Police union statement: Cuts weaken force

Written by Matt Dalen
Thursday, 05 November 2009 00:00

The Lewisboro police union has come out against a proposal to decrease the number of officers on patrol from two to one for 40 hours of the week. The proposal, which was included in Town Supervisor Edward Brancati’s 2010 budget, would eliminate one patrol officer for 10 hours during the day, Monday through Thursday, to save the town about $85,000. Evenings, Fridays and weekends would still have two officers on patrol in town.

“There will still be somebody on the road during the hours that we currently cover,” Mr. Brancati said. “The point here is that we’re looking for every department to come up with something. I think this cut is one that would have the least impact on coverage.”

But Officer Tom Ritchey, president of the Lewisboro Police Benevolent Association, last week publicly announced the association’s opposition to the cut.

“With approximately 29 square miles and almost 100 miles of roads to patrol within the town, one police unit cannot possibly hope to provide the property police protection for our residents,” Mr. Ritchey said. “Response times to emergencies will increase dramatically.”

Decreased effectiveness

Reducing to one patrol from two for a part of the day would increase response times — as the officer may be on the opposite side of town when a call comes in — but it would also make it more difficult to respond to certain calls.

According to Chief Frank Secret, police would find it more difficult to do traffic patrols, such as monitoring the town's new ban on left-hand turns onto Mark Mead Road, if the officer is called away for other incidents.

Mr. Ritchey said that many types of calls — including domestic incidents, neighbor disputes, and burglar alarm activations — require two officers to respond, and reducing the number of officers in town would require Lewisboro police to await a response from state police in neighboring towns.

“If I find an open door [in an empty house], I need a second person to go through that door with me,” Mr. Ritchey said. “The state police are our backup, and they cover four additional towns, plus the interstate. With all the economic problems, they’re having problems staffing their areas as well.”

Mr. Brancati acknowledged that the cut could impact police effectiveness, but argued that it was necessary given the economy.

“We have to cut the budget,” he said. “Nobody wants [a high] tax number, but nobody wants any cuts in services. [This] could certainly have an impact, but at the same time, I would say during the day, the crime rate is not necessarily as significant as it is on evenings, weekends, and holidays.”

Chief Secret said that the department would work with whatever support the Town Board decided to give.

"It's going to be a hard decision for the current board to make," he said. "On the one hand they're weighing taxes, and on the other, community safety. I'll try to work with it, whatever the decision is."

Lewisboro’s police

The Lewisboro police department responds to a majority of calls within the town for 17 hours a day on weekdays, 18 hours on Friday, Sunday, and holidays, and 19 hours on Saturday. The remainder of the time, state police patrols, based in Somers, maintain a presence in town. In an average week, the police will usually respond to anywhere from 40 to 60 calls.

During the daytime hours, in addition to the officers on patrol, police headquarters is also staffed by Chief Frank Secret and Lt. Doug MacCrae. These two would remain if a patrol is cut.

The department has already seen about $100,000 in staffing cuts this year, as Chief Drew Marchiano retired in September. After he retired, then-Sgt. Secret was promoted to chief, and his position of youth officer was folded into the chief’s responsibilities.

With the proposed cuts, daytime police presence during the school year would go from five — two patrol officers, a youth officer in the schools, the chief, and Lt. MacCrae — to three — one patrol officer, Chief Secret performing double duty, and Lt. MacCrae.