This graph shows what the PD cost in past years (blue), adjusted for inflation to 2023 dollars (red), then compared to the proposed FY2025 budget (green). The difference between the red and green lines is the inflated cost of law enforcement, over and above the actual rate of inflation.
For example, in 1991 the actual cost was $260,020, the inflation adjusted cost for the year is $592,571, for six (6) full-time officers, including chief, plus administrative and part-time officers.
The FY2025 budget proposal of five (5) full-time officers, including the chief, is $721,838.
The difference, $200,267, represents the inflated cost of law enforcement, over and above the official rate of inflation for the economy as a whole.
The FY2025 budget is funding fewer officers than in 1991, yet the cost is $200,267 more dollars. That is an increase of 33.8% ($200,267/$592,571=.338).
In other words, we are spending way more money, and getting fewer officers, than in the past. This is why the proposed budget seems to be expensive compared to past years, and also why the village residents are balking at the cost. It seems more expensive because it is!
This is law enforcement inflation.
What can be done about it? Not much, given the demographics. Our birth rate has been falling for 20 years now, and we new see reductions in the population of graduating seniors each year. When I graduated from RUHS in 1987 there were nearly 100 students in my class. Last year, RUHS only graduated something like 54 or 55 students, roughly half compared to thirty years ago. There are some indications that the birth rate will recover but until then there is not much society can do - the people were never born. The only other option is immigration.
Law enforcement demands young people to work in the field. They are not going to hire a 45 year old changing careers for whatever reason, the physical demands are too great. Like lots of other jobs with which they compete, the salaries of law enforcement officers are at a premium, and filling these positions will be challenging.
For this reason, it is critical that any department do whatever they can to retain qualified personnel. There are too many other agencies competing for a small pool of people in any given area. In a rural area such as ours, this becomes even more important.
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