GLADSTONE, Mo. - Gladstone police have a plan to increase safety; but it will mean increasing the police budget by an estimated $2.5 million.
A recent Gladstone police study revealed that police are taking longer to arrive at emergency calls.
“We were staying in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4 minutes which we were very proud of as a response time,” Gladstone Police Chief Michael Hasty said. “What we saw in the past year or two is that crept up to over five minutes on average to get to an emergency scene.”
Hasty said the department needs more patrol officers and more detectives to handle the increase in crime and backlog of investigations. The police radio system needs to be replaced.
“They actually don’t make parts for our system anymore,” Hasty explained.
Gladstone police are considering the new digital system Kansas City police are using.
City leaders and many residents are supportive of the police department and think more officers and a new radio system would be nice. The problem is finding $2.5 million.
Vicki Bowman, co-owner of Gladstone Bowl, has a great working relationship with Gladstone police.
“The Gladstone police do a wonderful job for us,” Bowman said.
But if it takes a tax-hike to pay for police improvements Bowman believes some residents would support it, others would not.
“That’s tough, like you said in these tough economic times,” Bowman explained.
But Hasty is putting his faith in Gladstone residents.
“I really believe that citizens of Gladstone are very supportive of our department and city government,” explained Hasty. “When we (police) demonstrate that we have a need, I believe that they’ll respond.”
Right now, there is not a plan for a tax-hike to fund police expansion in Gladstone. Police and city leaders want to trim their budgets before deciding if they will ask voters to pay more taxes.
