Numerous Michigan communities — including Oak Park, the Grosse Pointes, Huntington Woods, Fraser and Kalamazoo — have combined safety forces. Other municipalities are studying the idea, responding to tight finances and Gov. Rick Snyder’s push for consolidation.
State revenue sharing was cut across the board this year, and in future years communities that don’t adopt “best practices,” such as merging services, could see their share of state money reduced even further.
Cutting costs and gaining state aid can sound appealing to city leaders who face declining tax revenue. But cities that want to consolidate may face resistance from voters and employees.
In general, firefighters unions strongly oppose public safety mergers, arguing that cross-trained officers don’t have the skills or expertise to safely and effectively put out fires.
“It does not even come close,” said Mark Docherty, a sergeant with the Sterling Heights Fire Department and president of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union. “If you want to save money that way, you’re maintaining your police department at the expense of the fire department. You can’t maintain the same level of training, experience or the response time of a full-time fire department.”
Police officers are generally receptive to cross-training, since they expect fighting fires to be a small part of their duties.
Experts in municipal management say combining police and fire can save money and improve service, if done right.
Leonard Matarese, a research director at the International City/Council Management Association, said a public safety department is more efficient. “When you have a major event — a police or fire event — you end up with a larger group of qualified people to handle it,” said Matarese, who has worked in several states as a police chief, city manager and a public safety director.
He cautioned that with training and equipment expenditures, a municipality could incur extra expenses — at first.
“But you have to look at this long-term,” he said. “It saves money. There’s no question about it. If a city can achieve a 5 to 10 percent savings, it’s significant.”
Police and fire costs can translate to as much as 75 percent of a municipality’s budget. Kalamazoo, with about 75,000 residents, is the largest city in the state with a public safety department.
The city integrated its police and fire departments in the 1980s. Kalamazoo would incur an extra $3 million to $4 million a year in costs by returning to a traditional fire department, Matarese said.
Fire Union report says consolidation would be ineffective use of resources
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