Melrose Police Management Study Released

Editor's note: This article was updated on Monday, Feb. 13 at noon with a joint statement released by the mayor's office and both police unions.

Melrose City Hall released this week the now completed police management study that between Mayor Rob Dolan and the city's police unions when first proposed in December.

While the two sides still have months of negotations ahead regarding the contracts for the Melrose Police Superior Officers Union and Melrose Police Patrol Officers Union—both contracts will expire on June 30—both sides struck a conciliatory tone after a meeting on Thursday afternoon.

Melrose Police Lt. Timothy Maher, president of the Superior Officers Union, said late Thursday afternoon that "it was a productive meeting" and talks are in "a positive place.

"We’re hoping that we have preliminary agreements on a couple of the issues that have been brought up and we certainly look forward to finding resolutions on the larger issues as well," Maher said. "And we have meetings set up in the future do so."

Dolan said informal meetings have taken place between police representatives and City Hall officials over the last several weeks, totaling 10-15 hours, and that "real progress" has been made in bridging the differences between the city's and unions' positions.

"There are going to be areas of disagreement, and some, they’re going to be major," he said. "But we’ve made real headway on a lot of the foundation issues that have to be approved by membership (of the unions). We’re excited about that. Both (Officer) Joe Donovan (president of the Patrol Officers Union) and Tim Maher have been professional and excellent in these discussions and they’re going to continue. It's been warm, respectful, a lot of mutual respect. We’re going to both represent our positions very strongly. Particularly today, we made some great progress on some things."

Dolan pitched and an —which is not completed yet and expected next week, the mayor said—to the Board of Aldermen two months ago. At the time, Dolan said the police department has spent an "unacceptable" amount of overtime so far this fiscal year, and cited the department's command structure as being "based upon the 1970s model," which he said has resulted in a "top heavy" police department.

A week later, Maher told the aldermen that Dolan had made "baseless and inflammatory comments about the Melrose Police Department," noting that Dolan had spoken about contractually bargained rights such as vacation time, and that the Melrose Police Department the department "is not top heavy, but we are in fact bottom light." The union presidents also said the lack of an engagement letter specifying the scope of the management study, and a potential conflict of interest because the conductor of the study previously worked with City Auditor and CFO Patrick Dello Russo in Plymouth were reasons for concern.

Study: Department Not Top Heavy, But Reassignments Can Help

The 54-page study completed by Robert J. Pomeroy—founder and president of Pomeroy Resources, Inc. and a former police chief in Plymouth from 1992-2008—and former Waltham Police Chief Stephen H. Unsworth contains over 80 recommendations, along with results of a survey of Melrose Police Department officers.

The study states that "consultants do not find that the Melrose Police Department is 'top heavy.'" However, it also says that staffing the department with 63 officers as delineated by city ordinance "is excessive and unwarranted"—there are currently 43 members of the department—and that work shifts may be overstaffed to due collectively bargained management restrictions in transferring officers where they are needed.

"This last area—maximum utilization of personnel and assignment – is a key area in which Melrose can focus," the report said.

Among the recommendations are replacing dispatch officers with civilians and returning officers to patrol; "vigorously" exploring a regional dispatch center, which Dolan has publicly supported in the past; and reassigning superior officers such as the operations lieutenant and traffic sergeant to street supervisor roles.

Before Thursday's meeting, Dolan said that using civilians on dispatch "doesn't necessarily save money—I'm basically looking to put more people on the street." Regarding the refutation of the "top heavy" characterization of the department, Dolan said "I agree," and supported the concept of increasing street supervision.

"I am not a professional police staffer, but I do know this—you cannot supervise officer behavior and not be on the street," he said. "When I send a police officer to the academy, outside of administrative areas that have to be inside and dispatch, I want people present and engaged in the community."

In a prepared statement sent before Thursday's meeting, Maher said the union was "pleased to see that the Pomeroy report has validated our positions" regarding the department not being top heavy and the reduction in the force over the years, and "the lack of street supervision is a serious concern."

Asked about the redeployments recommended by the study, Maher said in a followup call that "we’d be glad to listen" to proposals brought forth within collective bargaining negotiations.

"And we’ll go from there," he said. "Any positions that are CBA related can be bargained."

