Police Commission Requests 18% Budget Increase to Combat Crime

The Windsor Locks Police Commission has presented its fiscal year 2014 budget proposal to the board of finance, and it’s requesting a considerable increase in funds to combat, what Commission Chairman Kevin Brace is calling, a significant safety issue.

The commission proposed an 17.75-percent increase in funding — just under $500,000.

That money will go along way for a department that has been “undermanned and underfunded for years,” according to Brace.

In particular, the money will help the department get more feet on the street and assist in the improvement of its command structure with the establishment of a couple new positions on the force. The lack of such positions have resulted in “big deficiencies as far as supervision and the execution of professional services,” Brace said Thursday by phone.

The budget includes funding the establishment of a crime suppression unit, traffice enforcement unit, and a criminal investigation division.

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Brace and Police Chief Eric Osanitsch believe the funding boost will “help reverse what the town has become and guide the town to what it once was — a safe community to live and raise families,” Brace said in a recent statement released by the Commission.

When asked to expand upon “what the town has become,” Brace identified several sources of crime that, he said, have contributed to a decline in quality of life for Windsor Locks residents.

According to Brace, the town has a gang problem, which has been compounded by drug activity and prostitution.

With 13 hotels in town, a train station and an airport, a “perfect storm” has been created with respect to the ability for crime to flourish, Brace said.

“These issues have been going on for a long time, but being newly-elected, I’ve seen this stuff and want to deal with it. We’ve also brought in a new police chief who has seen the crime and wants to deal with it,” said Brace Thursday.

According to Brace, the commission has proposed an overall budget of $3,314,717. The department is operating with a budget of $2,815,116 in the current fiscal year.

Brace said the board of finance was receptive to the commission’s funding request, but, given it’s just a small part of the town’s overall budget, did not give a word of approval.

Brace will return to the board next week to answer any questions or concerns the committee may have.

If the proposal passes through town staff and, ultimately, a referendum, Brace said the department “will finally be able to be proactive and address the culture of prostitution and drugs that has infested and taken over Ella Grasso Turnpike.”