The Truth about Public Safety, Part 7: Tried and Died: A Few Failed Attempts

Peoria, Illinois (population 127,000; land area: over 15 sq. miles). Peoria started its public safety program in 1961 by training certain police officers to assist fire fighters at the scene of a fire. The city then released a proportionate number of fire fighters. This move aroused strong opposition from the fire fighters who remained on the force. A 1970 evaluation of the program revealed that while there were substantial savings in salaries, other operating costs had increased and fire losses had risen at an unacceptable rate. The community also was dissatisfied with the program and showed its dissatisfaction at the polls by voting out the mayor and seven of the ten council members at the next election. The city manager also resigned and shortly thereafter the public safety program was phased out and more fire fighters were hired.

Lincoln, Nebraska (population: 128,000; land area: 25 sq. miles). Lincoln attempted to start a public safety program in 1957 by ordering fire fighters to ride with police officers and to assist them in normal patrol. Neither police nor fire fighters received any new training. There was no significant difference in pay between fire fighters and police officers. The fire fighters who had initially agreed to the plan became reluctant to accept the added duties without a pay increase. The program was abandoned 7 months after it began.

St. Petersburg, Florida (Population: 216,000; land area: 54 sq. miles). St. Petersburg fully consolidated its services into a public safety department in 1971. Public safety officers were stationed at fire houses and were assigned both police and firefighting responsibilities. Authority and operating control were decentralized, and a team approach to policing and public safety were adopted. The changes met with mixed success. In 1974, the public safety director left and the program was phased out, chiefly because of the lack of control in decentralized operations. Florida also passed a law requiring any municipal employee involved in fire fighting to devote 100 percent of his time to that function. This made the public safety program illegal.