Nassau Cops Far Behind
Cerissa DellaVecchia 01/12/2006 3:55 pm
The Nassau County Police Department’s 8th Precinct has several problems to deal with after being audited by County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman.
Weitzman’s report revealed high levels of overtime, officers still performing clerical tasks, outdated technology and no work for crossing guards during school recess.
In the 8th Precinct and department-wide, overtime costs have been on the rise even though new contracts allowed a reduction in patrols and required officers to work an additional 48 hours per year, the report says. In 2004, overtime costs department-wide totaled $46.6 million dollars as compared to $53 million in 2005.
Weitzman says two major factors contribute to the high level of overtime: One is the staffing levels and the other is the use of overtime as an alternative to hiring new officers.
The report also noted five clerical positions filled by police officers, which should be filled by civilians, Weitzman says. If more of these clerical jobs were actually filled by civilians instead of police officers, the 8th Precinct could save as much as $325,000 per year.
The 8th Precinct is not the only precinct with these numbers of clerical jobs being filled by police officers. The seven other precincts maintain similar numbers, the audit says.
“Nassau has one of the finest police departments in the country,” Weitzman said in a statement. “It’s no coincidence that it also has the lowest crime rate of any municipality of its size in the nation. But that doesn’t mean we can afford to operate inefficiently or waste money paying highly-trained police officers to do the work of clerks or junior accountants.”
Weitzman says that previous audits in October 2002 and January 2004 also showed police officers holding clerical positions that could have been filled by civilians for lower pay.
“The department needs to move faster to place civilians in these spots and re-deploy police officers to perform actual police functions,” Weitzman says.
Technology at the 8th Precinct also lags behind. According to the audit, the precinct does not have caller ID on its phones, cannot track the location of police cars with Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) technology and the department still uses manual methods of compiling crime data.
Technological improvements, including AVL technology; a records management system and laptops in patrol cars, are expected to be implemented by 2008, the report says.
In addition, the report says Nassau County crossing guards, most of whom work 20 hours per week for the department, have little or nothing to do on school vacations. When they report to the precinct every 13-14 weeks per year, they will remain without work for four hours and leave.
“They are generally dedicated, reporting to work under all weather conditions, and do an outstanding job of keeping our children safe,” Weitzman said in a statement. “But, as far as our audit shows, the police department needs to do a better job in utilizing the crossing guards when schools are closed.”
Weitzman added that about $14,000 in salary expenses per week could be saved if crossing guards are placed on standby status during school vacations and paid for two hours a day.
Posted Friday, February 24, 2006
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