Residents are worried about police, fire cuts

Dick Murray, Chevy Chase Estates Assn. president, doesn’t believe the cuts will impair the Fire Department in performing its regular operations.

“I think they should cut all the fire stations down to three [firefighters],” he said.

Murray said the city spends a lot on firefighters’ salaries.

“It’s nothing less than obscene the total dollars earned in the Fire Department,” he said

In total, seven police positions and four civilian positions also could be slashed, Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said.

The cuts would also trim the Police Department’s Community Policing Partnerships program and eliminate the public safety academy, Explorer program and its Emmy-award winning outreach television program.

“It’s unfortunate that when a city is growing, you have to cut resources that protect quality of life and city infrastructure,” Adams said.

The council’s move to cut police programs would mean patrol officers and detectives will have to be proactive in community policing, he said.

Adams said he believes the cuts will have a gradual impact on public safety.

“These cuts have not only cut into the muscle of this department, but really cut into the bone,” he said.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.