City Council Approves Trial of "Work with Four" Police Staffing Plan

UPDATED: Nov. 16

The will start a trial run in January of a program that lowers the minimum number of patrol officers required for each shift from five to four.

City Council voted Monday to approve the resolution, with six aldermen voting yes and one, Ward Seven Alderman Halil Avci, abstaining.

The plan, which is known as a "" practice, is relatively consistent with current scheduling procedures in the department.

Five patrol officers will still be scheduled for each shift. But if someone calls in sick, for example, the department will not fill the fifth slot with someone working overtime, which results in additional pay.

The department will continue to employ 36 sworn officers, one of whom is deployed on military duty. Nine officers total, including a supervising sergeant, are typically assigned to each shift, five of whom are scheduled on street patrol. There are three shifts per day.

During discussion of the trial program, Avci said he found the resolution unnecessary because Police Chief Robert Pavelchik has the power to make staffing level changes without direction from the city.

"This seems too much micromanagement by City Council," Avci said. He explained that he thought Pavelchik should have the discretion to decide, depending on the shift, whether the city needs four or five patrol officers on duty.

Police Committee Chair and Ward Six Alderwoman Sylvia McIvor said the resolution was a means of helping both council members and Darien residents better understand the police budget. The Police Committee, formed in January, is trying to develop several ways to address the department's budget issues, she said.

"It's different than public works where [reductions] could come from doing fewer sidewalk repairs," McIvor said. "The police department budget is primarily made up of salaries and overtime. One way [to approach budget concerns] is through overtime, so this seemed worth looking into."

Treasurer Michael Coren added that the committee presented the plan as a resolution to ensure the City Council was on board and that the public understood no layoffs were involved.

Last year, the police department budgeted about $46,000 for overtime pay. Mayor Kathleen Weaver said the "work with four" plan could save the city as much as $23,000.

Pavelchik presented the plan at the Nov. 3 Police Committee meeting after Weaver asked the committee to review police staffing.

During the six weeks prior to the trial's launch, the Police Department will begin tracking how many officers the city needs to adequately respond to calls, as well as how often the department pulls in a fifth patrol officer on overtime pay.

The department will continue to monitor those statistics after the program starts and will compare the numbers with the recently gathered baseline data.

During an earlier interview, Pavelchik said one of the potential effects of reduced staffing is a slower response time for non-emergency calls, though he said it's difficult to anticipate exactly how things will play out.

The Police Committee will analyze data from the trial on a month-by-month basis to determine if the plan is working, McIvor said.

"There's a directive to the chief and staff that if they find this is impacting service and/or safety, we will go back to the old way," she said.