Conn. City Faces Shortage of Manpower in Police and Fire Department

June 23--NEW HAVEN -- For decades the Police and Fire departments have hired in feast and famine cycles -- decisions now contributing to a massive manpower shortage and hefty overtime costs.

The Police Department is projected to have more than 120 vacancies after the retirement of about 15 officers, including two assistant chiefs, in the face of a contract change that means losing some retiree medical benefits.

Firefighters, also faced with a change in medical benefits, are down a similar number of positions. There have been recent retirements and more to come, including an assistant fire chief and two battalion chiefs.

Both departments have been filling manpower shortages with overtime shifts.

Police overtime as of June 14 was slightly above $5.6 million for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, 2013, and will conclude at the end of June, according to city Budget Director Joe Clerkin.

It probably won't be a record, however; the department spent almost $6.2 million for the previous fiscal year.

It was announced at a press conference that the department would pay more overtime through the summer months. Each of the city's 10 district managers will get an extra six to 10 four-hour patrol shifts per week into September, according to the New Haven Independent. The estimated cost will be $500,000.

The Fire Department so far has spent almost $8 million for the current fiscal year. Last fiscal year it spent about $6.2 million. Firefighters are also seeing a major contract change in medical benefits.

By contract the department has to have a minimum of 72 people on staff per division. The number was reduced from 73 when the city and fire union agreed on a new contract.

There have been 38 firefighters hired since 2005; the last batch of four was hired in 2011. There was a massive hiring effort between 1995 and 1999, during which 161 firefighters were added.

"If the city of New Haven were a corporation, many people would be fired," said fire union President Lt. James Kottage. "There's no way it should take three years to get a class in."

He said many people retired in batches this year because they maxed out on benefits they could receive.

Fire Chief Allyn Wright said a new fire academy class should begin by mid-July. Background checks for prospective candidates were recently finished. Up to 45 recruits may be in the class, he said.

Another class will likely begin in October, although the exact size will depend on the need for manpower at that time, Wright said. There may be a third class in 2015 before the firefighter civil service list expires.

"Once we get this class out and into the firehouses the overtime will really decrease," he said.

Wright said in the future it would be better to have smaller and more consistent classes.

"Years ago, and what I'd like to see happen again, is you have a large class of 20 or 25 (recruits) and have 15 come from other towns," Wright said.

The benefit of that would be the ability to have small and consistent classes and also charge other departments for training to help offset the costs of running an academy, he said.

Police similarly have hired in bursts; 41 officers were hired between 2001 and 2006 and then 101 were hired between 2007 and 2009, according to city records. Years 2010 and 2011 each had a total of three hires.

"It's a dark day in the department with so many veterans leaving," said police union President Louis Cavaliere Jr.

Cavaliere said his suggestion to extend the date to retain the previous retiree medical benefits didn't succeed.

City officials have said that the city must carefully weigh consequences of changing retiree medical benefits.

"In doing so, the city must carefully balance short- and long-term implications because any adjustments made to retiree medical benefits today could have a significant long-term impact on the city's obligations regarding future retirements," Mendi Blue, the city's acting director of labor relations, said in an April statement.

Those eligible for retirement in the Police Department have a choice; either retire by the end of the month and pay a maximum of $140 a month for individual, spouse and dependent retiree medical coverage or stay and pay a premium that could eventually rise to $500 a month with half coverage for a spouse and none for dependents.

Cavaliere argued that extending eligibility to keep those retiree medical benefits would have resulted in fewer tired, and more seasoned, officers and supervisors on the streets.

The Police Department has had multiple academy classes since Chief Dean Esserman arrived in late 2011. There were 69 hires between 2012 and 2013 and another 26 recruits are currently in the academy. Another academy class of about 30 is scheduled to start sometime later this year and another one may be formed in 2015.

Esserman couldn't be reached for comment Friday. He previously said in a Register article that the department would look into conducting smaller and more consistent academy classes in the future. He did the same thing in Providence when he was police chief; there were small classes in place every year for seven years.

The current academy class will finish later this year, followed by a field training period.

Call Rich Scinto at 203-789-5748. Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with the editors of the New Haven Register at AskTheRegister.com

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