Overtime Costs

While the city is still waiting on the overtime audit conducted by public accounting firm , the management study also touched upon the subject, stating that drastic reductions in the number of officers over the past several years have lent to increased overtime costs. Also, several officers with long term injuries and one long term leave for military service have exacerbated the situation this year.

Despite that, the study found that Melrose Police overtime costs as a percentage of the department's budget (around 6.3 percent) are among the lowest compared to other communities in the area. (See attached PDF for chart in the appendix.) Calculating the overtime costs as a percentage of police salaries and wages puts the figure closer to 8.6 percent, with the study stating that an adequate overtime budget is generally between 8-14 percent of the salaries and wages line item.

“Without additional hiring or additional overtime expenditures, re-deployment of existing personnel is the only option available," the study said. "Changes in re-deployment practices will likely require collective bargaining.”

Dolan said that the other communities' overtime costs are "offensive also," and added that other communities have faced officer layoffs and other cuts.

"We don't want to compare ourselves to other communities in that sense—we want a new model," he said, again referring to redeployments that would have to be collectively bargained. "Everything has to change based on new economic realities."

In his prepared statement, Maher noted that the study "states that the City should examine the police overtime budget and decide to either hire additional officers … or keep staffing low due to the fact that overtime expenditures may be less expensive than hiring personnel," which bring added costs of benefits on top of salaries.

A multi-pronged approach should be taken, Dolan said, with the city considering whether to hire an additional officer or two, or adding to the overtime budget.

"That has to be in combination with some general reforms that are pro-public safety and pro-taxpayer," he said. "I totally accept our responsibility in this."

Maher added that overtime costs are not as high as previously projected by the city due to an order issued by Melrose Police Chief Mike Lyle on Dec. 12, which reduced a dispatcher on the day shift and night shift except on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, reducing the need to tap overtime to fill those slots.

"Due to high call volumes during critical incidents, we have missed calls for service, including a 911 call where a handgun was involved," his statement read. "We are clearly concerned about these reductions since the Pomeroy report states that any missed communication could have dire consequences."

Facilities in Focus

The study also noted what's been long talked about in Melrose—the need for a new police station. The study recommends looking for a new facility at the current site, a new building elsewhere or considering renovations, but with the caveat that "there are likely severe limitations of what can actually be done to improve the current facility."

Four-and-a-half years ago, Dolan spoke about looking into a new police station, but the 2008 fiscal crisis derailed those plans and the mayor has stated his priority this year is to invest in school infrastructure and Melrose High School, which itself has been .

Dolan said the city continued to research possibilities for a new police station, from the National Guard Armory, to empty schools like the Beebe or Ripley, to even possibly purchasing the once the lease runs out, but "none of those things are going to happen" and "I can't bring a debt exclusion to this community. I can't ask for an override."

There's an empty space in the basement level of City Hall due the , but Dolan said, "We are not going to move the Police Department to the basement of City Hall." He did say that the city would looking at other creative ways to use that empty office space, including dispatch.

According to the study's survey of the department's officers, three main themes presented themselves, with replacement of the police station one of them (along with a desire for increased staffing and upgrading computers in the station and in cruisers).

Asked if the building was a high priority compared to other issues before the union, Maher said that it's clear the officers feel the building has been neglected, but staffing issues likely take precedent.

"I think we feel that as much as the building has been neglected, we do need to work on all the improvements that need to be made with our staffing and staff issues," he said. "I think the physical building would take a backseat having the appropriate personnel all, making sure they’re properly trained. That’s more of a priority for us at this time."

Joint Statement Released

On Monday, Feb. 13, the mayor's office emailed a joint statement from Dolan, the Melrose Police Superior Officers Association and Melrose Police Patrol Officers Association. The statement in full:

We are pleased to have recently received the Pomeroy Management Study, and the many findings and recommendations contained within it.  Although there are areas contained within the study upon which we clearly disagree, we have discovered through our recent discussions that there are many more areas upon which we are in agreement. 

This study is about more than identifying the current strengths and weaknesses of the Melrose Police Department.  It is about opening the lines of communication between management and labor, and meaningfully addressing those issues with which the Melrose Police Department is currently confronted.  Our objective moving forward is to utilize this study as a roadmap to foster stronger relations and greater cooperation between the City and both police Unions.

We look forward to spirited and fruitful negotiations over the ensuing months, and are committed to ensuring that many of the recommendations contained within the Pomeroy Study are addressed in a manner that benefits the citizens of Melrose whom we all serve.