TROY – The chiefs leading the Troy Police Department are weighing the option of reverting to the rank of captain after going nearly six months without a contract, which Mayor Patrick Madden had said would be reached within a month of their promotions, according to police officers and people with knowledge of the department.

Chief Brian Owens, Assistant Chief Daniel DeWolf and Captain Christopher Kehn, who has been promoted but not sworn in as assistant chief, remain circumspect in talking about working without an agreement on salary and benefits.

“We’ve met with the city administration. At this point, we still don’t have a contract. I would not discuss my options publicly at this point,” Owens said.

The Troy Police Benevolent Association’s 118 members – the department’s patrol officers and sergeants – are watching the interaction between Madden and the chiefs as the union seeks a new contract. Discussion of the switch back to captain came out during a farewell ceremony Monday for retired Capt. Richard Sprague, who commanded the detective bureau.

“There’s a possibility they could do that,” Officer Nick Laviano, president of the Troy Police Benevolent Association, said Wednesday about the chiefs dropping back to captain. “If you can’t settle a contract with three guys who are doing an unbelievable job, how are you going to settle a contract with 118 guys?”

Since Owens and DeWolf took command, they have moved the department toward increased community policing, taken steps to provide opportunities to officers and seen grievances filed by the PBA decline.

"Morale is at an all-time high," Laviano said.

Madden last week said Owens and DeWolf have improved the department along the lines he envisioned when they were promoted.

The drawn-out negotiations come as Albany raised the salary of its next police chief by $22,855 to $145,000 to get Eric Hawkins, who led the department in Southfield, Mich., to take the job.

The Troy police chief’s salary has remained $113,651 since 2014. The last time an employment agreement was approved by the City Council for the police chiefs was in 2008. It covered then Chief Nicholas Kaiser and Assistant Chiefs John Tedesco and Richard “Buddy” McAvoy.

That agreement, which included benefits tied to those received by the union representing the department’s captains, was only for Kaiser, Tedesco and McAvoy. Owens, DeWolf and Kehn are facing a situation where their proposed employment and retirement benefits would be less than they received as captains or as PBA members.

We have to keep our options open. I’m hopeful,” DeWolf said.

“I need to see what my benefits are. Taking a promotion has to be a logical decision, not an emotional decision,” Kehn said about not being sworn in to command the patrol division.

The Madden administration is not discussing the situation involving the top police commanders.

“It remains city policy to withhold comment on specific personnel matters. The administration is currently engaged in drafting final contract language to provide a fair and responsible outcome for police leadership and the city,” John Salka, a Madden spokesman, said Wednesday.

Councilman Mark McGrath, a member of the City Council Public Safety Committee, said the Madden administration has not shared any information on the contract with the committee.

“Transparency is not one of their strengths," McGrath said. "Everything is hidden.”