Mayoral candidate Ray Allen announced a plan Tuesday that would add 10 new police officers to the Madison Police Department every year for the next decade.

The proposal, called "Public Safety 10-10," would specifically focus on adding patrol officers and detectives to the MPD.

"That's something that we've talked about all through the election — the need to add more police officers," said Semmi Pasha, a spokesperson for Allen. "It's part of an overall investment to have a citywide plan."

In the four years since current mayor Dave Cieslewicz has been in office, there have been 26 police officers added to the MPD, including 10 in the last year.

Cieslewicz, who is seeking re-election this April, said Allen's plans are not entirely feasible.

"Making this sort of promise for 10 years doesn't make a lot of sense when, of course, we don't know what the crime rate will be in 10 years," Cieslewicz said. "It could be that that number of officers is not needed or that we need more."

The mayor also criticized the proposal's timing, as it comes after a recent string of high-profile attacks and sexual assaults in the area.

"I think it's obviously pandering and trying to politicize a serious issue," Cieslewicz said.

Pasha said Allen did not release the plan until now because he was working on finalizing the number of officers that would be necessary given Madison's growth and recent crime increases.

According to statements at a town hall meeting held by the MPD last month, the Madison area saw an increase in the number of violent crimes in 2006, including batteries and sexual assaults. This January there also was an increase in sexual assaults and robberies from January of last year.

"We feel that 10 (officers) is a minimum," Pasha said. "It's by no means a hard number."

While he noted that crime levels fluctuate, Pasha said he does not expect the city's crime rates to require any fewer than 10 new officers per year.

Allen also testified during the 2005 budget cycle that Madison needed more police officers added to the city budget, Pasha said, because he did not feel the number was adequate to combat crime.

"At the same time that Ray was testifying that we add more officers, Dave was actually arguing the opposite," Pasha said. "But he somehow found $300,000 to study trolleys."

Cieslewicz said he is waiting for the results of a police staffing study requested by the MPD. The results are expected this year, at which point the mayor said he and the police department would be able to better determine the actual number of officers needed.

"What we need to be is smart about this," Cieslewicz said. "We'll have some answers later on in the year about what appropriate staffing levels might be."

Cieslewicz was first elected as mayor in 2003. Allen is the owner of the Madison Times and a former member of the Madison Metropolitan School Board. The two candidates will face off April 3.