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CBS 'Battle Creek' Show Misses City's Real Police Drama
Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 3/8/2015 | Tom Gantert

Posted on 03/11/2015 6:09:41 AM PDT by MichCapCon

Hollywood's storyline of an underfunded Battle Creek police department is fiction. The reality? One Battle Creek police officer made $100,000-plus in 2014 and the city is paying $2.5 million more to the police and fire pension plan than it did nine years ago.

In the fictional CBS TV show “Battle Creek” that debuts March 1, police detectives complain about being underfunded. It’s so bad, they say, that their Tasers don’t work because the department can't afford to recharge the batteries.

That’s Hollywood. In real life, if Tasers go uncharged it probably has more to do with a police and fire pension system that's costing $2.5 million more than just nine years ago.

Local media generally provide in-depth coverage when Hollywood comes to town. For example, a Battle Creek Enquirer story last August tracked the movements of production staffers from the show while they were in town for a weekend. (The program was actually filmed in California.) And last week the newspaper “fact checked” a CBS promo for the show, revealing that a restaurant the network linked to the city is actually in another town.

However, the movie’s questionable premise about the financial status of the city’s police force has not been given attention.

The premise is seen in a trailer with a voice-over of actor Dean Winters saying, “We are understaffed and underfunded, forced to make due with substandard and out-of-date equipment.” The clip shows out-of-juice Tasers while Winters says, “We need new equipment. We need new everything.”

This may make for a good Hollywood storyline, but in real life, it leaves out where the money went.

The Battle Creek Police Department spent $15.06 million in 2014, consuming nearly 40 percent of the city’s entire $38.66 million general fund budget — by far the largest line item.

Thirteen of the city’s 75 line officers made $80,000 or more in 2014, including overtime; one was paid $107,563.That doesn’t include detectives and command officers who generally get more. The median household income for Battle Creek is $37,814.

The TV show’s Battle Creek agency is “undermanned.” In the real city the police department had 122 full-time equivalent positions in 2014, or one FTE for every 429 residents. By comparison Lansing has 1 FTE for every 499 residents, and Dearborn 1 for every 530, both as of 2013

The drama in the real Battle Creek is the increasing strain police pensions are imposing on the city’s finances. In 2005, the system cost $1.8 million in taxpayer contributions and was 93 percent funded. In 2014, the cost had risen to $4.3 million, and as of 2013 pensions were just 79 percent funded, with a shortfall of $31 million.

“That is the fiction of the show,” said Leon Drolet, chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. “It’s not sexy for a TV show to talk about how a retirement plan is structured. There is no shortage of funding. There is a shortage of priorities and restraint when it comes to retirement and benefits.”


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: film; police
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1 posted on 03/11/2015 6:09:42 AM PDT by MichCapCon
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To: MichCapCon

Battle Creek is kind of a rough place for as small as it is.


2 posted on 03/11/2015 6:12:18 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: MichCapCon

Why did they choose Battle Creek when Detroit is right there?


3 posted on 03/11/2015 6:12:30 AM PDT by Slyfox (I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever)
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To: Slyfox
Why did they choose Battle Creek when Detroit is right there?

Because of the mental imagine you get when you hear "BATTLE" creek.

4 posted on 03/11/2015 6:15:29 AM PDT by verga (I might as well be playing chess with pigeons,.)
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To: MichCapCon

I tried watching this show because Vince Gilligan is one of the producers, but turned it off 2 minutes in when I saw that pothead obama-nobbler Kal Penn was a costar.


5 posted on 03/11/2015 6:16:52 AM PDT by ApeStyle
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To: verga

They should do a spin-off series called “Lansing” about the world’s most extremely talented group of pick-pockets.


6 posted on 03/11/2015 6:17:01 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: MichCapCon
I'm not about to watch this show for whatever reason, but this is not the first time Hollyweird has played fast and loose with the facts. And for the record, my all time favorite show "Breaking Bad" had a public school teacher in New Mexico forced into crime because his health plan couldn't pay for his cancer care.

