After more than eight months heading up the Clarkston Police Department, chief Dale LaCroix said things are steadily improving.
The city’s seven officers have each completed various training sessions in courses such as vehicle inspection, laws and police procedure, vehicle salvage, and fingerprinting. Officers have also been trained in the use of tasers’under the department’s previous administration, police did not have proper training before tasers were issued, LaCroix said.
One officer also completed a field sobriety-testing course recently, which teaches fundamentals of properly testing a suspected drunk driver and documenting results.
‘The difference in her reports before the training and now are unbelievable,? said LaCroix, noting the officer generally patrols Clarkston’s roadways during the midnight shift. ‘She’s doing a good job getting drunks of the streets.?
Since LaCroix took over in October, the Clarkston Police have made eight drunk-driving arrests, all during the 11 p.m.-7 a.m midnight shift’of those, four were made in April.
Between October and April, Clarkston Police also issued 30 speeding citations, another 25 for impeding traffic and 49 for disregarding a traffic control device during the midnight shift.
LaCroix also said officers patrolling during the darkest hours are able to provide city residents with proactive services such as house and business checks and foot patrols.
Other improvements to the department include new lockers in the station at 3 East Church, as well as a sorely-needed in-car computer for one of the city’s three police vehicles.
With city funds reaching dangerously low levels as the budget year draws to a close, LaCroix said he doesn’t plan much more spending in the immediate future.
‘Right now we’re just trying to get by,? he said, noting gasoline alone is costing the department about $1,000 every month. ‘Next year we’re going to have to replace one of these cars and get another in-car computer, which will still leave us with one very old (computer).?
The police budget for this year currently stands at $265,590, with a 2008-2009 proposed budget of $296,369.
The city’s police spending in 2006-2007 totaled $239,361; of that, $31,700 was allocated to Independence Township for subcontracted midnight services from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
LaCroix said the increase stems from a rise in gas prices and vehicle maintenance, as well as an increase in overtime pay for officers required to be in court for arrests made primarily during the midnight shifts.
‘We had a couple of B&Es (breaking and entering) we worked,? he said. ‘They take up a lot of time, but we got the guys.?
LaCroix also said he makes a point of getting out most every day to walk the downtown area and talk to business owners’a point of serious contention between the city council and the former police chief.
Heading up the Clarkston department, he said, is a considerable change form his long tenure with the Waterford Police.
‘It’s much more laid back,? he said. ‘I have time to get to know people other than the bad guys. When you’re dealing with a large populated area like Waterford, you’re really only reacting to things as they happen.?
In March, the city Council renewed the chief’s contract for another six months, and will revisit the issue again at budget time.
Meanwhile, he said, feedback from the community is good.
‘People seem to like the way things are running,? he said. ‘The officers are doing a good job. As usual, you get some people who are unhappy when they get tickets, and they’ll complain that the officers weren’t nice. We’re working on that.?