ed permission this week to apply
for a federal Community Oriented
Policing Services (COPS) grant
that could yield a total of $455,046
to the city to pay for three new offi-
cers.
match from Salisbury, an expen-
sive prospect that made a few City
Council members uneasy.
finance," SPD Chief Barbara Dun-
can told the council Monday. "This
is what the city can afford. Most of
that is coming, from my under-
standing, from collection of delin-
quent property taxes."
three officers' salaries and benefits
for three years. The cost to the city
during that period would be
$257,720. The terms of the COPS
grant require that the officers hired
be retained by the city for at least
one more year after the grant has
been paid. The cost to the city for
that fourth year would be $513,583.
nity policing initiatives," she told
the council.
out that the number the city has
discussed for a full SPD would be
about 120 officers with the agency
currently only having around 90.
Cohen. "I mean it just blows away
any other comparable town in
terms of demand."
one department," she said. "That
causes problems; that causes
morale problems. So we have to
be careful about that. If citizens
wanted it all to go to police what
are you saying about the other
employees of your city? That they
don't matter?"
new officers would slight other city
departments who work just as
hard.
you have to be fair," she said.
Salisbury suffers from unusual
activity. Instead, she chalked it up
to "the times that we are living in
across the country."
But we cannot shoot down the
morale of the rest of our employ-
ees," said Shields. "If we find the
money, we are also going to have
to find the money to take care of
the rest of our departments and
that's reality."
service than is typical for a munic-
ipality of its size.
we're talking about personnel ...
but I don't know about any other
department that needs another 30
people to meet the demand on it,"
she said. "Our officers are hand-
ling an outrageous number of calls
every single day."
least apply for the COPS grant
with the understanding that even if
it should be awarded Salisbury
might have to pass on it this year
depending on how the budget
shapes up in June.
police crackdown, Salisbury's
crime rate has seen some meas-
urable improvements, Cohen con-
tinued. However, she felt that
sometimes it does just boil down
to the number of bodies on the
streets and that if the SPD doesn't
have enough officers then the city
runs the risk of higher crime rates.
rate. We've got to get that number
down. And it is a significant issue
for development, growth and busi-
ness in this town to make it a safe
place," Cohen said. "It's one of the
few things that I think is truly ... an
investment that gets a return."
However, Councilwoman Laura
Mitchell had some qualms about
looking to the collection of delin-
quent property taxes as a steady
source of revenue that could pay
for the city's end of the grant. She
highlighted that the taxes have
already been budgeted in both
this and the next fiscal year. Addi-
tionally, the actual collection of
that money is currently under the
projected revenue.
we're trying to spend it twice," said
Mitchell.
that he only felt the city adminis-
tration was alluding to an area
where funding could possibly be
drawn. If the city wins and accepts
the COPS grant, revenue could
potentially come from any source.
This concerned Councilwoman
Shanie Shields, who wondered if
the grant might result in a tax hike
and if so if all of that money would
be going directly to the SPD.
even some of the employees of
week began partnering in a na-
tional Click It or Ticket seatbelt
enforcement mobilization and
started cracking down on mo-
torists who weren't buckled up.
joined law enforcement agen-
cies across Maryland and the
entire northeast region in mobi-
lizing the aggressive Click It or
Ticket and "Border to Border"
operation. Law enforcement
agencies that share state bor-
ders are teaming up to provide
increased seatbelt at border lo-
cations, sending a zero toler-
ance message to the public
that driving or riding unbuckled
will result in a ticket.
City and one big part of that is
staying safe," said Acting OC-
PD Chief Greg Guiton. "Buck-
ling your seatbelt is one of the
easiest choices you can make
to ensure your safety."
teaming up with the seatbelt
enforcement initiative. On
Monday, the Worcester County
Sheriff's Office teamed up with
Selbyville Police and Maryland
State Police in the Border to
Border initiative. Worcester
sheriff's deputies patrolled the
Maryland-Delaware line with
Selbyville Police, and also pa-
trolled the Maryland-Virginia
border at Route 13. In all, 22 ci-
tations were issued and 25
warnings were handed out dur-
ing the enforcement action.
townhouse in West Ocean City
has been listed as accidental
and originated in the HVAC
system in the home's attic, the
Worcester County Fire Mar-
shal's Office has determined.
Companies responded to a re-
ported fire at a townhouse
community on Golf Course
Road in West Ocean City.
First-arriving units reported
smoke showing from the two-
and-a-half story multi-residen-
tial structure. The townhouse
was occupied at the time, but a
woman and her 8-year-old
daughter were alerted by an
activated smoke alarm and es-
caped and called 911 to report
the fire.
unit's HVAC system in the attic
and that it had been controlled
by the activation of a single
sprinkler head. No injuries
were reported. The cause has
been listed as accidental.