FULLERTON : After Public Pressure, Council Alters Plan to Cut 4 Police Jobs

The City Council has modified its plan to eliminate four sworn Police Department positions that it had considered cutting in a move to balance the budget.

The move, passed on a 4 to 1 vote, will cost the city about $66,000--money that will come from reserve accounts, officials said.

The Police Department had recommended the cuts, but more than 600 residents and business owners signed a petition urging the council to keep the jobs.

Although Police Chief Patrick McKinley assured the council that street patrols would remain the same and “we can adequately do the job,” the panel, led by Councilman Don Bankhead, took another route.

The four positions are now vacant. Rather than eliminate all of them, the Police Department will fill two and replace the others with lower-paying desk jobs.

Mayor Julie Sa, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said cutting the positions would have been a prudent cost-saving move, especially since violent crimes in the city are decreasing.

For the fiscal year that begins July 1, the city will have a balanced budget of $81.7 million by eliminating 35 city jobs, mostly through attrition; increasing fees for maintenance and community services and reorganizing administrative operations.