Township reacts to citizens' concerns about safety

By Mark Tower
May. 6, 2010    ·    4:39 p.m.

After attending two community forums hosted by the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office regarding public safety, Ypsilanti Township Trustees approved a few changes at a meeting of the board Wednesday that they hope will foster better security for township residents.

Some of the biggest complaints residents made at the forums, Police Services Coordinator Mike Radzik said, included fear and intimidation caused by youths loitering in groups, vicious animals, vacant houses and home invasions.

To combat these issues, trustees took two actions Wednesday by unanimous votes.

The curfew for anyone under the age of 18 in the township, which previously was in place from 11 p.m to 5:30 a.m., will now be extended an hour, starting instead at 10 p.m.

Trustees also amended their budget, approving an expenditure of $100,000 to pay for additional overtime hours for WCSO deputies and to contract with the WCSO for Lincoln Consolidated Schools' police liaison officer, who will work on priority issues in the township during the summer, when school is not in session.

The $100,000 approved by the board will come out of the township's prior year fund balance.

The curfew extension, Radzik said, is mostly about giving law enforcement a reason to stop anyone under the age of 18 in violation of the curfew, who may also be involved in other criminal activity.

“It is an effective tool for law enforcement to use,” he said. “Police can use this to intervene when someone is going to or coming back from committing a crime, because they are on the street after curfew hours.”

Of the additional $100,000 trustees agreed to pay the Sheriff's office this year, $66,695 will go to pay for special “proactive” overtime policing in the township, and Radzik said those deputies would focus on issues listed as priorities by the township.

Most of these priorities, he said, would come out of community input at the WCSO community forums and neighborhood watch meetings and would include curbing youth loitering and possible suspicion of gang activity, handling complaints regarding vicious dogs, slowing home invasions and dealing with property crimes.

The remaining $33,305 of the funding appropriation will pay for Lincoln's school liaison officer, who will also work on special projects during the summer as prioritized by the township board, Radzik said.

After a 2-mill police services tax proposal failed in 2009, Ypsilanti Township lost seven of the then-38 deputies assigned to the township. Radzik said they had originally forecasted that without the millage they would need to eliminate 10 of the deputies, but by eliminating things like proactive overtime they only needed to cut seven.

“This would be what I consider a much-needed enhancement,” he said.

Township Attorney Doug Winters told trustees Wednesday that after talking with other law enforcement agencies in the community, it sounds like the summer of 2010 has the potential to be a “very bloody summer.” The extension of the curfew and additional money for law enforcement, Winters said, are good ways to be preemptive and proactive in fighting this possible increase in crime.

Trustee Stan Eldridge asked how the board could be sure the money they are spending on this special overtime is actually spent dealing with the problems citizens see in the township.

Radzik said approval for any overtime from that fund would need to first come from him, acting on behalf of the board of trustees, who he asked to direct him in setting law enforcement priorities. The WCSO, he said, could also provide trustees with daily or weekly logs of deputies' activities to confirm their money being spent on overtime is being spent well.

The WCSO has agreed, Radzik said, to limit the vacation time to 10 days for the school liaison officer during the period he is contracted by township. He said these officers usually take most of their vacation time when school is out for the summer, which will not be true in this case.

A separate contract will be drafted between the township and the Sheriff's office for the additional deputy and the “proactive” overtime fund, and Radzik said he expected to have it for consideration at the board's next meeting.

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Ypsilanti voters reject tax increases