http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_5108852

Police, emergency personnel prepare for Bliss growth
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Article Launched:01/29/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

More emergency calls, traffic increases and even concerns of gang ties in the military are among issues being tackled by El Paso law enforcement and emergency services as they prepare for the growth of Fort Bliss.
Though officials feel the expansion of the Army post is a positive for El Paso, they also said the influx of new troops, some single and some with their families, will require more emergency services.

"The new troops coming in, the homes they will be building, this will increase the requirements to public safety services," said Assistant Fire Chief Donald Marron.

An analysis by the Institute for Policy and Economic Development at the University of Texas at El Paso found that El Paso would need about 102 new police officers and 77 new firefighters with the addition of 12,000 troops to Fort Bliss by 2010.

Fort Bliss will gain about 20,000 soldiers by 2012 due to the Base Realignment and Closure process, or BRAC.

The rapid growth has leaders in the El Paso Police and Fire departments reviewing and updating plans.

Most of the new troops are expected to reside off-post and growth will continue on the city's edges, not just in the Northeast with its traditional ties to Fort Bliss, police and fire officials said.

"We projected out 10 years. We had to adjust because of BRAC," Marron said. "We had a (West Side fire) station we were going to build at Mesa Park and Mesa (Street) near Castellano but we re-thought that."

The Fire Department instead is looking at another station in the Northeast that will be among four new stations to be built in the next five to 10 years, Marron said. New facilities are also planned for the Franklin High School area, near Trans Mountain and Redd roads and a fire station-police regional command center near El Dorado High School on the eastern edge of town.

Construction costs plus personnel will total at least $10 million, which could come from a future bond issue, Marron said.

Mayor John Cook said the city was not looking to build a police force any bigger than had regularly been planned, which is two academies a year, but police officials said the department will have to grow.

"There are times we are stretched thin and we get backlogged on the calls for service in certain areas on certain days," Police Chief Richard Wiles said. "We will definitely have to increase the size of this department."

Wiles said he was awaiting results of a study to determine the needs and costs of additional staff. The department has an estimated cost of $60,000 per officer hired.

Wiles added that the "first priority" is a new police station near Thomason Hospital, which is needed because of overcrowding at the Central Regional Command Center.

Wiles, who grew up in the Northeast in a military family, said his officers already work with military police and there are no expectations that crime will rise with the added troops, though calls for service are expected to leap.

"Our main concern is just the sheer numbers," Wiles said.

But there are some concerns.

Last year, the FBI Office in El Paso said it was monitoring incoming soldiers and their families to determine whether they have ties with the Folk Nation, a loose affiliation of street gangs from Chicago believed to have military links.

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported on gang members in the military after the discovery of photos showing military equipment in Iraq with graffiti from Chicago gangs.

According to an El Paso police document, the Folk Nation already has El Paso ties. A memo written last November described a rise in fights at Hanks High School linked to recruiting efforts by the Latin Kings and Folk gangs. The violence stopped when gang members were expelled.