A consultant is being brought in to assess what can be done with the city of Flint’s public safety department.
Budget cuts and smaller workforces have strained Flint’s police and fire departments in recent years.
Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley says efforts to reorganize the city's public safety departments have "really brought into question" their effectiveness.
He says the goal of the new study is to translate the city's financial resources into the public safety services the community needs.
“You ask any public safety chief and they’ll say ‘Give me more,’” Earley says, “We want to make sure that the data supports at least an adequate ability to provide the service.”
The Mott Foundation is picking up most of the tab for the $80,000 study.