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DPS pushes for increased Compact funding
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Posted on Mar 28 2005
Department of Public Safety commissioner Santiago Tudela said yesterday that the federal government should increase the CNMI’s share in Compact-Impact funds to help the department meet the funding requirement to address its manpower shortage.
Tudela said he aired this view in a meeting last week among the CNMI government’s Cabinet members and visiting U.S. Senate staffers, including former Office of Insular Affairs director Allen Stayman.
Tudela told the Senate staffers that some 21 DPS personnel have been deployed to Iraq as Army reservists on Aug. 16 last year. The DPS has not hired any new police officer since then, except for former boating safety officer Tony Diaz, who joined the department’s patrol section last February.
For the first five years, the CNMI is entitled to a $5.2 million annual funding share from the $30-million Compact Impact legislation that would also benefit Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa. The legislation aims to help the territories cushion the impact of migration from other Pacific islands. The CNMI’s annual share becomes part of its general fund, which may be appropriated for local projects.
The DPS said the manpower problem would continue this year, as it could not augment its workforce due to funding woes. The department shares approximately $15 million with the new Department of Corrections in fiscal year 2005. The government is operating under the same budget as that of FY 2004 after failing to adopt a new one for this fiscal year.
Cadets are paid some $13,000 per annum. When they become police officers, they get at least $16,000 per annum as starting salary.
DPS spokesman Eric David said last week that the department would have to train some 75 cadets at the police academy before they could be sworn in as police officers to fill in vacant positions.
David said that, while the department has about 154 employees, there are only 44 policemen patrolling Saipan’s roads to ensure public safety. Thirty-three policemen belong to the patrol section, while 11 others work for the traffic section.
The manpower shortage compels those assigned with the traffic section to work on 12-hour shifts. David said patrol officers work in three shifts.
