Police Department To Demote Supervisors Rather Than Layoff Rank-And-File
From The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, February 4

FITCHBURG , MA – Six police officers will be reduced in rank as part of a cost-saving reorganization of the department that is expected to avert layoffs this fiscal year.

Police Chief Robert A. DeMoura informed two captains, two lieutenants and two sergeants this week that they will be dropping in rank – and pay. He called the change difficult, even though it will pare $250,000 from the budget and save five patrolmen's positions.

He said the decision followed discussions between him and Mayor Lisa A. Wong. “It's my decision. I'm the department head,” he said yesterday.

“This is probably the most stressful thing an administrator can look at,” he said. “These are my right-hand men.”

The new organizational model for the department, which will take place after civil service review, will eliminate two of the department's three captains. Capt. Mark W. Louney and Capt. Philip J. Kearns Jr. will become lieutenants when the changes go through, while two lieutenants will become sergeants and two sergeants will become patrolmen.

The net change to the department will be one captain instead of three in the department. There will still be four lieutenants, 12 sergeants and 61 patrolmen. Two vacant patrolmen's jobs – one the result of a retirement, the other a transfer to another department – will go unfilled, Chief DeMoura said.

The chief said maintaining the numbers of officers on the street was a major priority.

“We'll endure,” he said, despite the anticipated difficulty of the new organizational structure. He said he is continuing to look for ways to get patrolmen out of the dispatch area and back on the street, consulting with other police agencies on ways to maximize resources.

Ms. Wong said reorganizing is a fact of life in an era of reduced resources.

“I think reorganizing is something that needs to be looked at constantly,” she said. She and DeMoura have talked about potential changes to the department since he first interviewed for the post last year, she said.

“Too often we've been quick to reduce positions at the bottom,” Ms. Wong said, noting that the reorganization will preserve patrolmen. “This is a job-saving measure.”

The lowered ranks will mean cuts in pay of 20 percent for the reduced captains and 15 percent for the reduced lieutenants and sergeants, according to Capt. Charles M. Tasca, who will be the only captain under the new model.

Lieutenants, sergeants and patrolmen are all members of the Fitchburg Police Union. The captains and the chief are the only excluded positions.

The changes were made as the city prepares to absorb a $1 million cut in local aid this fiscal year. Chief DeMoura said he was hopeful Mayor Lisa A. Wong will look elsewhere when she drafts the fiscal 2010 budget, which also will incorporate steep reductions in state aid.

Capt. Tasca had grave doubts about the changes afoot, noting the current structure was adopted by then Chief Edward M. Gallant in 1987.

“They were not the result of simply taking a test and promoting people for their longevity of service to the city of Fitchburg,” he said. “They were done out of operational necessity. To reduce these positions is courting danger, ineffectiveness and inefficiency of providing services.”

Capt. Tasca said he feared the changes also would expose the city to liability. Claims against the city often center on allegations of improper management or training, he said, and the current model is designed with those areas in mind.

“Lieutenants and captains are not interchangeable,” Capt. Tasca said. “Collectively, we're very disappointed to learn this decision apparently was made without any input from the affected parties, and according to the chief of police, he also didn't have any input into the decisions being made.”

“The reality is everyone has to do more with less,” Ms. Wong said yesterday. “No one likes to do more with less. Everyone needs to be part of the solution.”