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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br />Topic Report: Part Time Police Officer <br />By: Ji~n Way, Chief of Police <br /> <br />Background: <br /> <br />As you arc aware, one of our patrol officers, Officer Ryan Law, was involved in a serious <br />automobile accident in April. He is on an extended medical leave and at this point, we do not <br />know how long this will be. Another of our officers, Investigator Jim Balabon will be retiring at <br />tl~e end of June. We are in the process of replacing Jim Balabon, but this person will not be <br />available lbr lone officer response until sometime in November. We need to cover shift <br />minimums while we are short the two officers. We are headed into our busiest time of the year, <br />which arc the summer months and this is also the most requested time for officers to take <br />vacati~m. <br /> <br />q here arc several options available to the PD at this time. One option would be to operate txvo <br />el'ricers short and have less coverage. A second option would be to pay officers at an overtime <br />rate to cover shifts either by holding them over, having them report early or requiring them to <br />come in on a day off. A third option that might be available, and that I would like to discuss, is <br />aclivating a Ramsey reserve officers part-time (PT) police officer license. <br /> <br />Several changes have taken place in the area of PT licenses in the past few years. The MN Peace <br />Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, has set several restrictions on PT licenses <br />including number issued, training, number of hours worked, supervision, arrest powers and <br />auth()rity to carry a firearm. In January of 2000, the POST Board, the governing body of officer <br />licensing, limited the number of PT licenses that an agency could have. The City of Ramsey is <br />allowed zero based on the agency quota determined at that time. There is a provision that allows <br />a department to apply for an "Extraordinary and Temporary Need for Part-Time Peace Officer." <br />These licenses have rarely been granted to departments our size. I have been in contact with the <br />POST Board and was advised that it is possible that we might qualify for a temporary part-time <br />of'ricer based on the situation that we are in. Application can to be made to the POST Board that <br />outlines our temporary need and each request is handled on a case-by-case basis. <br /> <br />q he (5 ty of Ramsey is in a unique situation in that one of our reserve officers, Todd Brotkowski, <br />holds ~ current PT license. He has been with our reserve unit since 1998 and currently serves as <br />a sergem~t and field training officer with that group. Special consideration would be given to the <br />City o I' Ramsey by the POST Board due to fact that Brotkowski is already a member of the <br />reserve unit and currently holds a PT license. <br /> <br />Brotkowski has participated in and has often contributed too many of our department training <br />sessi(ms and has maintained his required POST training to keep his part time peace officer <br />license. Itc is also up to date on all departmental and POST required training, including use of <br />three training, driving school, and could be scheduled for handgun and rifle qualification in May. <br />'l'odd is currently a First Responder and is fully uniformed, including a duty belt. <br /> <br /> <br />