Posted by Lisa Strawbridge - email
TOLEDO (WTOL) - Toledo city workers could find out as early as Friday, April 17 if they're out of a job, and no department is safe.
The job cuts could impact Toledo police in a big way. In less than two weeks, we'll see the first round of layoffs with 75 officers gone. That's effective May 1.
On Friday afternoon, round two will be decided. Another group of 75 officers will be cut, but at this point, we don't know when. We're told the city administration is still figuring out the final number of officers cut and other city employees for the Friday meeting.
The police chief is also working on plans to revamp the entire department due to the severe amount of layoffs.
As of May 1, there may be no more gang unit, school resource officers, community service officers and possibly mounted patrol.
The vice squad will turn into a skeleton crew, and about half the swat team could be cut.
If the entire 150 layoffs take effect, the president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association (TPPA) says the vice unit could be cut completely, and the number of detectives would go down to a handful.
To show their resentment, hundreds of officers are wearing t-shirts that read 'I called 911, but all I got was this lousy trash can.'
The perception is that you're giving preference to garbage cans over police officers, said Dan Wagner with TPPA. He adds, "Why should we take concessions when they're spending 10 million on garbage cans and a garbage (automated) system that they haven't even worked out whether or not they're going to do."
