New Haven police chief: Cuts will mean changes public may not like

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes at the New Haven budget presentation, March 2, 2020 Police Chief Otoniel Reyes at the New Haven budget presentation, March 2, 2020 Photo: Mary O'Leary Photo: Mary O'Leary Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close New Haven police chief: Cuts will mean changes public may not like 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — Police Chief Otoniel Reyes told an aldermanic committee Monday that his goal is to fill the department ranks as soon as he can, but he is a month behind in seating a new class and, depending on how long the coronavirus wreaks havoc, may have to go to a virtual academy.

“Our primary focus is to fill the ranks,” Reyes told members of the alders’ Finance Committee as they held a workshop on portions of Mayor Justin Elicker’s proposed $569,115,077 general fund budget in a virtual meeting shared on Zoom.

Reyes was then straightforward about serious structural changes that will have to be made in the department to keep overtime down and live with the reduced number of personnel.

“We are streamlining our services in the detective bureau, putting plainclothes people back in patrol. Right now we have district managers that are managing two, and in some cases three, districts,” the chief said.

“The thing is that when we talk about saving money, the things that are required to do that, are things that are going to be very difficult for the community to really wrap their head around,” he told aldermanic President Tyisha Walker-Myers.

He said he plans to discuss all this with residents by attending every community management meeting.

Elicker’s proposed police budget eliminates vacant positions and reduces others to $1 as a placeholder to try to find savings of $3.4 million in a tough budget year.

In fiscal 2019, the Police Department had 466 fully-funded sworn positions, which dropped to 430 this year with 90 vacancies after officers bolted for other departments over a long-stalled contract. In the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1, there will be 389 funded sworn positions.

Reyes pointed out that the overtime budgets for the past four years have shown deficits ranging from $2.5 million to $4 million and this year the total cost of overtime is projected to be $8.2 million. In the proposed budget for fiscal 2020-21 however, the overtime figure drops to $7.1 million.

The police chief said they are trending toward spending $180,000 a week in overtime, while they should be closer to $135,000 to stay on target.

But he did hope that there will be some savings in the salary accounts with the upcoming retirements that will balance out some overtime.

Asked by Alder Anna Festa, D-10, how likely it is that the department would be able to stay within the $7.1 million overtime allocation, Reyes said it will be very difficult given the increase in the hourly rate of overtime and the number of officers either out sick or waiting for test results connected to the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to the additional work associated with COVID-19, the first class of recruits was delayed when the background checks slowed down in the era of social distancing. The training, when it takes place, will be the first at the Wintergreen Avenue site.

The actual number of sworn officers right now is 340 with 49 vacancies, although Reyes said that could grow to 60 when retirements and vacations start in a few months, all of which will drive up overtime.

Reyes told the alders that the department is welcoming back two officers who had gone to the Stamford Department, but want to come back in light of the new contract.

While the money will be there for the 389 positions, Reyes has to train two classes of recruits to fill the 49 vacancies, with each class taking about nine months to cycle through.

Walker-Myers asked Reyes whether he was comfortable with the budget he was presenting to the board.

“At the end of the day we have to balance the safety of our residents and saving money and I don’t think the quality of life should come at that high of a cost,” she said.

Reyes said he was not comfortable with a department that has 389 positions, but he will have to work hard in this short term and this budget cycle to even fill the two new classes of recruits.

He hopes to seat the first class of recruits in May, which means it would not hit the streets until February with another class seated next spring. He said he has several-dozen candidates who are good prospects for a new class.

In the end, Walker-Myers said she wanted to see the protocols the department will put in place to control overtime.

On another topic, in answer to a question from Alder Jeannette Morrison, D-21, Reyes said they will do a Citizen Academy and a Clergy Academy every year after the pandemic gets under control. He sees having more of them using Zoom.

He also told the alders that the Yale School of Management did a study on better recruitment models that will be available by the end of the month and he promised to share it with them.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577