AARON LEO Article Last Updated: 08/13/2008 10:40:40 PM EDT
BRIDGEPORT — The Police Department has been caught in a "perfect storm" of fiscal, management and legal problems, but the department must, and will, continue to protect and serve, Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood said Wednesday.
The chief's comments came after nearly half of the members of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 voted "no confidence" in him and Mayor Bill Finch on Monday.
Norwood, speaking in his Congress Street office Wednesday afternoon, said he understands the union's frustration, but he's operating on a city order to cut spending across the board.
"We're in perfect storm," he said. "We're in a fiscal crisis. We're in a transition from federal oversight. We're in contract negotiations. We're halfway through the contract of a chief who has a different management style."
That style is the basis of one union grievance over staffing of the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, a group of about a dozen officers chosen and commanded by Norwood to handle quality-of-life issues.
In June, however, the union won a court order for NET members to be chosen by seniority, as are other squads such as the patrol, K-9 and communications divisions and the Tactical Narcotics Team. The city is appealing that order.
But having seniority and being qualified "may not be synonymous," Norwood said. In the New Haven Police Department, where Norwood last worked, the chief has the right of assignment.
"This is a $43 million business," he said of the department's operations.
"At some point you have to let the president or CEO run the business."
He does appreciate the officers, crediting them with a reduction in crime.
"You have some of the best police officers here in the city. They provide a service like no other: NET, the Mounted Unit, K-9, the Emergency Services Unit, Harbor Patrol. We have the [all-terrain vehicles]. All those add up," Norwood said.
"Crime is down. Our shootings are down significantly," he added.
Keeping up the number of officers is the problem. Under his watch, the city is training its third class of officers in two years. But it's not keeping pace with officers leaving.
"We've lost a total of 58 officers in 24 months," with 48 new hires at the same time, he said.
Of the 48, 19 are training in the Police Academy and could start field training in the community in October if they all pass. On top of that, Norwood said, he's cutting spending on programs, details and training that lead to overtime, on orders by the city Office of Policy and Management to trim overtime by 50 percent. The department logged $1.3 million over its overtime budget in the past fiscal year.
Still, the combination of problems doesn't relieve officers of their duty, Norwood said. He and all of the 442 sworn officers took the same oath to protect and serve.
"That's what I expect the union members to continue to do in light of these difficult circumstances," he said.
Times are tough compared to when Norwood, the youngest chief in city's history, was appointed in 2006. The department didn't have much technology but quickly acquired new cruisers, Segways and a mobile command unit, among other things.
But Norwood said he knew the city's shaky financial history when he signed on. "At some level, we're always prepared for fiscal difficulties," he said.
In the end, the answers really lie between the city and the union. Seniority is one issue, among a host of them: increasing health-care premiums, a lack of raises, furloughs and the city requesting union concessions. The city is trying to reap savings to replenish its fund balance, which is used in rating the city's credit.
"I would hope that the city and the union could come to some agreement in an expedited manner. The city deserves the best protection I can provide and we can provide," Norwood said.