Health & Fitness
#7 of the Kathleen Ford Files: Falsely Claiming Police Department Wasn't Fully Staffed
This is the seventh of the series called “The Ford Files.”
“The Ford Files” details several of the black marks on mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford’s political record, including today’s feature when …
Kathleen Ford made false statements about police staffing levels.
Find out what's happening in St. Petewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"At a campaign forum Tuesday, Ford said the Police Department has 'never attained our full, authorized strength, and it makes it hard to serve folks (who call for an officer) timely if we don't have enough people.'
"Davis confronted her from the lectern during a question-and-answer period and accused her of "distorting the record." Ford then wondered aloud whether public records would back up Davis' assertion that the department exceeds authorized strength.
Find out what's happening in St. Petewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"They do. The department's authorized strength of 538 officers is the number of positions for which the City Council budgeted salaries.
"A report dated Friday shows that the Police Department has 10 more than that on the payroll, 548. Of those, 524 are full-fledged police officers, 21 are salaried cadets in training, and three are new hires who will begin duty or training after a physical examination." -- St. Petersburg Times, 3/15/01
