Letter to the Editor: City Budget

Dear Editor,  

I read the following statement aloud during the Hudson City Council meeting held on  September 8, 2025. I am submitting it here as a letter to the editor in hopes of  continuing the conversation within our community and encouraging thoughtful  consideration of the city’s budgeting and police staffing decisions.  

Respectfully,  

Sue Liddle  

I’m here to speak on the budget and specifically the police staffing. I first want to note  that I am a huge supporter of the police officers who have honesty and integrity. I am a  widow of a police officer who died in the line of duty and a board member who  supports officers and families across this entire state who have lost officers. I have  many friends who are officers and I understand the stress and frustration this job  brings with it. I am also a data analyst and am fond of balanced budgets.  

I come to you with the concerns and suggestions brought to me by officers outside this  community with whom I respect deeply and who know the systems well because they  are entrenched in the daily work and I could not stay silent any longer with knowledge  provided to me.  

I have heard 3 main reasons for the increased staffing over time in our community.  Officer backup, 3 main highways, and insurance concerns.  

1. 24/7 coverage does not mean that 2 officers have to be on duty at all times.  Officers across the state do not have immediate back up. Depending on the agency,  oftentimes county or state is the backup and that’s very normal for smaller towns.  Officers are trained that back up is on the way. As a survivor, if something happens,  this should not be something that is held over the city council's head. If we lose “24/7  staffed coverage” that also does not mean that we have no officer at that time. County  will take our calls and has to if we are not staffed or available. That happens now and  has historically happened in this community. This model works in other communities  and examples can be provided upon request.  

2. The 3 large roads that run through our jurisdiction. I’d remind you that those  3 roads are also in both County and State’s jurisdiction. Those roads are not a good  comparison point to other towns' staffing levels and are not our sole responsibility.  

3. Insurance concerns: It’s true that personal homeowners insurance rates are  relative to the fire coverage provided in a community. However, even in this light we  don’t put near the funding into our volunteer fire department. Insurance concerns that  could impact the city directly with potential civil and financial repercussions may  include the general liability with the police department. Some examples of this might  include: potential lack of training, lack of knowledge in large casework, storing  evidence, children riding in police vehicles, vehicles being taken out of jurisdiction for personal gain, officers working off duty shifts, social media posts and responses, and  alleged retaliation stops.  

I’d implore you to look at actual DATA to make staffing decisions. The data you need to review is CALLS FOR SERVICE. Officers can stay busy with traffic stops, business  checks, vacation watches, etc, but the calls for service should drive staffing. I did a  quick dive into the data from the past 5 months of this data given to the council. The 5  month average is 7.14 calls per day. That is one call for service approximately every 3  hours and 21 minutes.