Request for more BPD officers vetoed again

In the midst of lack of part time officers, potential retirements and disability leaves by officers, the Brockport Police Department continues to face a shortage of manpower to cover its shifts. And because of that they may lose grant funding given to the department as part of the Stop DWI program.

"Our DWI arrests are down because I am having less officers sign up for the DWI details," Police Chief Dan Varrenti said at the November 15 Village of Brockport board meeting. "We were given grant money for those details and we will lose it because I don't have enough officers to fill the shifts because they are busy filling the regular shifts. The department just doesn't have the personnel to do this."

Issues were also raised by Trustee Mort Wexler regarding a part time officer who was exceeding the 31-hour limit set by the contract. "If a part time officer works in excess of 31 hours for an eight-week period, the contract states they will be eligible for benefits," he said. "It's your responsibility to make certain this officer does not work enough hours to accrue full time benefits."

Varrenti indicated that the part time officer in question was now considering resigning to seek full time employment elsewhere and if that occurred, the department would be left with no part time officers. A recent attempt to hire two part time officers yielded no candidates for the positions. In an attempt to keep shifts staffed, Varrenti also rides patrol.

"During my tenure, I have been trying to put staff in place to cover the shifts that need to be covered," Varrenti said. "We continue to be severely understaffed and the current future doesn't look promising with the officers who are out on disability and those who are considering retirement."

Another factor Varrenti said the department is facing is officers who are working 16 and 24 hours in a row. "It is unacceptable that I have officers putting in that many hours straight," he said. "And if an officer makes a bad decision after working that many hours straight, there is no defending it."

Mayor Josephine Matela made a motion requesting the hiring of at least one additional full time officer. "There simply are not enough full time officers to cover the shifts," she said.

Trustee Carrie Maziarz seconded the motion for the need for at least one, if not two, additional full time officers. Trustees Wexler, James Whipple and Norm Knapp opposed the motion for the hiring.

"East Rochester Police Department has a budget of $1.1 million and the Geneseo Police Department has a budget of about $600,000," Wexler said. "We, here in Brockport, have a budget of $1.6 million -- more than those departments combined."

Wexler said that East Rochester has eight full time and six part time officers while Geneseo has seven full time and three part time. Brockport has 12 full time officers on the payroll, including Varrenti. "It's unfortunate that we have officers who are out on disability or who have been hurt, but the fact remains, they are still on the payroll," Wexler said. "The Village of Brockport can't afford more full time police officers."

Matela pointed out that the members of the accreditation crew pointed out that the department was seriously lacking in personnel.

"Simple math says we don't have enough police officers to cover the shifts per the contract," Maziarz said.

Bottom line, Varrenti said, "Is we need more people."

Whipple said the department has to continue to explore the possibility of hiring more part time officers - a motion that had previously been approved. "If you do the math, it's cheaper to pay overtime than to hire full time officers, not through the years, but for the foreseeable future," he said.

In other matters, Varrenti spoke of reading letters to the editor in several local papers about a women who was issued a ticket for failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. "I understand she wasn't pleased to have received a ticket but it could have saved someone's life," he said.

The issue was brought to the forefront when a vehicle failed to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk on November 6 and the pedestrian was injured and taken to Strong hospital. "That's the reason we enforce the laws that we have," Varrenti said.