In reality, from sources I've read, public school teachers in NM have excellent health plans, and paying for cancer surgery and care would not be a problem.

The only think I dislike about most modern cop shows is the p.c. tendency towards their scripts. 115 lb female cops beating the crap out of 260 lb male baddies...yeah, that sure sounds like real life. (smirk)

7 posted on 03/11/2015 6:19:08 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: verga
Well that is stupid.

A day does not go by where I see an ad for a new show and I say to myself, "Well, there's another show I won't be watching."

The thing is when that last show was on that was actually based in Detroit I thought it was a great show. They were so Michigan specific that they described the difference between a wet and dry coney dog.

8 posted on 03/11/2015 6:19:53 AM PDT by Slyfox (I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Jackson is pretty rough for what is a small town of around 30,000. When I have to go to town its usually around the fringes.


9 posted on 03/11/2015 6:22:48 AM PDT by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I disagree with your assessment.
BC ain’t bad, even after hours.


10 posted on 03/11/2015 6:31:14 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym explains the science.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
They should do one for Westby, Wisconsin with a Norwegian cop. CSI Ole they could call it. He could investigate serious crimes like cow tipping and outhouse toilet paper thefts. Occasionally Officer Ole would investigate more serious crimes like fake lutefisk and lefse dinners and people consuming raw milk.

The Amish would figure prominently in a number of plots as they seem to be taking over much of the rural areas. The Amish also commit serious crimes like failing to put reflectors on their buggies. Or selling and consuming apple cider that's a little too hard if you know what I mean. Instead of a cop car, Officer Ole would drive a tractor to the crime scenes.

I see big money in this kind of a show. Right now, I'm sitting by the phone waiting for the call from a big shot tv producer...yeah, that's the ticket.

11 posted on 03/11/2015 6:33:33 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: Slyfox
Last winter there was Low Winter Sun about Detroit but it sucked so bad that it ended after a season. It had really great actors but no script and it seemed to rely on Detroit reputation to fill what it lacked.

Great for telling know nothings what they want to believe but it didn't sell in Detroit because it was crap. Even the locals were complaining that it showed all crime in Detroit being committed by whites when everybody knows better.

Should have been a hell of a lot better with these guys starring but the writers got lazy.


12 posted on 03/11/2015 6:34:30 AM PDT by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: driftless2
Then there was the original.

CSI: Mayberry

13 posted on 03/11/2015 6:36:29 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: cripplecreek

Nicole Curtis on HGTV’s “Rehab Addict” is doing a great job at showing a better side of Detroit.


14 posted on 03/11/2015 6:37:03 AM PDT by Slyfox (I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

Jackson is worse and quite a bit smaller.


15 posted on 03/11/2015 6:37:33 AM PDT by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: Slyfox

You mean you weren’t glued to the TV for all 3 or 4 riveting episodes of the hit series Detroit 187??

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578258/

Be sure to catch the next season! /sarcasm


16 posted on 03/11/2015 6:37:38 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: cripplecreek

See my #16. :-)


17 posted on 03/11/2015 6:38:39 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Slyfox; cripplecreek

Oh! My! Send that to Food Network!

The “Coney Dog Trail” starts in Jackson and ends near the old Tiger Stadium. A short run but really good eats. Maybe, 10 “true” diners?

There is NOTHING “NewYawk” about real coney dogs other than the Exposition where they became popular...still, Jackson’s Todoroff’s protects what is found to be true Coney Dog nirvana.


18 posted on 03/11/2015 6:40:01 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym explains the science.)
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To: MichCapCon; cripplecreek

I’ve seen the first two episodes and am still undecided. That being said, I don’t see the show lasting beyond six episodes- seems like something that would work for cable but not broadcast.


19 posted on 03/11/2015 6:41:45 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

And then there is the whole Flint Coney vs. the Detroit Coney thing.


20 posted on 03/11/2015 6:41:57 AM PDT by Slyfox (I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever)
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