Thursday, November 30, 2000
Police report: Department understaffed
By LES G. MASTERSON
STAFF WRITER
Calling the Arlington Police Department largely "reactive," Crest Associates recommended adding 15 sworn officers, creating a parking and traffic unit, and abolishing the Department of Community Safety.
The three-volume independent assessment comes after months of surveys, interviews, and a review of the department.
Police Services Director Fred Ryan estimates the costs of the 29 recommendations will cost $930,000, which will come to $555,000 after the town receives federal grants.
However, Ryan is not ready to ask for a $550,000 check.
"Should the town of Arlington accept all of the Crest recommendations, it would be impossible to successfully implement all of them in one fiscal year," he said, adding that the department cannot train that many new officers in one year.
But Finance Committee Chairman Allan Tosti is taking a more conservative approach - faced with a potential $1.3 million budget deficit in next year's town budget.
"There is no way to justify that kind of increase in the police budget... The town cannot afford it under the current circumstances," said Tosti, adding that the Finance Committee has not discussed the report yet and was speaking as one person.
In addition, Tosti stressed that the federal grants are temporary.
"The full impact to the town is over $900,000," said Tosti.
Meanwhile, Selectman Charles Lyons has been vocal in his support of reviewing the study and implementing the recommendations.
"I think this should be the highest funding priorities for the upcoming fiscal year," said Lyons.
"We can't turn around and run a 21st century police department without adding manpower or capital expenses," he added.
With the finished document now in his possession, Ryan said there is nothing surprising in the report, including the charge that the department is largely "reactive."
Ryan acknowledged that there is a lack of resources and staffing, which doesn't allow for "problem-solving strategies."
"I agree that we're largely reactive," said Ryan. "But, in the past year, we've trained a large number of our staff in creative problem-solving techniques."
For example, Ryan said he has been working with Bow Street residents on their concerns. The police has received the information, analyzed it, and responded to the issues.
"Traditionally, the police would have sent a radar car to Bow Street," said Ryan of previous policing style.
In fact, the current staffing level means more work for everyone - including Ryan.
"The police director is spending an abundance of his time working on traffic-related issues instead of managing and implementing cutting edge policing initiatives," he said.
Crime is down and that is evident when residents - in Crest's community survey - said that traffic is the biggest issue in town.
"I think the [citizen] survey outlines what the community wants us to do, which is mostly parking and traffic issues," said Ryan.
With that in mind, Tosti said the department could possibly reorganize staff and solve the issues without hiring more officers.
The bottom line is that Tosti disagrees with the community comparisons made in the Crest report. For instance, Crest compares current staffing in communities such as Malden, Haverhill, Holyoke, Peabody, Pittsfield, and Woburn.
Tosti thinks comparing Arlington to communities solely on population does not warrant additional officers.
"I think that the comparative analysis that Crest did comparing Arlington to a range of other municipalities has a lot of problems. I don't think the communities they chose in any way compare to Arlington. It doesn't justify increasing [the force and budget]," said Tosti.
In addition, a 1986 report called "Study of Fire Suppression Operations and Police Patrol Staffing" analyzed the two community safety departments. It reported that the town had too many police officers when reviewing the number of calls. Since then, crime has dropped, so there is no need for more police, said Tosti.
Tosti also favors parts of the 1986 report because it "actually looked at the town of Arlington."
However, Crest dismisses much of that report: "We find a significant number of the study's conclusions and recommendations, while relevant and appropriate at the time, are equally irrelevant and impossible at this time."
Crest continued by saying that the previous report was done looking at different policing philosophy and was "focused on cost savings, based upon outdated theories of policing, to the detriment of appropriate resources for public safety."
Ryan agrees that police work has changed.
"If the public policy of the town of Arlington was to have its Police Department simply responding to felony crime, we could cut our staff by two-thirds," said Ryan. "But responding to crime is a fraction of what we do."
The Board of Selectmen will discuss the report and possible next steps at a future meeting.
The police's two unions' representatives, Officer Lisa Chinal and Capt. Paul Coughlin, could not be reached for comment.