The DeWitt Police Department is seeking approval for an additional officer. The department has been working without a union contract since the end of 2009.
Town board member Ken Andrews, who chairs the Police Committee, brought the idea of a 37th officer to the town board Monday, Nov. 14. The town, which budgets for 36 officers, is currently only extending payroll to 34. Two officers, Dennis Mower and Michael Ellis, are serving overseas with the U.S. Army in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. They are expected to return to work in late spring or summer 2012.
One member of the police force will be retiring come May, as well. Those staffing numbers, Andrews said, will hinder the department.
“We are not overstaffed with this department,” Andrews said. “Some of the things you want and expect your police department to do, they can’t because they’re answering calls.”
Those routine things, such as speed traps and routine road patrol, have been stymied by the department’s budget. In recent years, the department was budgeted for 38 officers. It is currently operating with 34. The NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services recommended a town of DeWitt’s size and intensity to have more than 40 officers on staff, Andrews said.
Though it would appear as if the town would be paying for an additional officer, approval to hire a new officer now would help in the future, Andrews said. The 37th officer would be added to the payroll, but Andrews urged the board to consider that the department would not be over-expending the budget, which accounts for 36 officers.
“It would help keep it at a manageable level because there’s a retirement coming,” he said.
Andrews urged a lateral transfer of an officer already employed by a different department. Adding an officer who would need to go through academy could take up to a year due to the academy schedules. Recruits reported to the academy at Mohawk Valley Community College on Monday, Nov. 14.
The town board did not take action on the item at Monday’s meeting. At the end of regular business, the board voted to go into executive session to discuss the contracts with the police department and the white collar union. Members of the police benevolent association, which includes all officers and sergeants, have been working without a renewed contract since the end of 2009. The town and the union have not been able to come to a decision, and have worked through mediation and are currently heading to arbitration. The contract that expired in 2009 is being used to cover the officers until the new contract is put in place, which would allow for retroactive pay and benefits. The police chief, town supervisor and PBA president declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.
“Where I have an issue is the day you come and tell us [the town board] we have 37 officers on payroll and we’re over-budgeted,” Supervisor Ed Michalenko said. “I don’t think one officer is going to solve our problem. In the upcoming year, we’ve got to work with the police department to reign in some costs.”
The police department’s budget is one of the biggest expenditures in the town budget. Across the county, police departments are comprising 30 to 40 percent of the town’s expenses.
“What we’re providing is a good deal,” Ken Andrews said.
“I’m not saying it’s not a good deal, but I think we can do it better,” board member Kerry Mannion said.
