Naperville police, fire to expand slightly

Naperville police and fire departments may each add a new position to their ranks but are keeping other requests to a minimum in what appears to be a tight budget year for the city.

The two were among numerous departments who presented their budget proposals to the city council at a workshop Monday.

"We have gone through and shredded that budget," Police Chief David Dial said. "There is nothing left to take out."

City staff are recommending approval of a crime-scene technician assigned to the downtown area for the police and a technical-services assistant for the fire department.

But before the police-budget talks began, the group debated whether Councilman Richard Furstenau should participate. He is in the middle of a federal lawsuit against the city and several police officers stemming from a 2006 incident in which he was arrested and later acquitted of misdemeanor battery against a police officer.

Councilman James Boyajian said Furstenau should excuse himself from the discussion of the police-department budget due to his "hostile and adversary relationship with police department and chief of police" and several other councilmen voiced similar opinions.

But Furstenau said he had planned to ask questions of the police just as he would any other department.

"I'm going to sit here and do the people's business they elected me to do," he said.

In his presentation, Dial said Naperville police are operating with 1.33 officers per 1,000 residents, among the lowest per capita in the area. The additional crime-scene technician, a civilian position, would cost just under $73,000 in salary and benefits from the department's $36.8 million budget. The budget is about 6 percent above what the department asked for last year.

Like all city departments, police are trying to keep their both their injury and overtime figures down. In 2007, there were 21 injuries, down from 27 the prior year.

Dial said the use of Taser guns, which began in 2005, has helped reduce the number of injuries while making arrests or dealing with aggressive animals.

In overtime, costs are expected to go up about 4 percent in the coming year but Dial said the increase is due to salaries rising, even though he plans to keep the number of overtime hours down.

In the years to come, Dial said police will face retirements, unfunded mandates from the county, and cyber crime.

He said the city may also need to consider installing metal detectors in the future. Last month, a gunman opened fire at a city council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo., killing five people.

Councilman John Rosanova said he would like to explore the option of metal detectors sooner rather than later and consider the possibility of adding them at area high schools as well.

The fire department, meanwhile, is currently operating with 1.01 firefighters on shift per 1,000 residents and is asking for a technical-services assistant to help with data analysis. The employee would earn just over $71,000 in salary and benefits, coming out of the department's $29 million budget. Its proposed budget increase is about 6.6 percent more than the council approved last year but fire Chief John Wu said only a fraction of the increase is due to services and supplies. Most of it is for contractual salary and benefit increases.

The department will also be bringing in an additional $836,000 this year due to recently approved ambulance-fee increases.

The city council will wrap up its budget discussion with a third workshop at 3:30 p.m. today at the municipal center, 400 S. Eagle St.