who he said “have gone for some time without a new contract.”