THE MONEY TRAIL
In addressing a $3.6 million budget shortfall last month, Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel stopped short of his own driveway – and those of 241 other officers who drive city cars home.
Instead, Braziel cut $1.8 million elsewhere, resulting in longer waits for 911 operators, fewer police patrols and fewer after-hours investigations of serious crimes.
The "take home" cars used by top brass and scores of other department personnel – which cost the city more than $1.1 million annually – weren't touched, said Norm Leong , a department spokesman.
Braziel received a new $33,500 SUV, officials said.
Other cars taken home include 28 black and whites, 98 unmarked sedans, eight trucks, 11 minivans and 14 SUVs. Eight of the cars are hybrids or flex fuel.
The city provides free gas, which adds up, considering only 46 officers with take-home cars live in the city. Others drive in from Yuba City, Pilot Hill and Sheridan, city documents show.
Leong said take-home cars are "necessary due to the department's need to facilitate officers responding directly from home to certain police incidents."
The department estimates 100 cars are take-home because of the on-call status of the officers, including homicide detectives, gang unit officers or SWAT team members.
The policy was negotiated in a union agreement for some. And lieutenants, captains, deputy chiefs and the chief are always on call and required to respond to major police incidents, Leong said.
Cities with budget problems – such as Boston, Las Vegas and Rochester, N.Y. – have trimmed, eliminated or are reviewing similar programs.
And Sacramento? "We continue to look at ways to become more efficient. At this time we are looking at various ways we can cut the costs associated with our fleet," Leong said.
– Terri Hardy. Send tips to moneytrail@sacbee.com
WATCHDOG REPORT
Unfixed railing at H Street bridge leads to bike crash
The Problem: A bent safety rail protruding into the west end of the H Street Bridge walkway led to a nasty bike crash last month.
The railing – bent by a car crash – pinched the pathway so narrowly that the cyclist couldn't swing wide enough to turn onto the levee through the bicycle gate. It forced him to go around to the opposite side of the large levee gate. The cyclist crashed trying to negotiate that narrow path, breaking the bicycle seat and skinning his knee.
The Response: Initially, the city transportation department put up signs but the railing was not fixed for at least a week in mid-November, when the cyclist fell.
Public Eye contacted the city, and crews finished the job. They cut off the 5-foot part of the rail that was bent into the walkway. Now strong posts hold up a new end section.
It was fixed just before the Run to Feed the Hungry event, when thousands used the bridge to get to the run.
To report problems that need to be fixed, call the city of Sacramento at 311.
– Bill Lindelof. Want government to fix something? Send tips to fixthis@sacbee.com
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.