Santa Fe city councilors faced off Monday against top police officials as debate over a proposed police hiring plan grew increasingly heated.
After nearly two hours of pointed questioning from Finance Committee members, Police Chief Eric Johnson voiced frustration and said officials had provided answers to every question that had been posed.
That response didn't appear to sit well with Councilor Matthew Ortiz, the Finance Committee's chairman.
Ortiz, one of the council's most veteran members, said he's supportive of rank-and-file police officers in Santa Fe but harbors doubts as to whether top administrators have the focus needed to improve the department.
"When it comes down to the leadership of the department ... I do have concerns," Ortiz said.
Johnson, who's been the city's police chief for about two years, disagreed with the assertion and appeared to take offense at its suggestion.
"When it's all said and done, you're going to have to answer to your constituents," he told Ortiz.
The testy exchange underlined the difficulty city policymakers and law enforcement officials have had reconciling the parameters and perceived goals of a plan to hire 45 new officers over the course of the next three years.
Ortiz and other councilors repeated a call Monday for more details about what tangible results could be expected if they approve the proposal, which was first unveiled in March and is backed by Mayor David Coss.
Councilor Carmichael Dominguez indicated he'd like to see more of an explicit focus on burgeoning gang activity on Santa Fe's south side while questioning the need to have an officer always stationed at the city's downtown Plaza.
"I see that as placing an emphasis on a certain part of the community," Dominguez said before later adding, "I don't want more proactivity necessarily downtown."
Public safety has become an increasingly urgent priority for city officials since the issue was raised by numerous Santa Feans during this spring's City Council elections.
How to go about making improvements, however, has been a sticking point.
During Monday's meeting, councilors sounded a tone similar to that of previous hearings by saying they expect the hiring plan— which would cost an estimated $1.8 million in its first year of implementation alone— to do more than currently predicted.
For example, several councilors questioned whether reducing the average response time from the current 22 minutes to about 18 minutes in 2011, as police administrators have touted, would be sufficient progress.
Johnson admitted his department was conservative in many of its estimates but said it's hard to pinpoint exactly how the new hires would affect the amount of overtime taken, arrests made and more.
Police officials have described attempts to stem crime in Santa Fe as largely reactive in recent years due to staffing shortages. In 2007 alone, residential burglaries increased by more than 60 percent, though such crime occurred less frequently during the first three months of 2008.
The city currently has 155 sworn officers. Along with a handful of technical support positions, the hiring plan would gradually increase that number to 200.
The Finance Committee is expected to make a final decision on the proposal, as well as other departmental budgets, on May 19. The city's new fiscal year begins July 1.
