After reaching a "historical agreement" with the Melrose Patrolmen's Union, the city of Melrose can expect to see at least three patrolmen and an officer assigned per shift every day, Mayor Rob Dolan said in a press statement on Monday.

A year ago "an outside consultant (was brought in) to review police operations, as I have done with other departments in the city," Dolan said in the statement. The consultant was brought in to investigate overtime costs associated with each shift, according to the statement.

"When you bring in an outside expert to review operations, it is always difficult for the department being reviewed. I certainly recognize that and respected the emotions that this initiative caused," Dolan said in the statement. "It was my hope that we could take the information from that report and use it, along with feedback from patrolmen, sergeants, and lieutenants, and under the leadership of the (Police Chief Michael Lyle), make positive changes in the department. I believe we have achieved that."

During a press conference Monday morning at City Hall, Lyle said, "The current system we have is archaic. We would do shift bids (the way in which patrolmen pick their shifts) every three to five years ... I commend the union for stepping up to meet with the Mayor and myself and we came up with a concrete plan that we will do a shift bid every other year. And, when we did that we immediately balanced our shifts out."

Lyle estimated that it will take about 30 days "to move the bodies around to have balanced shifts." He called the agreement a "win for both the patrol union and the city itself."

During the conference, Dolan explained how he appreciated the "global view" approach taken by Melrose Patrolmen's Association President Joe Donovan during the negotiation process. 

"For him to meet the needs of his patrol officers...with proper shifts, he had to convince his membership that (there was a) need to move forward, and we needed to take somewhat of a calculated risk when you're dealing with minimum manning to make that commitment also," Dolan said. "That trust is now there to sign this agreement. I think that we went through some tough times last year, but I think that initial pain of that conflict resulted in something good for taxpayers."

In the statement, Dolan provided an overview of several new initiatives to improve the police department, including:

• $24,000 in additional funding toward officer training and a more comprehensive training program by the police chief
• $400,000 to establish a new communications system for 911 and radios
• Phased renovations to improve the current working conditions of the police station which is about 100 years old
• A complete review of operations by the police chief, which includes updating policies and procedures
• A complete reformation of the evidence locker, working with other communities to ensure greater security and best practices
• Retaining the school resource officer