By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
November 18, 2007
STAMFORD - City legislators want to give preferential treatment to residents applying to become police officers.
They are considering giving city residents five bonus points on the written test, as they do for firefighter applicants.
"We have too many nonresidents on our police force, so we just want to help our residents out," said Minority Leader Robert "Gabe" DeLuca, R-14.
The change could improve public safety, he said.
"Say you have a disaster, you have to worry about getting people in from Milford, Bridgeport, Danbury, Waterbury - even Long Island and Westchester County. If there's a disaster on the highway, they are never going to get here," DeLuca said. "We've got too many people living out of town, and by the time they get here it could be too late."
DeLuca and his fellow 14th District representative, city police Officer Carl Franzetti, have proposed a city ordinance establishing the bonus points.
In addition to the written exam, police officer applicants must take a physical agility test and oral exam, and they must submit to a background check, polygraph test and drug test.
The Board of Representatives' Personnel Committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal when it meets Nov. 28.
During a 2003 blackout that wreaked havoc on busy downtown intersections, it took police more than an hour to arrive to direct traffic because so many lived out of town. Nearly two-thirds of the force - 107 of the 294 officers at that time - lived outside Stamford.
Police Chief Brent Larrabee estimates 70 percent to 75 percent of the force lives out of town today, but he said getting them on the job in a hurry is usually not a problem.
Even when they are not on duty they are often nearby working side jobs, such as directing traffic around construction sites and handling private security for city businesses, Larrabee said.
While it's not crucial to have police living in the city where they work, Larrabee said he supports efforts to hire more locals.
Even if police officers live in the city when they are hired, there is no guarantee they will stay here.
Under the police contract, the department cannot require officers who have been on the job for more than four years to live in Stamford as long as they live "within a reasonable driving distance."
The last written police exam was in February, though city officials have been slow to create a hiring list because they are not filling many positions after recent budget cuts.
There are 24 vacancies in the police department, though that doesn't mean there is funding to fill all of them.
The city plans to give another hiring test next year because officials do not anticipate having enough qualified applicants from the last exam to fill all of the vacancies, said Maggi Murray, who handles police hiring for the city's human resources office. Nineteen of the vacancies are for entry-level patrol officers.
The city used to give the police test every two or three years but has been holding it more often because they are having difficulty finding qualified applicants, she said.
The city is considering giving the test as many as four times a year to increase the pool of applicants, Murray said.
Of the 115 applicants who took the last written test, 87 passed.
The pool of eligible applicants dropped to 75 after the oral exams, Murray said. More are expected to drop out of the running after they go through the background check, polygraph and drug testing.
Police union president Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said offering bonus points is "a total waste of time" because the men and women hired cannot afford to stay in Stamford on a rookie's salary. The starting salary for a police officer is $51,403.
"I can't buy my four-bedroom Colonial on an acre of land in Stamford," said Kennedy, who lives in Monroe. "The guys are going to take advantage of it during the testing period, and then they are out of here."
Because the average age of a new police officer is 27.5, they are usually looking to settle down and buy a home, and given Stamford's high real estate prices, they are usually home shopping out of town, he said.
"What they should do is offer mortgage programs" for police officers, Kennedy said. "They should offer a below-prime rate, and then they would get a ton of applicants."
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.