Trustee questions North Aurora police's budget requests

North Aurora Trustee Laura Curtis questioned police department spending this week when the North Aurora village board reviewed a proposed 2017-18 budget earlier this week.

"It seems like there may be a lot of requests in the police department," she said Monday.

Specifically, she asked about:

• $15,000 for an employee gymnasium.

• $25,000 to buy six laptop computers, docking stations and a spare squad video server.

• A new security system on a six-year-old building.

• $230,000 for five patrol vehicles, including replacing sedans with sport utility vehicles.

"Our police department spending ... are we on par with our communities for our size? I'm starting to just, in the back of my mind, question 'Why?' " Curtis said. She asked if calls for service have increased.

"It seems like crime in the village has been pretty flat."

Police Chief David Sumner said the police building was designed to have a gym. It will make it more convenient for officers to exercise, he said.

The gym will be open to all village employees, village administrator Steven Bosco said.

As for the laptops, the village buys rugged ones, such as Panasonic Toughbooks. "Keep in mind that this is a workstation" used in police vehicles, that taps into a camera system, a printer, a GPS system and more, Sumner said. It will replace malfunctioning ones that are four and five years old.

As for buying SUVs, "The amount of equipment we need to put in has greatly increased from when I was on patrol," Sumner said, including the computers and printers. The SUVs also have all-wheel drive, and the village won't need to change regular tires for snow tires, he said.

Curtis asked why the village is getting rid of 2013 model-year vehicles that have less than 100,000 miles on them.

"What's the big deal? My Jeep has 200,000 miles on it," she said.

Hard wear-and-tear on the engine from near constant running, including time spent idling, according to Sumner.

The cost includes $8,000 to $10,000 per vehicle for changing out equipment such as light bars, partitions, floor pans, window bars and gun racks.

The proposed $10.73 million budget can be viewed at the village hall or at northaurora.org.