It's nice to see the Baltimore City Council getting a little more feisty.

At a hearing last night on the city police budget, members questioned whether cuts in spending led to a spike in homicides at the end of last year and the beginning of this one. That led to questions about the overtime budget, staffing levels and angst that the police commissioner sent an underling to the meetings.

Instead of showing up himself, Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III sent Deputy Commissioner Deborah Owens, who said a drop in overtime spending from $35 million in 2006 to $21 million last year did not get in the way of fighting crime. In fact, homicides dropped despite the cut in overtime.

Still, council members pressed for the police get an accurate total of its overtime expenditures. Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young called the homicide drop lucky and Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said the department was arresting fewer people and clearing fewer cases.

Is the City Council becoming a little more combative since letting the commissioner fly unscathed through a hearing last month on his policy of not naming police officers who shoot people? Young was clearly miffed at having to question Owens instead of Bealefeld:

"The resolution passed for the commissioner [to come speak]. As chair of the committee, just a phone call to the committee, he could've said something to my staff person if he didn't want to talk to me. That's a disrespect to this committee, and to this council. In the future, I would like some open and transparent dialogue with the police department."

This recalls when former Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier, working under Kurt L. Schmoke as mayor, routinely sent unprepared sergeants and lieutenants to council hearings in a clear sign of disrespect. I'm not sure that's what happened here, and Owens is clearly capable of talking about the budget given she is a top commander, but she was unprepared to answer questions about the shooting policy, which angered council members who lost out on getting a second chance to question Bealefeld.

Councilman Nick D'Adamo defended the police, saying it's unfair to compare cuts in overtime to homicides. Rawlings-Blake called those comments "disparaging," noting the council's role was to question and hold the police accountable.

Then, Young went after Councilman Robert W. Curran who asked a police colonel for more police in his Northeast District. "Maybe we'll just send the National Guard, state police, transportation police" to the district, Young said.