Police Say It's Too Early to Judge Reduced Police Staffing Plan

About 15 percent of police shifts went down to four patrol officers from the five that were scheduled per shift during the first month of a trial of a new police staffing plan, Darien Deputy Police Chief David Skala said Thursday.

Under the trial system, which City Council in December, five patrol officers will be scheduled for each shift, as they were previously. However, if an officer calls in sick or otherwise cannot work, the department will no longer fill that fifth slot with an overtime officer, which would result in extra pay. Previously, the department required a minimum of five patrol officers on duty during each shift.

In December, Mayor Kathleen Weaver said the trial program, if adopted permanently, could save the as much as $23,000 a year.

Since the trial began Jan. 17, there were 13 instances when a shift went down to four officers, Skala said during Thursday’s meeting. Five of the instances were on the day shift, four on the midnight shift and four on the morning shift, he said.

The department still had to call in overtime officers for 10 hours of work time, Skala said. Had the city pulled in overtime officers to staff all shifts at five officers, he said the department would have paid for 78 overtime hours. Skala said he did not yet know what caused the 10 hours of overtime.

Before the trial, Police Chief Robert Pavelchik warned that a side effect of reduced staffing could be slower response times. Skala noted one instance during the trial’s first month where a call for service was placed on hold for 45 minutes because all four patrol officers were busy dealing with another incident. He said there was one other instance where lower staffing affected service, but he did not elaborate.

Because this was the first month of the trial, Skala said it’s too early to tell if the plan will work. 

“If nothing traumatic happens, I guess it’s a good system,” he said.

Sixth Ward Alderwoman and Police Committee Chair Sylvia McIvor said the committee will continue to monitor the balance of service levels and safety, and will not compromise either for cost-savings.