HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8718INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8718
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 11, 2005
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SUBJECT: ANNEXATION PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES
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During the citizen presentation agenda item at the City Council meeting of October 4, 2005, two
citizens expressed concerns about the City's ability to provide services to the proposed 287 zone
included in the City's 2005 annexation plan. Specifically, one citizen made reference to public
safety issues, particularly fire and police services and during his presentation made a comment
suggesting that the City will have to take firefighters and police officers from existing areas of the
City to serve the 287 zone if it is annexed. To provide some clarity on the issue, I asked the Fire
Chief and the Police Chief to outline their staffing plans to serve the proposed 287 zone if the area
is annexed into the City of Fort Worth. Below is their written response to my request.
Fire Staffing
To service the proposed annexation area the Fort Worth Fire Department will open a temporary
station in the 800 block of West Blue Mound Road. The station will be staffed by fully qualified
firefighters temporarily using overtime as the funding mechanism. There will be no decrease in
the number of fire personnel at any other fire station to staff the temporary station. An
additional 14 firefighters will be hired and are projected to graduate from the basic fire academy
in June 2006. The additional staffing and the temporary station are already approved and
budgeted for. This temporary station is being put into service within the next 30 days to provide
fire protection for existing areas of Fort Worth and will be able to serve the 287 zone until a
permanent station is placed within the area.
In addition to basic fire response, the Fire Department will also provide 1 st responder emergency
medical services, hazardous materials mitigation and regulation, fire safety education, system
plan review, inspections, emergency management planning and various rescue capabilities.
Police Staffing
In response to previous annexations and to plan for future growth, the Fort Worth Police
Department reallocated existing personnel and created a new beat for the area two years ago.
During the fiscal year that just ended we added 5 patrol officer positions and two Neighborhood
Police Officers, as well as all necessary vehicles, equipment, etc., to be able to adequately cover
annexed areas without decreasing the existing number of personnel from other portions of
the city. In addition to these increases, patrol staffing in the city will be increased by 19 officer
positions during the current fiscal year, which is a response to our monitoring of annexations and
growth/development in existing areas. We are in the process of revising the beat structure within
the North Field Operations Division to ensure we have patrol coverage for all areas and these
changes will be in place on the date of annexation.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8718
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 11, 2005
Page 2 of 2
SUBJECT: ANNEXATION PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES
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The Fort Worth Police Department also provides other services that are not matched by any other
law enforcement agency in the area including investigations, dedicated traffic enforcement and
specialized accident investigation/reconstruction, narcotics law enforcement, gang
intervention/suppression, crime response teams, helicopter patrol, Special Weapons and Tactics,
Homeland Security and Intelligence, and other technical functions.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Fire Chief Charles Gaines at (817) 392-
6805 or Police Chief Ralph Mendoza at (817) 392 -4210.
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Charles R. Boswell
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS