SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) -
More than 80 Saginaw residents surrounded City Hall with protest signs to object the city mulling the possibility of outsourcing police operations.
The City Council is considering hiring the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office to run city policing operations if they city can save sufficient money, but protesters Monday don't believe this is a good idea.
"We just want the citizens to take control of this, not City Council, I think more than just those individuals need to make a decision on this," said Marcia Rabideau, who organized the event.
On Monday, Saginaw County Sheriff Bill Federspiel gave his policing proposal to Saginaw City Manager Darnell Earley. Earley says in the next couple of days, city leaders will review the facts and figures to decide if the city should seriously consider passing city police operations to the sheriff.
"There's nothing magical about what we're doing, conversely, there's nothing sinister about it either. It's about the city of Saginaw and as long as I'm city manager, that's the way we're going to do that. We're going to provide the facts," Earley said.
The issue was not on Monday's City Council agenda, but all of the council members spoke to this proposal. They told the protesters in the chambers they need time to review the facts and figures, but right now, because of budget issues, public safety funding must be on the table.
"Be open-minded, this council has not made a decision, but we'd like to see what it looks like," said Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Browning.
In Michigan, county sheriff's departments somtimes handle local policing. Policing in Pontiac, for example, is handled by the Oakland County sheriff's department
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Group protesting outside of City Hall
