Agenda - Council - 12/10/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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or in training. As stated above we have been forced to adjust minimums. We will have 16 officers assigned to patrol, down from 18. • Can the position be filled internally? Possibly. However, if an internal candidate (eligible to be licensed by the State of Minnesota) were hired for the position, that could leave a city vacancy, which may or may not need replacing. (i.e., a volunteer police reserve officer would not have to be replaced.) If a viable internal candidate is not found and external process will need to take place. An internal candidate was selected on the last hire. • What is the impact (i.e., to residents, business owners, employees, and/or operations) if the position is not filled? There are days where there is not a full complement of officers. This causes delays in response times and definitely decreases in general patrol duties, including traffic enforcement and investigation. Citizens would not see a squad driving by their residence as often if there are fewer officers on the department patrolling the neighborhoods and businesses. The number of officers that we currently have meets our adjusted minimum officers needed to cover shifts. Calls for service have slowly increased as has the population. We continue to add businesses to the City. Officers are needed to meet the demand. One of the Council's strategic goals was to reduce response times, this cannot be accomplished with fewer officers. • Can the service provided be reduced, eliminated, or contracted out? No. The City has its own police department and provides that service. Citizens will see an impact if there are fewer officers on duty. Response times increase and service decreases with fewer officers. We would still operate as a department but we have one less officer on the schedule. • What is the budgetary impact if the position is not filled (e.g., additional overtime/compensatory time off costs) There would definitely be more overtime paid out if the officer is not replaced. We are at a minimum amount of officers needed to effectively respond to calls for service as we are staffed today. • What are the circumstances that warrant the creation of this new position? This is not a new position. This is a replacement officer for a recent resignation.