► WPA BRIEFING ROOM
WPA awards college scholarships, (May 2009)
Murder rate is up and politicians won't listen to police (Oct. 21, 2008)
WPA says city politicians should listen to them on crime issues (Sept. 3, 2008)
WPA releases results of staffing and compensation study
City Administrator Salaries from Waco and peer cities
Update on Meet & Confer negotiations (July 16, 2008)
WPA launches new web site (August 13, 2008)
WPA awards college scholarships
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Stephen Sowders, Jr.
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Sabina Hoida
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WPA President Anne Cyr and Board member Mike Alston present scholarships to Stephen Sowders, Jr., and Sabina Hoida. Every spring, the Association awards college scholarships to two local students. Back to top
The murder rate is up in Waco and politicians won’t listen to the police
(Posted: Oct. 21, 2008)
The Waco Police Association has designed and produced two billboards on IH-35 bringing attention to the escalating murder rate and overall violent crime rate here.
The billboards that went up alongside Waco traffic on Monday afternoon proclaim: “The Murder Rate is up! Waco is the 7th most violent city in Texas.”
“The City Council’s secret is now public. The murder rate in Waco is on the climb and our city remains the 7th most violent city in Texas. Actually, for cities with a population between 100,000 and 199,000 we are the third most violent city in Texas,” said Anne Cyr, President of the Waco Police Association.
“How do we know this to be true? The Waco Police Association paid $25,000 of our own money to the same consulting firm often used by the City of Waco who did a study of various issues. Our City Council has refused to put us on the agenda to share our information with them,” she said.
“Facts are stubborn things and the Mayor and the City Council have nowhere to hide now,” she said. “The citizens need to begin asking themselves why the murder rate is up and why the City Council won’t meet with the Waco Police Association.”
The Waco Police Association President told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday that the officers have grown tired of supporting city council candidates who promise to have an open door policy while they are campaigning but will not even communicate once the election is past.
“From here on out we are going to communicate directly to the citizens and we are going to stay on message until these city leaders learn to listen or new city leaders emerge,” said Anne Cyr. Back to top
WPA says city politicians should listen to them on crime issues
(Posted: Sept. 3, 2008)
The president of the Waco Police Association said today that Waco has become the 7th most violent city in Texas and criticized the Mayor and City Council for refusing to talk to the Association about the issue.
“Waco now has drive-by shootings in grocery store parking lots, home invasions of elderly residents, and the distinction of being ranked the 7th most violent city in Texas while our alleged city leaders chatter happy talk and play statistical games with the crime rate,” said Anne Cyr, President of the Waco Police Association.
“The Mayor and City Council have refused to talk to the rank and file police union, and today I am calling them out,” said President Cyr. “We have tried repeatedly to talk to them and they have refused. So today we are announcing that we are buying television commercials that pinpoint the crime issue and we intend to keep the pressure on until we have a city council and mayor who will meet with us and discuss the public’s safety.”
“We advise the political characters at City Hall to stop hiding behind the City Manager’s skirts, come out in the open and talk to the police like adults,” she said.
“The Waco Police Association has sent three letters asking politely to meet with the Council collectively or individually, but they don't want to listen to us,” she said.
The Waco Police Association began running cable television commercials on various national networks within the local zip codes this morning.
The commercial depicts a darkened home with criminals breaking down a door and entering while an announcer declares that “Waco is the 7th most violent city in Texas.”
Scrolling across the screen are actual criminal incidents that occurred in Waco in recent months. Viewers are encouraged to go to www.wacopa.org to let city leaders know how they feel about public safety issues.
“If the politicians at City Hall don’t like this commercial, they certainly won’t like the next one,” declared President Cyr. Back to top
WPA releases results of staffing and compensation study
See the Justex Survey Outline
In 2008, the Waco Police Association retained Justex Systems Inc. to produce a staffing and compensation report in advance of the Association's Meet & Confer process. Portions of the three-part study are highlighted here so that residents may know more about the needs of its police officers when it comes to keeping our community safe.
