11/19/08 Councilmember outraged over break-ins

By Charles Sercombe

A rash of seven break-ins within eight hours was apparently the last straw for City Councilmember Cathie Gordon.

She lashed out at no one in particular at last week’s council meeting that the Police Department needs a new direction.

“I think we cannot run a department in 2008 like we did in 1988,” she said.

What Gordon wants is a department that is more “pro-active” in combating crime.

She is urging that when the current police chief retires, the city should seek a replacement from outside the city.

“That’s what the city needs,” Gordon said. “I think the whole department needs to be restructured.”

One way to restructure the department, Gordon said, is to dust off a recent study commissioned by the city to look at how the department runs and what changes could be made.

The $30,000 study was paid from a grant and was put together by a former police officer. Some suggestions included changing the number of officers used per shift to make it more flexible and to have a detective work until 7 p.m.

Currently all of the detectives end their work day at 3 p.m. unless they are called in on overtime to investigate matters as they come up.

The study was rejected by the department’s police unions.

“We have a $30,000 study and there it sits in the drawer,” Gordon said.

City Manager William Cooper said that any significant change in the department would likely have to receive union-approval since their contract regulates how the department is structured.

Contract negotiations with the union are still in progress and it’s not known how soon a new one will be agreed on. Cooper said he, too, would like to have the option to hire a chief from the outside.

Currently the union contract requires a promotion from within the department, although the chief’s position is an at-will employee.