City nixes cost recovery proposal

Criminals would have been invoiced for some infractions

A proposed cost recovery ordinance that would have allowed public safety to invoice criminals to recover the cost of emergency services was voted down by Eastpointe City Council on Tuesday.

The ordinance was aimed at people making false bomb threats, drag racers, tampering with a fire hydrant, and businesses and homes that make more than three calls for an emergency incident, non-emergency incident, or call for assistance are made within the current quarter of a calendar year.

The council tabled the item at its Nov. 1 meeting and approved a first read of the ordinance Nov. 15.

“I don’t think this is the appropriate way to go about this,” said Councilman Cardi DeMonaco Jr. “I think a lot of these issues can be addressed through other ordinances.

“I think it should go through the judicial system and not this system where we send out invoices to get paid for time back.”

Public Safety Director George Rouhib said he did expect to use cost recovery less than a dozen times annually and emphasized that it was not meant to deter residents from contacting 911.

“Residents can call us as often as they want, they can call us 10 times a day,” said Rouhib. “This ordinance is not meant for that.”

Rouhib said the ordinance was aimed at habitual offenders: bars that have problems every weekend that require a large police presence; drag racers on Gratiot who crash their vehicles and require police and fire services for cleanup; or someone making a bomb threat.

“When someone makes a bomb threat or school threat on social media, we have to use our entire force,” said Rouhib. “It is not fair to the residents who pay taxes to have the resources they are paying for tied up for hours and hours because someone did something like this that they thought was funny.”

Mayor Pro Tem Sarah Lucido said she understood the concerns of the police and fire departments but was concerned residents who truly needed emergency services might hesitate to call 911 for fear of receiving a bill from the city.

“I understand where the police department is coming from but I think this ordinance is a little too much,” said Lucido. “The last thing I want is someone to have a fear of calling emergency or non-emergency numbers.

“I know sometimes people abuse it and things like that, but our residents pay taxes for these services and we should be providing them.”

Lucido and DeMonaco voted against the proposal; councilpersons Rob Baker and Harvey Curley voted in favor. Mayor Monique Owens was absent. Because there was not a majority vote either way, the proposal was denied.

Rouhib could reintroduce the ordinance in the future.