[Vision2020] Security Contract - Anyone thought of this before we laid out 400k?

[Wayne Price]

  I wonder how many former/retired law enforcement officers in the  
area would have been interested?  We'll never know, no one ever asked.



Retired police could work part time under proposal
Monday, August 23, 2010
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Lakewood, Colo., police Detective Alex Jameson decided to come  
out of retirement and rejoin the force on a part-time basis about two  
years ago, the arrangement suited everybody.Detective Jameson got back  
into a game he missed. The department got eyes it otherwise would have  
done without. And the people of Lakewood got an old hand to take a new  
look at cold cases."There's no learning curve with him," department  
spokesman Steve Davis said. "He's familiar with the cases. He's  
familiar with the people. He's familiar with the geography of the  
city. There's no ramp-up time."Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Catherine  
McNeilly says departments nationwide have rehired retirees on a part- 
time basis, and she'd like Pittsburgh to consider doing the same. At  
her suggestion, state Rep. Chelsa Wagner, D-Brookline, has introduced  
a bill to let retired officers across Pennsylvania return to work 800  
hours annually without jeopardizing their pension benefits.

Currently, Ms. Wagner said, a full-time officer cannot retire and go  
back to work part-time for the same department. She said the law is  
silent on whether a retired officer may work in another department.  
Ms. Wagner said her proposal would be a boon to financially strapped  
municipalities, which wouldn't have to provide health benefits to  
retirees. She said it's too bad Pittsburgh couldn't tap some of its  
own retirees in September when it hired hundreds of out-of-town  
officers on a temporary basis for the G-20 summit.

Cmdr. McNeilly has documented other departments' efforts to deploy  
retired officers because of budget cuts -- financial problems so  
severe in some cities that they've had to sell off police horses and  
helicopters, curtail minor investigations or disband special units.  
One city, Mesa, Ariz., has hired civilians to perform minor  
investigations because they're paid less than police officers. Despite  
its own financial problems, Pittsburgh hasn't had to take such drastic  
steps. But Cmdr. McNeilly, who heads the Zone 3 station in Allentown  
and the department's planning and intelligence unit, said there's no  
reason to let retirees' talent go to waste.

Cmdr. McNeilly said some officers, after a few years of retirement,  
decide they aren't ready to give up work or need a part-time job to  
supplement their pensions. She said it makes sense to capitalize on  
the retirees' experience and expertise, while giving them an  
opportunity to make extra money. "To me, it seems like a can't-lose  
proposition all the way around," she said.

Cmdr. McNeilly isn't suggesting that retired officers be put back on  
regular street duty. Rather, she's suggesting they be assigned to  
monitor surveillance cameras, man the front desks at police stations,  
staff the property room, perform confidential clerical work, take  
reports over the telephone, transport mail from station to station,  
work missing-person cases, run background checks on police recruits,  
teach courses at the police academy, operate the citizens police  
academy, help with traffic control and serve as community liaisons. If  
retirees filled those roles, she said, more full-time officers could  
be freed for street duty.

Cmdr. McNeilly said retirees also could be deployed for special  
events, such as the Pittsburgh Marathon, First Night and major  
athletic events. City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, who chairs the  
public-safety committee, said she'd like to consider Ms. Wagner's  
proposal if it becomes law. She said she's always interested in  
bolstering the city's force of about 900.

Cmdr. McNeilly, estimating the average officer's age to be about 45,  
said a possible spate of retirements also might spark the city's  
interest in the idea. City officials didn't respond to a request for  
information about possible retirements. But in its most recent annual  
report, the police department said the average length of service for a  
commander was 26.9 years; for a sergeant, 17.7 years; for a detective,  
16.1 years; for a regular officer, 11 years.

In Lakewood, Detective Jameson didn't take the place of another full- 
time officer. If he hadn't returned to duty, the cold-case unit would  
have operated without additional help, Mr. Davis, the department  
spokesman, said.

Mr. Davis said Detective Jameson has indicated that he's interested in  
returning to retirement. The search is on, Mr. Davis said, for another  
retiree to replace him.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10235/1082030-53.stm#ixzz0xSvEfs9x
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