Thursday, May 27, 2010

3 sworn officers gone in the past month?

I understand that the CPD has now lost three sworn officers in the past month. Can anyone confirm this?

Tim White

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't confirm that three have in fact gone. But, pretty sure that the remainder, less ONE, want to go!

Anonymous said...

WHO CARES. The department is in "full meltdown", and the TC is content doing nothing.

Anonymous said...

3 have left. 1 retired and 2 have transfered to other departments. 2 more are awaiting notifacation from other departments and 4 are considering retirement.

Possibly 9 openings in the near future. 2 recruits from another town had their positions cut (budgetary) and Cheshire has agreed to hire them out of the academy. They are being certified at someone elses expense. Up to 7 other positions will be vacant by Fall

Anonymous said...

We should all care. This has gone on way too long and appears not to being dealt with in anything even close to a satisfactory manner!

Anonymous said...

Think of the cost if we had 7 openings. Each new hire costs about $100,000 after salary (pay, insurance,uniforms), training (academy and inhouse), and OT to cover the vacant patrol for a year.

To put these 7 positions in simple terms, there are 4 officers, 2 dispatchers, and a shift commander on duty for 2 of 3 shifts a day. We are looking at replacing an entire shift!!!

Anonymous said...

Tim, are you looking for a new job? Did you get laid off?

Anonymous said...

Tim, YOU ARE ON THE TOWN COUNCIL! If you want to know how many cops have left ASK someone in the Town Managers office OR call the PD. All your doing is stirring the pot.
By throwing a subject out there asking what is going on at the PD does nothing but causes speculation. Why don't you find out through your T/C ties and report the truth so people know FACTS rather than have a bunch of people who know nothing about the police department making speculative statements.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous May 28, 2010 11:27 PM
said...
Tim, YOU ARE ON THE TOWN COUNCIL! If you want to know how many cops have left ASK someone in the Town Managers office OR call the PD. All your doing is stirring the pot.

You are correct in your statement above. But, I believe that you are wrong in your assessment that the reported info is not factual and that it comes from someone outside the P.D.

tim white said...

11:27... the point of this blog is both fact and opinion. I grew tired of the Administration's PD spin machine two years ago when I was told:

there's nothing to see here, move along.

The Administration could speak to the facts of how many sworn officers have left in the past month, but the TM has absolutely ZERO credibility when it comes to what is happening at the PD. I believe that has been fairly well established.

So this post was really more about generating a discussion and ensuring the PD doesn't fall out of sight because the Union President retired.

Anonymous said...

Deegan retired
another officer went to Florida because his wife wanted to relocate.
The others are through atrition which if you look at the numbers 46 cops 25 year averages equals 2.2 retirements each and every year

This is atrition and not really much more. move along tim, move along.

tim white said...

2:46... a unanimous vote of no confidence and "This is atrition and not really much more. move along tim, move along." Ha! You should apply for a job in the White House Spin Room. You'd make Rahm proud.

Anonymous said...

Tim, you are not being very mature for a person who was elected to represent the residents of Cheshire. That is why none of your fellow republicans can stand you. I am a republican but your brash loudmoth ways do nothing but make you sound like a little child who dosen't get his way. . Good luck getting anything done during the next year and a half. Hopefully a more mature republican will replace you.

Tim White said...

That is why none of your fellow republicans can stand you.

Who? I've had some disagreements with Councilman Schrumm about the Town's failed management. Beyond that, will you elaborate?

Tim White said...

Ohh... and I've disagreed with both Schrumm and Chairman Slocum about the pool bubble.

Only Anne Giddings agreed with me on further reducing the town-side budget this year. And I was the only person opposed to spending money on the PD consultant.

So I guess it's fair to say that I don't see eye-to-eye with the Republican majority at times. But I don't see how cutting spending is a bad thing.

Breachway said...

I don't need another vote along the party line councilman....Keep up the good work Tim....your a Maverick...chuckle chuckle

Breachway said...

Colchester is going thru the same thing, I don't think it is just a Cheshire problem....

Anonymous said...

It's not just a Cheshire problem. It happens where ever municipal government is taken over by a large labor union or in the case of towns like Cheshire where they have been taken over by several large labor unions. Now that the jelly beans are flying the union will never stop whining, never!

Anonymous said...

How can cops transfer to other departments? This makes no sense. Why do other departments need experienced cops.

I don't think there is a real need to fill the open positions. I think we have more than enough and any more is not going to make any difference in safety.

Anonymous said...

"How can cops transfer to other departments? This makes no sense. Why do other departments need experienced cops."

Other departments will hire certified police officers from other departments by offering more pay than they are currently making. An officer can come to Cheshire with no experiance, get certified, work for a year, and leave to get a 10-15% increase. The town they go to actually saves money because of the time and cost to train in in the $100,000 range. Cheshire pays the $100,000 and towns like Hamden benifit by only having to pay 4-6 thousand more in salary per year.

If Cheshire hires and trains an officer, we pay the fees to the academy, salary and benefits, OT to cover the shift that is vacant, and what ever other costs are associated. That equals about $100,000. Once we spend the money, and the officer works for us for 3 years, Hamden (for example) contacts the officer and offers him (or her) a 10% raise. The officer jumps to earn an extra months salary and leaves. All it costs Hamden is $4,000 more per year in salary. We get stuck paying for the education and let the officer leave.

Solution - Contract term of employment. Hire the unskilled officer and require him/her to work for 5 years in Cheshire. If the officer is a douche bag and damages town equipment or has been repremanded, let him go and do not renew his contract. If the officer is an asset and proves to be a valuable member, reward the person with a substancial raise. Keep the contracts to 5 years and we always have a way to get rid of a drain. This could work in all unions in town.

Anonymous said...

"This could work in all unions in town."

Great idea but you miss the reality of municipal labor unions. They are playing hard ball with the tax payers and quite often they negotiate their ruinous contracts with municipal management that at one time was in a union too.

The only thing which works is when management negotiating union contracts takes a hard line with the unions and plays hard ball too. management needs to be the strong representative of the bill payers which of course are the town's tax payers. All too often town government sees tax payers as a group to be taken to the cleaners - - -

Anonymous said...

If you look at the police blotter, nothing much happens in Cheshire. Why do we need so many?

Anonymous said...

If you look at the police blotter, nothing much happens in Cheshire. Why do we need so many?

June 03, 2010 10:06 AM

The reason there is not alot of activity on the blotter is because the men and women of Cheshire PD are doing a great job of crime prevention. Put less cops on the street and and you will see a rise in activity.

Anonymous said...

"The reason there is not alot of activity on the blotter is because the men and women of Cheshire PD are doing a great job of crime prevention."

Such as what specifically? Those details, if any, are getting lost underneath the pool enclosure, turf and education budget woes. Please share details if you have them.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous June 03, 2010 6:43 PM said...
"Such as what specifically? Those details, if any, are getting lost underneath the pool enclosure, turf and education budget woes. Please share details if you have them."

Try looking at the Police Department's Monthly Activity Report, which can be found on the Town web site. Funny, a lot more goes on than what you read about in the press.