Share: 

Question arises over Milton Police Department

August 16, 2013

For the last several years, the Milton Police Department has been under attack by some residents as well certain elected officials. The budget was questioned and budget line items were arbitrarily slashed. A three percent increase in police salaries was frowned upon, as was expenditures for new uniforms, training, overtime, etc. That attitude effected the morale of the police department.

Fast forward to the present time. The town council now seems to be in favor of hiring new officers at the rate of competitive salaries in other jurisdictions, and we have seen a number of our police officers leave the MPD for positions in other municipal departments and others may follow shortly. So now we are severely undermanned!

The new hires and the increase in salaries and benefits will dramatically increase the police budget. In the past, there were loud protests against these increases.

What happened?

Norman R. Lester
Milton

  • A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.

    To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.