Don’t get over stimulated

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AKA the Stimulus Bill) had opened up a number of funding streams for criminal justice. We are watching these closely, and frankly the announcements in the Federal Register and information coming out on the Federal agency websites are so hot and heavy that it’s a full time job just to keep up.

On the one hand, you don’t want to miss out on any golden opportunities. The whole goal, after all, is to get money moving into the economy, and some of it might as well move through the Lincoln Police Department. On the other hand, you don’t want to bite off something you can’t chew. Sometimes the eyes are bigger than the stomach. So, in order to avoid heartburn caused by overstimulation, we have a few principles that are guiding our thought process as we pick and choose our possible targets for application.

Look for genuine needs that cannot be fulfilled in our normal budget.

There is no shortage of these. We haven’t had capital outlay money in our operating budget for many years, and there are lots of items of equipment and supplies that need to be updated. Technology needs in particular are always looming—lab equipment, broadband, digital video, audio, and transcription to name but a few. Our crimes scene van is a 1991, and we’ve got to be one of the largest police departments in the country without a mobile command post vehicle.

Do not create a substantial on-going obligation with one-time only funds.

Here today, gone tomorrow—at least with many of these funding streams. One-time projects and expenditures are the most appropriate target for one-time funding. It takes over a year to recruit, hire and train a police officer. More personnel is the biggest need of all for us, but if the dollars are gone by the time the position is ready to go, you better be able to build the ongoing cost into your long range budget, or you’ve made a huge mistake even starting down that path.

Look for projects that are within our capability to manage.

We need to get cracking on anything we apply for and receive quickly. The economy needs the shot in the arm now. Some of the projects we have in mind would require significant management: grant writing; financial monitoring and reporting; the drafting of requests for proposals, specifications, and contracts; project management and performance testing; and so forth. We have limited resources to devote to these functions, and only a few personnel have the capability. The short timeline and the need to get underway in 2009-2010 is a limiting factor.

Do not start programs that create a constituency that will demand continuation.

A luxury once tasted becomes a necessity. Once you start a program, there are people with a vested interest in its continuation. If you’re not careful, the hue and cry when you try to sunset it down the road will become intense, and even political. Here’s what happens: responding to the uptick in crimes against gerbils, you implement a Gerbil Protection Unit. The officers get spiffy windbreakers with POLICE-GPU printed on the back, and join the International Association of Gerbil Crime Investigators. A few years later, the funding has disappeared, and it’s time to roll the function back into the regular operations of the department. Attempting to do so causes an uproar among gerbil lovers (and who doesn’t love gerbils!) The personnel in the Unit are cheesed at the demise of their chosen specialty. I’ve been through a Warrants Unit, D.A.R.E., G.R.E.A.T., and school resource officers in elementary schools. The tooth-gnashing and hand-wringing was significant.