To better understand how the City of Waco is doing when it comes to protecting its citizens, researchers compared Waco to other Texas cities of similar population. The report compares crime statistics, staffing, and police salaries and benefits for the cities of Beaumont, Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Bryan, Killeen, Temple, Tyler, Abilene, College Station and Denton.
While Waco Police Department has 245 officers authorized and budgeted, in January 2008, there were only 235 on the job. Waco is a city of 123,879 citizens, where the population is ethnically diverse and ranks low when it comes to comparisons of median household income. Geographically, Waco has some areas of dense population while other areas are almost rural, which poses a challenge when it comes to maintaining reasonable response times.
Justex researchers say at the core of the issue of sufficient resources is the ratio of police officers to citizens. Generally, the ratio is higher in larger jurisdictions where population is dense, and for central cities in metropolitan areas that "police" commuters. Ratios are also affected by the availability of proximate backup through contiguous suburban departments.
In 2006, the last year for which statistics are available, Justex reported Waco had 1.9 sworn officers per 1,000 citizens -- ranking third in the list of 12 comparable cities. The cities of Temple and Beaumont came in first and second, respectively. "Isolated central cities such as Waco require more officers than a city in a metropolitan area surrounded by back-up personnel," the study states.
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When comparing crime rates for the 12 cities, Waco came in second place behind Beaumont in 2006. Waco had the third highest number of homicides (tied with Wichita Falls) and the third highest number of burglaries.
Justex also analyzed the workload issue, measuring the number of serious crimes against the number of sworn officers available to handle the calls. In 2006, there were 8,464 index crimes reported in Waco, which is 36.02 per officer. Only four cities placed above Waco in the 12-city comparison.
The report, "Crime in Metropolitan America: City Crime Rankings" for 2005, published by Morgan Quitno Press in 2006, ranked Waco 266th out of 371 cities nationwide. Of the 12 comparable cities in the Justex study, only Beaumont and Killeen were ranked more dangerous than Waco.
"Police do make a difference," according to Justex. "Directed, targeted, proactive police enforcement strategies can reduce crime. While no one can guarantee that a given increase in the numer of officers will have a given impact on crime, one can guarantee that a seriuosly understaffed police agency will not reduce crime." Back to top
Survey of city administrator salaries from Waco and peer cities
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2008 Survey of City Administrator Salaries from 12 peer cities
2007 Survey of City Administrator Salaries from 12 peer cities
2006 Survey of City Administrator Salaries from 12 peer cities
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Update on Meet & Confer Negotiations
(Posted: July 16, 2008)
Members of the WPA bargaining team returned to the negotiating table July 14th to meet with City representatives after talks stalled temporarily in June.
Last month, City leaders agreed to attend a meeting where Dr. Larry Hoover of Justex was scheduled to present the results of an extensive study on Waco police staffing and compensation. Although the City agreed to the meeting date, Larry Groth from the City did not attend.
“Until that point, we had been working in good faith to do our research and present a reasonable proposal. To have it snubbed like that without even paying it proper consideration, sent a clear message,” said WPA President Anne Cyr.
Prior to that scheduled meeting, the City had already stated that it did not want to put retired officers back into the insurance pool as requested by the Association. The City also didn’t want police employees to loan sick time to fellow officers. What they did agree to do was fix the 40 hours for comp time and keep the $.80 shift differential. The Chief had also agreed to revise a plan for testing scores. Back to top
WPA launches new web site
(Posted: August 13, 2008)
The Waco Police Association launched its new web site today. The site, www.wacopa.org, contains information about the Association, its political action committee, and issues important to local police officers.
Visitors are encourage to check back to the site often as police news of interest will be posted there frequently. Waco residents can learn more about their police officers and what it takes to keep the community safe. Additionally, visitors can learn more about officers who gave their lives in the line of duty.
"We invite Wacoans and others to spend time on our site and get to know us better," said WPA President Anne Cyr. "Be sure to sign up for our e-mail newsletter so we can keep you updated on news of interest to police officers and our supporters." Back to top