Mayor Art Ward fessed up.
If the police union refuses to make contract concessions to save money for taxpayers, he plans to knock the pay and rank of a trio of higher-ranking positions.
Ward said he would turn an existing lieutenant into a sergeant and take an existing sergeant and return him to regular police officer status, which would put him back on the street.
He would also bust a detective back to police officer and return him to patrol as well.
The result, the mayor said, would save enough money from the department while bolstering the officers who are out in the front ranks.
"That's not compromising public safety," Ward said.
The changes would effect the wages of the three people targeted and generally reduce overtime within the department.
The change would also limit the opportunity for advancement for rank-and-file officers.
It's a surprising twist that several insiders said may cause the police, who have firmly resisted concessions, to reconsider.
Though refusing to back down would preserve their scheduled pay hike, it would apparently limit their ability to collect overtime or snag a higher rank. Those considerations may wind up costing officers more than simply making the concessions the mayor asked them to do, the insiders said.
Ward said he'd have a breakdown with more specifics at tonight's budget meeting.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
24 comments:
Bet Wards son stay's a detective.
Start with layoffs and cut overtime some of these cops cant even stay awake on there normal shift. Whose the second shift cop sleeping in funks parking or talking with young women for a hour at a time. He drives the suv supervisor truck. People are starting to notice. WHATS THE CHIEF job run a dating service for himself. Lot money could be saved getting rid of him. Replace him with a dummy.
What will this cost us in legal fees?
And other indirect costs?
But he won't be reducing staff: he will save a little on salaries (bet he hasn't worked it out), and save nothing on benfits and other costs.
Will this just add to more doubling up for officers in one vehicle?
And if they challenge it, how many lawyers will he have to hire?
"Replace him with a dummy."
Oh, so you'll be applying for the position then?
June 4, 2009 4:19 PM
Please learn how to write before calling anyone a dummy...
Who (what Zoppo supporter or Republican) does he have in mind?
Yes at a lot less money
I bet the cops are really glad they supported Ward last time.
costing us $ How about what we paid out for the police chiefs sexual harrassment suit? And the age discrimination suit? How about what we paid for all the new guys ? Is crime up? Where is the justification for hiring all of these guys? I'd like to know how much we spent on training these new guys and how much we are really going to save? Ward probably doesnt know. I'm sure that is not discussed at the Elks Club where Art is doing all of his campaigning these days. Now Artie is going to have to be looking over his shoulder when he leaves or risk another DUI. By the way how much money did the chief donate to Art's campaign(Cash of course) to go along with his stupid ideas? I guess its easy to reduce someone's rank as long as it isn't your son, huh? He must be really proud of you.
8:31 - Boring
8:31 poster,
Are you saying that the police have not been doing there job, stopping all DUI drivers? If it's found that they have not been stopping certain people, officers should be fired!
"U R useless" - Come on Chief, is that the best pseudonym you can come up with?
This will come back to bite the City. With all the newly hired cops on the street with less than a year of experience, the lack of supervision will prove foolish. Doesn't Divenere already have a track record of not supervising??
Police Chief is like Ward - looking for the ladies. They think their positions will get them something special.
I think 8:31 has valid points. Bristol use to be a beautiful city and now its gone to the dogs.We dont need politians to run Bristol we need business men with real degrees.Run down buildings, broken windows, Bristol has become a dollar store town.No one is being held accountable for their actions or decisions.We need change.
Why doesnt the Bristol Press investigate the truth on just how much the tax payers will save by hiring all these police officers and just how much it cost us to train and hire them? We the tax payers have yet to see the #'s. Someone is hiding something and as a tax payer I'd like to know what.
hey 12;46, I guess if I drank like Ward does he would look good. As for the chief,you gotta like that Mr. Ed look
More cops and no leaders just what bristol needs. People would not pick on the cops if they did the job.
Hey 4:49, what are you talking about? Please sites some examples of what job there not doing, don't just make the statement without something to back it up with.
Yeah, lets hire more officers and eliminate the supervisors that are suppose to supervise them, that makes sense. I thought the city created one of the Lt. positions because they were having problems, I guess the problems are solved. How many officers can one supervisor supervise effectively?
The bristol police are not worth talking about no one cares in city hall.
Who is Ward out to get this time?
Mayor Ward used the city unions to get elected in 07, and now that he has turned his back on them, there should be no support from them come November. And by the way, the police Chief gave back over 1.6 million to the city (stated at the police board public meeting on 18 June 2009). Not to mention what Public works gave back, as well as other city departments. So why does Ward still need concessions from the Unions? To flex his muscle in an election year, not to save Bristol. Remember this my union brothers and sisters...
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