THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
City Council members on Monday quickly nixed a proposal by Police Chief H.L. Bunch to save at least $50,000 a year by limiting business hours at the police station.
``I don't support it. I won't ever support it,'' said Councilman A.C. Robinson, leading a chorus of City Council members adamantly against ending the station's 24-hour-a-day status. It apparently is the only station in the area that is open round the clock.
To comply with the city's goal of reducing its work force by 10 percent while maintaining public safety levels, Bunch last month recommended not replacing an outgoing dispatcher and clerical worker.
To make up for the reduced staff, the police station would be open to the public only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bunch suggested.
Council members Anita Hummer, Jimi Sutton and Myrtle Rivers sounded like they would be willing to give the idea a try when Bunch proposed it July 20.
But on Monday, Hummer joined those who wanted the doors open day and night. Sutton and Rivers were quiet on the issue.
The council voted to table the plan and to keep a log of visitors to the station after 5 p.n.
Council members Lloyd Griffin and David P. Bosomworth suggested the data gathering.
``I'd be interested in having some sort of study asking how many people walk in there now,'' Bosomworth said. If the station were closed at night, he asked, ``are we really going to be denying citizens a safe haven in town or are we imagining that necessity?''
Bunch declined to comment on the decision.
Also Monday, interim City Manager Victor Sharpe said he planned to look into why six police officers had announced their retirements or resignations in just over a month.
The Elizabeth City Police Department has about 45 sworn officers.
KEYWORDS: ELIZABETH CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT by CNB