Brockport approves hiring of BPD clerk

Brockport approves hiring of BPD clerk

Until the recent appointment of a part time clerk in the police department, residents who stopped by the office on a Friday would likely find the door closed. The full time office clerk takes Friday off during the summer, officers are on the road and the chief is either on the road or processing paperwork; therefore, no one is available to open the doors of the department to the public.

"Why are the doors closed when Bambi (the full time clerk) isn't there?" Mayor Mort Wexler asked Chief Daniel Varrenti at the May 15 board meeting. "If you are in the office why does the door have to be locked?"

Varrenti said, "You can't do things halfway." If he is upstairs processing paperwork, he doesn't want to leave the door unlocked and the office unstaffed.

"Some of us remember when the department used to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the door were never locked," Wexler said. "It's unfortunate that the police work 24/7 but the building is only open 8, 9 or 10 hours a day. People should be able to come in whether it's 2 a.m. or 2 p.m."

Varrenti agreed, saying that there used to be people in the main office area at all times when the fire dispatch was housed in the building. "But wasn't it a cost savings of $150,000 to move dispatching?"

"We had people make recommendations to the board to move the dispatch and now you are coming back to us and showing we aren't open at the police department 24/7?" Wexler asked.

Trustee Carrie Maziarz asked if the mayor was suggesting moving the dispatch officers back to the police department.

"No other department in the county has dispatch in its police department," Varrenti said. "If you want to bring the fire dispatchers back - at a tremendous cost - we should talk about this at a department head meeting."

Wexler said he understands that having someone in the office 24 hours a day seven days a week could be cost prohibitive but maybe it could be beneficial if the police department was open 24/7.

"The police department does run 24/7, but the administrative aspect only runs when there is an administrative person in the office," he said. "Also, when the fire dispatchers were in the building, yes, it was open 24/7, but they didn't complete the administrative duties of the department."

Varrenti said the hiring of a part time position had been discussed but now that it is time to vote there was a dialogue being undertaken. "I was asked to go through the budget process before I brought a name back to you to fill the position. I have a person who is waiting," he said.
Maziarz pointed out that the funds were budgeted for the hiring of a part time clerk for the police department and the department of public works.

"I'm not against hiring this person, I am just concerned that the department isn't open 24 hours a day," Wexler said.

"It's been going on three years that the department hasn't been open 24/7 and if we put off hiring part time help the situation will only exacerbate," Varrenti said.

A vote was called for the hiring of the part time police department clerk at an hourly wage of $10 not to exceed 15 hours a week - after training. Trustees Maziarz, Wagenhauser and Wexler voted for the hiring, Trustees Mary Jo Nayman and Maria Castaneda voted no.

Varrenti also informed the board that he had two officers on injury leave.