Nine of the city’s 15 firefighters are funded through a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant. The Jackson City Council voted on Tuesday, May 28, to retain three of them once the grant ends — leaving the city with nine firefighters.
Retaining the firefighters was added into the 2019-20 budget just before the budget’s unanimous approval at Tuesday’s meeting.
The grant expires in July, but the city is seeking an extension through the fall. It hopes to apply for a new SAFER grant whenever the next cycle is, although city officials said they believe they’ll have to match federal funding this time around.
It will cost $162,000 to fund the three firefighters in the first year, but jump to $400,000 in future years when factoring in the full 12 months plus pensions. City Manager Patrick Burtch said he hopes to negotiate costs to around $300,000 annually for the three firefighters.
The extra funding this year comes from an increase in income taxes, Burtch said.
"Once the SAFER grant expires, we're going to drop down to dangerously low levels," Mayor Derek Dobies said. He supported keeping the three firefighters, saying the grant has been used as a "Band-Aid" on a "significantly understaffed" department.
The vote passed 4-3, with Freddie Dancy, Jeromy Alexander and Craig Pappin voting no. They voiced concerns about long-term funding of the firefighters and whether this would prevent the city from having money to match future grant funding to keep all nine SAFER grant firefighters on.
In other action, the council didn’t vote on gunshot detection technology and a violence intervention program. Burtch told council they’d likely only be able to fund one or the other.
Both are likely to resurface for consideration at later meetings, council members said.
ShotSpotter uses acoustic sensors in designated areas to pick up loud bangs, and experts listen and determine if its gunfire or something else like fireworks. If it's from a gun, police are alerted of the exact location.
It would cost $235,000 in the first year to set up a 3-mile radius and $195,000 each year after.
“When there could be a shot that’s fired and it strikes somebody incapacitating them and they’re laying there and nobody calls 911, it’s a difference of saving their life,” Pappin said. “I think this is a real program that’s worthy.”
The other program, Group Violence Intervention, is a program targeting street group members most likely to commit violent crime. An initial study in Jackson from the National Network for Safe Communities shows 0.47 percent of Jackson’s population is associated with half of all homicides and non-fatal shootings.
GVI includes actions like an audit of known street groups, a follow-up on all non-prosecuted shootings and personal contact with group members.
"Since I've been in Jackson, for 23 years, we've never had a specific program aimed at dealing with gun violence," said Elmer Hitt, Jackson director of police and fire services. "I think it's time and I think GVI's a good option for us."
It would cost about $168,000 per year for two years. The city hopes to secure grant funding to help support this program, before bringing it back to council.
Dobies said this program is more proactive and targets the root of the problem, while ShotSpotter is more reactive. The guiding principle of the program is "do no harm," Hitt said.
“Do not shoot each other — that’s our No. 1 goal, to reduce the number of shootings so people are not getting shot,” Hitt said. “It’s pretty simple.”
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