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AUSTIN, TX – Austin police officials plan to begin routinely drafting detectives, including homicide and sexual assault investigators, to patrol city streets during events such as Mardi Gras and the Texas Relays in an effort to slash overtime costs.
According to the plan, detectives will substitute for dozens of regular patrol officers, some of whom will shift from their normal positions to provide security along Sixth Street and other downtown areas for the special events.
Officials estimate the effort, which has triggered concern among police union representatives, could save the city several hundred thousand dollars each year in overtime pay.
The department has traditionally hired off-duty patrol officers to fill such shifts.
"When you are part of a police department that is part of a city and part of a nation that is facing the economic challenges we are facing, we have to stretch the budget dollar, and that is part of what we are doing," Police Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday. "We are proactively taking measures to position the department to withstand this economic downturn and maximize our potential."
The department, on a trial basis, used detectives to fill some regular patrols on Halloween, when it reported saving $51,736 in overtime, and on New Year's Eve, when the overtime savings were $34,411.
Acevedo also announced this week that he will cut the number of commanders by three during the next couple of months through attrition, from 22 positions to 19.
Assistant Police Chief David Carter, the department's chief of staff, said officials will reclassify the jobs to make them more front-line positions. Carter said the changes will result in a savings, but he didn't have an estimate.
The changes come during a citywide effort to slash expenses and possibly cut this year's budget. The city already has frozen hiring and major pay increases.
City Manager Marc Ott late last year asked department heads to draft a list of possible cuts that would total $15 million — about 2 percent from each city department — from the $621 million general fund. City Council members will review the options in a special meeting today.
Acevedo last year proposed about $5 million in possible cuts that included delaying a cadet class or forgoing certain crime-fighting initiatives, but he had not suggested using detectives as patrol officers or cutting the number of commanders.
Police officials said that in addition to reducing overtime, the department will receive other benefits by requiring detectives to work patrol shifts during special events. Those who are out of practice will get to brush up on skills, including how to use mobile patrol car computers.
"Every police officer in this department spent time on the street," Carter said. "It puts them in touch with their roots, and it may reacquaint them with issues officers face on the street."
However, police union representatives said they have concerns about the plan.
Sgt. Wayne Vincent, the union president, said detectives will be pulled away from cases for a day or possibly two. "You just can't take work force away from their work for a two-day period of time and not expect that work to suffer," Vincent said.
Vincent also said some detectives haven't worked on the streets in years. He said others lack necessary equipment, including Taser stun guns because they did not undergo Taser training when the department purchased the weapons in recent years.
Vincent did not have a breakdown of the last time each detective worked a patrol shift or how many have not been issued Tasers.
According to plans, the department will use about 30 to 40 detectives to fill vacant patrol positions during Mardi Gras festivities this month and the Texas Relays in April, replacing officers who will provide downtown security.
Most officers who will be required to work downtown are members of the department's special response team, which has about 200 officers who provide crowd control during special events.
Officials are considering a list of other events during which detectives might patrol city streets, possibly again including Halloween and New Year's Eve.
Under tentative plans, each department division would supply an equal number of detectives so that no unit experienced a greater detective absence. Commanders and other supervisors would be responsible for selecting detectives for the patrol assignments.
City Council Member Lee Leffingwell, who has received police union support in his mayoral campaign, said he hadn't been told about the plan. "I want to listen to both sides of it," he said. "Obviously, we want to scrutinize everything that has to do with saving money."
City Council Member Mike Martinez said he wonders what impact having detectives not working cases for a day or two will have, if any.
However, he said, "We have to give (Acevedo) every opportunity to see if this proposal will work. I think it is way too early to just start taking things off the table."
