Police union should work with chief

This week in MY FRIDAY COLUMN I discuss New Albany's chief of police and his decision to adjust the take home car policy and the Police unions challenge:

POLICE UNION SHOULD WORK WITH CHIEF


In early 2009 the fate of the economy was still in question and many companies were making adjustments or risk going out of business.  The company that I work for made the tough decision to eliminate overtime for all employees.  At the time everyone in my position was working at least four hours a week and some were working from seven to ten hours of overtime.  Many people had come to count on this extra money and believed that it was guaranteed to them.

Losing this overtime meant that many people at the company would lose from 10-20% of their annual salary virtually overnight.  Upper management justified their decision by saying that without this reduction in payroll would cause the loss of thousands of jobs in the future.  We don’t have a contract with our employer or a union to protect our interest.

Earlier this year New Albany’s Chief of Police Todd Bailey made the tough decision to change the department’s long standing policy concerning take home police cars.  Chief Bailey amended the policy so that members of the New Albany police department that lived outside of Floyd County would no longer be able to drive their patrol cars home.

When Chief Bailey announced his decision to change the policy he cited cost of fuel as his concern.  By the end of June of this year $114,000 of the $150,000 that was in the budget for fuel cost had already been spent.  I commend the Chief for his attempt to try to save his department and our city money by limiting the use of take home patrol cars.

As soon as the decision was made to change the take home car policy the union that represents the police officers filed a grievance.  Last week an arbitrator ruled for the union and forced the New Albany Police Department to reinstate the former policy and even pay damages to ten officers.  Now the Police Chief must find a way to make up the money in the Police Department budget another way.

The arbitrator in ruling in favor of the union cited a contractual obligation that all officers had to be treated equal in respect to their employment.  This means that they cannot take away the cars of some officers, without taking them away from everyone.  While I support the union and their right to collective bargaining, I believe that they are wrong on this issue.  I believe that they should be willing to concede some of their benefits so that the department can operate within its budget.  What if their hard-line stance on the take home car policy ultimately cost jobs?  Would it not be better to make some small sacrifices then to have some staff reductions in the future?

The Police and Fire departments have been under attack over the last few years because of New Albany’s budget problems.  Now when the chief of police tries to take action that will save the taxpayers of New Albany some money, the Union stands in his way.   What has the union done to help the police department to live within the constraints of its budget?

If the chief of police is unable to keep the city’s patrol cars within the boundaries of our county, then I think then maybe police officers that reside outside of Floyd County should pay a surcharge for the extra mileage that they put on the cars.   I think this would be a compromise that is fair to everyone.

Todd Bailey has made some great strides in his short stint as chief of police.  He has change the way that the department operates and has made the streets of New Albany a safer place.  Next week the citizens of New Albany will go to the polls to elect a new mayor, I hope that the one that is chosen will at least give Chief Bailey a chance to continue some of the programs that he has started.  At least one of the candidates has made the statement that no one that has held the position of Chief would be considered for the job in his administration.  I believe that it is short-sighted to not even consider a qualified candidate who has shown that he is willing to do things differently in order to get the job done.

The job of police officer is a difficult one no matter if you live in New York City of New Albany, Indiana.  I appreciate the job that they do and do not blame them for trying to receive the most out of the benefits that they receive.  I also think that is important for members of the police department and their union to work with the chief of police and the administration to work within the constraints of their budget.