http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-detective5may21,0,1789235.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
May 21, 2005
STAMFORD -- Despite two weeks of intense negotiations, the detective bureau dispute remains unsolved and the bureau is still staffed by former patrol officers with little investigative experience, city and police officials said yesterday.
The cycle of transfers in and out of the detective bureau may not end until the city and the police union agree on a new contract, officials on both sides have said. That process can take months or more than a year, officials have said.
On Thursday, the union told Police Chief Brent Larrabee to transfer the 13 new officers in the bureau back into the patrol division. The union says the officers are doing high-level work beyond their rank of "police officer," according to a copy of the grievance the union filed Thursday.
The grievance accuses the city of forcing the officers into the detective jobs without giving them a pay raise.
That is the same complaint that triggered the first mass transfer -- the overhaul that put the 13 new officers in the bureau last month. Those officers replaced 26 veteran investigators who asked out of the bureau because the city had not promoted them above the rank of "police officer" or raised their salaries.
The union is making the same claim for the new officers in the bureau, said Officer Michael Merenda, president of the police union. He said the union would request transfers for anyone picked for the bureau until the city gives the officers a raise or a new rank.
That could mean endless turnover in the bureau, with one group of patrol officers replacing another.
"It's going to keep happening," Merenda said. "At some point this is going to have to be resolved."
Larrabee said he expected the union to file the identical grievance on behalf of the new officers. He also said the 13 officers are doing well in their first months investigating stabbings and working undercover.
"Some of them may not want to be there," Larrabee said, "but the men and women of the Stamford Police Department are professionals."
The union has repeatedly said the rank of detective is still listed in the police contract. Detectives should be paid the same as sergeants, according to the contract.
But Mayor Dannel Malloy has said the detective rank went out of use in the late 1970s. Union officials who negotiated in the 1970s have conceded they agreed to stop using the rank, but did so with the understanding that only sergeants could work in the detective bureau.
The union also has claimed that officers in the bureau deserve more money because they demonstrate unique skills. And they say those skills fit the job description for "sergeant," not "police officer."
The list of official duties for a police officer includes conducting "criminal and motor vehicle investigations," but sticks mostly to making arrests and developing good relationships with residents, according to Personnel Commission records.
Sergeants are required to "perform various activities, such as interrogation of suspects, interviews of witnesses, surveillance, preparation of search and seizure warrants, etc.," according to Personnel Commission records.
Malloy and Larrabee have both said they will support a new contract clause guaranteeing a raise and a gold badge for members of the detective bureau. Such a raise would not kick in until the two sides hammer out a new contract.
Once that happens, the bureau jobs would be open to any officer who scores high enough on a written or oral test, both sides have said.
Merenda said he would prefer to settle the issue outside of contract talks to end the bureau dispute as quickly as possible. The city has refused to discuss the issue separately, both sides have said.
Top-level patrol officers make $59,098, according to the police contract. Sergeants make $67,395 -- about 15 percent more. Promoting the 26 officers to the detective-sergeant level would cost the city about $220,000 per year in added salaries.
Last month, the union asked for a 7 percent wage hike. The city refused.
Neither side would comment on specifics of any new proposals, claiming they promised to keep the talks secret.
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