The Greendale (Wis.) police department has been getting more specialty training, firearms, vehicles, and even more overtime – but their budget hasn’t increased much year to year. The department has been making simple, yet genius changes that are making all the difference, and every dollar saved goes right back to the officers.
Here are five innovative ways they’re pinching pennies:
1. The department decided to purchase a soda machine rather than renting one. Officers volunteer to restock it, and the money that goes into it is saved for something of their choosing. According to their chief, Bob Malasuk, they raise about $800-1000 yearly from soda money. Most recently some of that money was used to replace the break room’s microwave oven.
2. After issuing all officers SD cards, they were no longer wasting time or money on paper by printing photos from their phones or their car cameras. The SD cards allow them to upload photos instantly and can go anywhere – and they only cost about $3 per officer.
3. The department saved several hundred dollars by simply switching their boxed paper towels with a roll-style dispenser.
4. The price of monthly electric bills dropped after the department switched to motion-activated lights. And to take the savings one step further – they offered the local school’s maintenance staff free lunch in exchange for installation of the detectors.
5. Money saved elsewhere was able to fund specialized training – which then allowed officers join other organizations’ narcotics investigation teams, for example. A portion of money seized from those organizations is given back to the department.
