To the editor:
Again this year there will be another special vote regarding the police department continuing to be a 24-hour patrol or changing to an 18-hour patrol. With no public hearing scheduled on this matter I want to inform the public through this letter to ensure that you are informed so to assist you in making the decision you feel is in the best interest for the community.
I want the public to understand that with the proposed reduction in hours there will be changes in when and if we call someone out to handle certain types of calls to service during those times when someone would be on call. All call-out situations will be determined on a case-by-case basis, so there is the possibility that someone may wait until morning for an officer to respond. For example a call for a noise complaint would be decided on what the noise was, such as loud music compared to the sounds of someone arguing. Also with call outs there would be an extra step added, as someone will be making the decision if that call out is necessary.
From our perspective as public servants, outside of complexity in determining what calls to respond to — the greatest concern is in response time for serious calls. When the on-call officer would be called out, there will be a significant delay due to response time. Due to this delay, there is a significant likelihood that we would not be able to make contact with the suspect and also witnesses before they leave the scene of an incident prior to our arrival.
I am sure that everyone would want to know how long will this response time be. It would be very difficult to determine what the response time would be on call outs as there are a considerable amount of variables to take into consideration. Some examples would be wintertime versus summertime, distance for the responding officers to travel from their home, time of the call (3 a.m. versus 7 a.m.). On-call response time, best-case scenario 20-30 minutes and worst 60-plus minutes, compared to our current response time of 5-10 minutes. We covered 482 calls to service during the midnight shift in 2013. These calls included 9-1-1 hang ups, security alarms, animal complaints, arson, assaults, burglaries, crash investigations, disorderly conducts, domestic assaults, harassments, missing persons, traffic offenses (to include OUI and suspended drivers), and well being checks.
It is my recommendation that I will be taking a cruiser to and from work, as I will be on call for certain hours during the week and that the other officer on call takes a cruiser home to facilitate a safer and quicker response if called out. I would not expect any officer to utilize their personal vehicle in any way that would put their vehicle or themselves in an unsafe situation.
Also when an officer is relieved at the end of his on-call time and a cruiser needs to be returned to the department from their residence transport will be facilitated by the officer on duty. For example we have officers that are a single-car family so obviously they would not be able to leave their personal vehicle at the department for long periods of time like someone in a two-car family situation could.
As for the total costs related to call-out and on-call hours, I would feel comfortable in estimating $6,000 to $7,000. At this time if an officer is called back to work they shall receive a minimum of two hours’ pay at one and a half times the regular hourly rate. If the call back takes less than two hours they still get the minimum, if over two hours they are paid the difference. Also someone could be called out more than once in a night so each time is a two-hour minimum pay. Also at this time we do not have a policy for “on call” status, other departments have on-call pay, which would need to be incorporated.
Also when it comes to house and business checks, we will attempt to continue to provide these services, but if the officer is busy checks may not be completed.
I also want to make sure that the public understands that the cut in hours of service will not include a cut in staff. To cover the 18-hour service there will continue to be the need for two full-time officers and myself. Currently at our 24-hour service a total of 48 hours a week are covered by part-time officers, this would be the change if we go to 18 hours. Although we will continue to rely on part-time officers for coverage when full-time officers take sick time and vacation time. Part-time officers have a yearly cap on total hours they can work a year, so they cannot fill in hours on a constant basis.
In summary, the taxpayers of Limestone need to weigh the estimated savings of roughly $15,000 with what will be a significant delay in response time along with the possible current and future impact on business and homeowners operations. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Chief Stacey Mahan
Limestone Police Dept
