In addition to road patrol and emergency response, the Clarkston Police Department provides services such as fingerprinting and alcohol breath tests.
At least one member of the Clarkston City Council wonders if the latter jeopardizes the former.
Fingerprinting is required for background checks by various employers, including school districts. Preliminary breath tests are often required for those convicted of alcohol-related offenses.
Police Chief Ernest Combs told the council on Nov. 8 that officers provided 173 prelminary breath tests in October, ‘up substantially? from September.
Meanwhile, officers provided fingerprinting for 22 people in October. That was a decrease from September, Combs said, but late summer and early fall were busy with new school employees.
Council Member David Savage asked if the service is worth the officers? time and effort.
‘It does take our officer off one road and onto another [task],? Savage said.
‘It’s a two-sided coin,? Combs replied. ‘I like to do it because it provides a service to the community.?
The chief said he considers ‘community? to be the surrounding area in addition to the City of the Village of Clarkston. If the service were limited only to city residents, demand for such services would be significantly decreased.
On the other hand, fees for the extra services have added to city coffers, and not too long ago Combs raised the weekend fee to discourage those from far-away communities who came to Clarkston to avoid higher fees from agencies in other municipalities.
The current charge for PBTs is $5 on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays. The department charges $10 for all fingerprinting. Combs said the year-to-date revenue is higher than anticipated.
With a budget line item of $16,000 in extra police revenue, the projection at the one-third point of the fiscal year would be about $5,334. The actual figure as of Oct. 31 is $6,576, and Combs asked the council to consider using the surplus to help purchase Taser weapons.
In the meantime, Combs promised to monitor the frequency of the services.
‘I keep a pretty close check on it,? the chief said. ‘If it takes them off the road too much, I’ll have to come up with an alternate solution.?