Greenline: The AFSCME Blog » Public Safety http://www.afscmeblog.org The Official Blog of AFSCME, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFL-CIO) Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:38:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 It Shouldn’t Take a Natural Disaster http://www.afscmeblog.org/2007/10/29/it-shouldn%e2%80%99t-take-a-natural-disaster/ http://www.afscmeblog.org/2007/10/29/it-shouldn%e2%80%99t-take-a-natural-disaster/#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:55:53 +0000 AFSCME http://www.afscmeblog.org/2007/10/29/it-shouldn%e2%80%99t-take-a-natural-disaster/ There is no need to finger point and assign blames in times of a tragedy such as the ongoing fires in Southern California. And yet, there is also no need to deny that a lot more could be done to ensure people’s safety in times like these.

A recent report shows that chronic underfunding of public safety services may have left the San Diego area needlessly vulnerable to the destruction. The Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) study shows how in San Diego the number of firefighters per 1,000 residents is the lowest among large cities in California. Likewise, the city has failed to implement many of its own official recommendations for increased funding following similar fires in 2003.

Adequately funded and appropriately staffed public services are of critical importance to the nation’s well-being. It shouldn’t take a natural catastrophe to remind us of this.

Click here to read the full CPI report.

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