Swampscott finance board concerned over police staffing

SWAMPSCOTT – An increase in the Police Department?s overtime budget has Finance Committee members wondering whether the town is providing the department with adequate staffing.Vice Chairman Linso Vanderburg said Tuesday night the department had a higher than usual number of officers out on disability, leading to some officers working 60 hours or more in one week.Chief Ron Madigan requested $510,000 for overtime costs for 2013-14, compared to 2012-13?s budget of $425,000. Chairman Don Pinkerton said the actual overtime cost for 2013 so far has been $489,000. The fiscal year ends June 30.?We are overworking the group we have, and it appears to me we should look into the possibility of adding manpower,” said Vanderburg.The town declined to hire a full-time patrol officer last September because the benefits were thought to be too expensive, but Vanderburg said the committee, together with the town administrator, selectmen and Madigan, should compare the cost of an additional officer to the cost of overtime. Pinkerton said they would have to look into increasing officers and reducing overtime.Some discussion arose in the meeting that the department may not need an officer to staff the dispatch desk at the station with the regionalization of dispatch centers.Board of Selectmen Chairman Rich Malagrifa mentioned that the Marblehead Police Department had a civilian dispatcher who is paid “significantly less than an officer,” allowing Marblehead to keep only three officers on the road.?They are a bigger town with more people and less officers,” said Malagrifa.The committee reported Swampscott keeps a minimum staffing of five officers working a shift, with a preferred number of six.With 20 patrolmen, four lieutenants, one captain and one chief, officers are working overtime if fellow officers are sick, on vacation or called to court, said Pinkerton.?We should take a hard look to see if keeping lean on staffing is the right decision to make,” said Vanderburg. “Ideally everyone is working 40, or maybe even 50 hours. But if everyone is working 60-plus hours, there?s something wrong with the model.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].