He
and City Manager bucked heads on the allegation that Deputy Chief Powers
had abandoned minimum staffing as a cure for overtime overruns. Thomas,
demanded the source saying he had given no such instructions nor had he
heard that from the Chief's office. Waters didn't blink, saying he
didn't want further delays on the Chief's report back to council.
At
this point, Thomas let some of the cats out of the bag, detailing how officers
are being farmed out to contracts with city schools and Rapid Transit which
creates unfilled vacancies. He went on to say the city would have
to rely on academy graduates but fell short on details of how few cadets
are in the current academy. But he did put this policy right back
in the lap of city council, saying they had approved these moves