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In other law enforcement matters,
police committee chairman Buzz Busby has been closely monitoring
police, fire and street department payrolls. Busby has been saying
that there is too much overtime on those payrolls. Last month he
suggested the council weigh out the cost of hiring back some
employees. In addition, he also suggested that the city should
consider withdrawing from participation in the Central Illinois
Enforcement Group.
CIEG is part of a state police task
force that utilizes local officers for undercover work, particularly
narcotics work. The officers are moved throughout the state to
maintain anonymity. Because of the nature of the work it often
results in significant overtime.
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this article]
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The city has had to pay a lot of
overtime for the officer they sponsor in this group, at a time when
finances are strained.
However, on Tuesday evening Busby
retracted the proposal to withdraw from the group. In a telephone
interview, he said he made that decision because of recent events in
which that group proved useful. In reviewing the cost and value of
participation, he thinks we should stay in it for now.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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