Metropolitan Police Department: FY2003 Proposed Budget for the MPDC

Non-personal services. In the area of non-personal services, overall funding in the proposed FY 2002 budget increased by $9 million. This covers increases in fixed costs for energy utilities, fuel for the fleet, telecommunications, janitorial services, rent, and security. In addition, it covers several of our requested technical adjustments.

The proposed budget provides $1.9 million additional funds for maintenance of the new Public Safety Communication Center (PSCC). Last July, MPD's 911/311 Communications Center was moved from the 6th floor of MPD headquarters to 310 McMillan Drive, a D.C.-owned facility. The new PSCC facility has over 35,000 square feet of space, houses over 250 employees working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and contains sensitive telephone and computer equipment. This budget covers critical services including annual maintenance for the Computer-Aided Dispatch system, switching equipment, and other technical equipment; maintenance, repair, and engineering services for air conditioning, elevators, emergency generators, boilers, and the fire alarm system; 24 hour a day, 7 day a week on-call, rapid-response facility management; and 24-hour building security.

The FY 2003 budget will allow us to continue our successful automated traffic enforcement program. To address the public perception that the fee-per-ticket contract arrangement created an incentive for the vendor to issue erroneous tickets, we have modified our five-year contract with ACS State and Local Solutions. The current proposal that has been submitted for Council approval contains a new monthly fixed fee structure for both the photo radar and red light programs. In the proposed budget, $9.1 million has been set aside to cover the vendor fixed cost fees. We look forward to continuing reductions in red-light running and speeding in our city.

Finally, the FY 2003 budget provides $500,000 for the Independent Monitor mandated by the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department and the U.S. Department of Justice regarding use of force. The Independent Monitor will review and report on MPD's implementation of the MOA and assist us with any compliance issues that arise.

Capital Budget Overview
In terms of the capital budget, the FY 2003 proposal of $28.3 million dollars represents continued funding for our base building renovation projects as well as $5.4 million to restore our vehicle replacement plan within the Master Lease Program. No new capital projects are funded for FY 2003.

In the base building renovation plan, the FY 2003 budget includes the following Phase 5 projects: the completion of a new evidentiary property warehouse; a new radio shop; a new parking garage at the fleet maintenance facility; the beginning stages of a new SOD consolidation site; and completion of all remaining work at the districts stations. In FY 2002 we continue to make progress on the construction of the Petworth School ROC-North facility, the Fourth District substation on Park Road, the Mobile Crime/Crime Scene Search consolidation, and the expansion and improvement of the Institute of Police Science, to name a few of our facilities upgrade projects..

Building a Safer City By Spending Wisely
I believe I have made the point clearly-this is not a Cadillac year for the Metropolitan Police Department. Additional cuts will have a negative impact on the delivery of police services in the District. But as we adopt the new performance-based budgeting model, I am optimistic about our ability to make the most effective use of the resources that will be budgeted for the MPD in FY 2003. The new program structure, with assigned accountable managers and performance measures, takes us a step further in our effort to build a more transparent and accountable agency.

I remain committed to making the District of Columbia a safer and more livable city, even in the face of new threats to our public safety and security. I have been impressed with the level of coordination among government bodies-at the city, state, and federal level-that has been demonstrated over the past several months. I have confidence in our government to continue to the serve and protect the public. We in the Metropolitan Police Department are prepared to do our part.