DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – With marijuana legalization nearly upon Illinois, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation is planning to help fund a full-time DUI enforcement officer.
Documents obtained through Decatur records show the foundation plans to award a $500,000 grant to the Decatur Police Department. Requirements for the grant said the officer would have to be 100 percent committed to enforcement of driving under the influence crimes for a four-year period, extending from the start of 2020 through 2023.
DPD Chief James Getz outlined in a letter to Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe (see attached PDF documents) an emphasis on the upcoming legalization of recreational marijuana, which starts on Jan. 1, 2020. He said police believe driving under the influence cases involving cannabis will increase at that time, creating a need for “more direct and dedicated enforcement” for stopping DUIs.
“DUI incidents are problematic in keeping the streets and highways safe for citizens to travel,” Getz said at the beginning of the letter. “The Decatur Police Department takes driving under the influence very seriously, as proof of finishing top five of DUI arrests in the state for the past several years.”
The total cost of salary, overtime, life and health insurance coverage, pension and Medicare for this officer would total $648,458 in four years, and foundation requirements said Decatur police must pay the $148,458 difference. The foundation said another $500,000 from the sale of farmland, which was returned from the Decatur Public Building Commission, will be dedicated to Decatur police and can be partially used to cover that $148,458 amount.
Getz recommended the Decatur City Council approve the position. It will be discussed in a Dec. 16, 2019 meeting.
