Thomas MacMillan Photo
Chief Limon.
In his campaign to add three more top cops, police Chief Frank Limon made a sales pitch to aldermen: Assistant chiefs actually get paid less than captains and lieutenants.
That’s if you factor in overtime, which captains and lieutenants can earn but chiefs cannot. Limon said he’d promote captains or lieutenants to assistant chiefs and then leave the lower positions unfilled, ultimately reducing salary expenses.
Limon’s pitch earned him at least one aldermanic convert, while others remain skeptical. Their discussion took place Thursday afternoon on the fourth floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
The meeting was prompted by a letter last Thursday from 20 aldermen to Limon and Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts, urging them not to hire three more assistant chiefs. The department currently has only one assistant chief, but is budgeted for a total of four. Aldermen argue that now is not the time to hire more highly paid administrators, not when the city just laid of 82 people last month.
Limon responded Monday with a letter inviting aldermen to two briefings on the “organizational structure” of the police department.
Eight aldermen took him up on his offer and arrived at the police station at 5 p.m. on Thursday. They were joined by two police commissioners and eight members of top police brass in a multi-tiered, linoleum-floored, florescent-lit meeting room on the top floor.
Assistant Chief Tobin Hensgen led the aldermen through an animated PowerPoint presentation outlining the upper-level command structure of the department. Hensgen narrated the slideshow with commentary on “business metrics,” “analytics,” “strategic initiatives,” and “force multipliers.” The overall message: The department accomplishes more things more effectively with better management. And that means four assistant chiefs.
Aldermen Charles Blango and Greg Morehead (left).
Near the end, Alderman Greg Morehead interrupted the presentation. “How can we as alderpersons justify this to our constituents?” The city just laid of dozens of people and people are already complaining about slower response times, he said. How can we justify spending $300,000 on assistant chiefs?
As for slow response times, “that implores the need for management,” Hensgen replied. Supervisors can “ensure those kinds of things don’t happen.”
As for the cost, Limon drew aldermanic attention to the next slide, listing the average monetary compensations — including overtime pay — of the departments’ top ranks in 2010. Assistant chiefs earned $105,000. Captains, $109,243. Lieutenants earned even more: $110,388.
CAO Smuts.
Smuts and the chief said the plan is to promote captains and lieutenants to become assistant chiefs, and then refrain from “back-filling” the newly vacant positions. The proposed 2011 budget includes 29 “command staff positions” (chiefs, captains, lieutenants), which is four fewer than in 2007, Smuts said later.
The internal-hiring plan appealed to West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson, who was among those who had called on the chief not to hire assistants.
“For me, it’s all fiscal,” he said.
Limon also said that better management will help the department to monitor and control overtime, which can further reduce costs.
Alderwoman Claudette Robinson-Thorpe
Beaver Hills Alderwoman Claudette Robinson-Thorpe still wasn’t won over. “How do you justify hiring three more people?” she asked. How will it stop overtime abuse?
“I need a management team to carry out the goals of the department,” Limon replied. “I need a management team so we can progress.”
“Why couldn’t captains do that?” Robinson-Thorpe said.
“Because captains cost more money!” Goldson exclaimed.
Assistant chiefs can also manage more effectively once they have the rank to command authority, Smuts said.
After the meeting broke up, Robinson-Thorpe said she is still not convinced. “No, I’m not,” she said. “I feel like, we just laid off 80 people.” Now is not the time to hire chiefs, she said.
Quinnipiac Meadows Alderman Gerald Antunes, a former police captain, was similarly unmoved by the chief’s briefing. He was an early voice calling for the department not to hire more chiefs. He also sought to have the city re-hire the 16 rookie cops laid off last month.
“They have a very optimistic plan,” Antunes said of the PowerPoint, in the hallway outside the meeting room. “It looks good on paper.”
Antunes said he was unswayed by the argument that promotions could save the city money. “I still don’t think we need four assistant chiefs.” The problem is less financial than it is organizational, he said. Some of the chiefs’ duties could easily be consolidated to streamline the department and make it less top-heavy, he said. The department should run more like a business, he said.
Things could always be made cheaper, he said. “But is it going to give you the end product that you need?”
While Antunes and Robinson-Thorpe didn’t change their positions, Goldson later confirmed that he’d been won over.
“I am coming around,” he said. “I like the idea that they are going to be doing an internal team. … For me, that’s a win for the city.”
“I support it,” Goldson said. “I will certainly get up on the floor and support it.”
Goldson said he didn’t think his colleagues feel the same. “I was probably one of the only converts in the room.”
Chief Limon will hold another briefing for aldermen on Saturday.
I am really glad to see Limon come with numbers & fiscal data. That is the type of information that must be considered in any decision-making we engage in.