CPOA says no to potential Calexico Police disbanding

The Calexico Police Officer Association argued for the survival of the police department on Monday evening in front of a packed meeting hall.

Calexico council member Bill Hodge said there was a lot of support for police.

“It was very necessary. And it went very well. There was a good crowd,” Hodge said.

“A committee was developed to try to get more people involved. And put pressure on the city council,” Hodge added.

Calexico city council is considering replacing police with the sheriff’s office. But Hodge questioned cost effectiveness.

“The bottom line was comparisons and statistics, and analysis, they would not save us any money, in fact, they might cost us more money,” Hodge said.

He pointed out that sheriff deputies would be more expensive.

“Their salary with their overtime is even more than the police officers here,” Hodge said.

Calexico business owner Morris Reisin said Calexico police budget has seen severe cuts lately.

“Last year was seven point six million. This year was five point five million,” Reisin said.

He said the answer is for city council to work harder at securing funds for services.

“I feel they should stay in and that they should find ways and means of getting some more funds so they can fund the police department. But I believe they should stay here,” Reisin said.

Hodge said losing the police would be a grave economic mistake.

“If we’re losing banks, and we’re losing fire department; we’re losing police department; what future economic developers want to come in and develop?” Hodge said.

City council meets in two weeks to decide the fate of the local police department.