Negative-Toned Article about Stamford Police

Police efforts to cut gas costs fail; department goes $200K over budget
By Stephen P. Clark Stamford Advocate 07/07/2008

STAMFORD - Despite efforts to save on gas costs, the police department spent nearly $200,000 more than budgeted in the last fiscal year, which ended last week.

Police officials attempted to cut costs by requiring officers to walk their beats and team up in squad cars more often, and by banning them from idling. But it wasn't enough to keep the gas budget from jumping to nearly $500,000 - up from $227,000 in 2005-06 and $381,000 in 2006-07.

Skyrocketing gas prices and the nature of police work are to blame, department officials said.

"If you want to cover the city and keep it one of the safest in the nation, we need to have police cars out there 24-7," said Lt. Sean Cooney, a department spokesman. "An aggressive patrol is one of the ways we keep Stamford safe. That requires a large amount of gasoline."

The department has a gas budget of $434,000 this fiscal year, but Cooney said it is likely that will not be enough. The city buys gas at a discount as part of a program that includes other municipalities in lower Fairfield County. Stamford locked in gas prices at $3.28 per gallon and diesel at $3.94 per gallon for three months until August.

Besides gasoline costs, the police department is struggling to control overtime spending, which reached a record high of $4.8 million the last three fiscal years. The city is trying to fill a new civilian position to oversee police spending. But the only candidate offered the job, which pays $79,000 to $102,000 per year plus benefits, turned it down.

Last fiscal year, the police department started with a gas budget of $292,000. But the department needed a $100,000 appropriation, which city board approved in March, to cover a shortfall. The department finished the fiscal year with another $100,000 deficit, which will be offset by savings from other accounts, including one for recruiting and hiring, Cooney said.

The department used about 165,000 gallons last fiscal year for 150 police vehicles, including boats, motorcycles and vans. City and police officials last week could not provide the number of gallons used in previous fiscal years.

Chief Brent Larrabee earlier this year told the Board of Representatives Fiscal Committee that shift commanders instructed officers to park their patrol cars for one hour on each shift and walk to reduce fuel consumption. The initiative is called "park and walk," which helps officers get to know their beats and gather information about drug dealing and other crimes.

Larrabee also said that the number of two-officer cars jumped by about 25 percent in recent months.

The initiatives are "good police work" but have a "marginal impact" on conserving gas, Cooney said.

Officers have been employing "park and walk" techniques for years, Cooney said.

"We've encouraged officers to do that when their workload permits," he said. "You get out the car, talk to people and develop relationships. You'll see things just by standing on a driveway that you won't see driving by in a police car."

But "park and walk" isn't practical if officers are constantly responding to 911 calls, he said.

"The problem is we're understaffed. The workload doesn't permit it," he said. "We can't require people to park and walk if they're too busy."

Requiring officers to team up in cars also poses problems, Cooney said.

"This is something we've encouraged for a long time. Pick a partner and do so," he said. "But we're not going to make people ride together who don't want to."

Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, head of the police union, said officers are encouraged to team up for safety reasons.

"If there are ways for the city to save on fuel costs, I'm all for it," Kennedy said. "But if we're talking about why I would want a two-man car, the energy side would be low on the totem pole."

The most impractical initiative is banning officers from idling cars, Cooney said.

"You need to have the air conditioner in the summer and heating in the winter," he said. "It's very problematic to tell a police officer while he's sitting in his car to turn his car off."

Linda Cannady, vice chairwoman of the Fiscal Committee, said the department's reversal on the effectiveness of the initiatives is puzzling.

"I'm lost at how they decided they're good initiatives if they're not working," she said. "They need to come up with some initiatives that could work, and enforce them."

Cannady said she wants to know whether officers use patrol cars for personal reasons.

"If they do, that's something that could be cut out," she said.

Kennedy said a township in New Jersey places a surcharge on speeding tickets and uses that revenue to pay for gas.

"That's one way to do it," he said. "You're only assessing the fines to people who break the law."

Cannady said she is skeptical that police will find ways to save on gas costs.

"I don't think the initiatives will be enforced, No. 1," she said. "And every initiative that gets presented, they already have reasons for not implementing them, so what's the point?"

Cooney said police are always thinking of ways to save on gas costs but there is a bigger picture.

"Let's remember that our practices have led to one of the safest cities in the nation for almost 10 years," he said. "So let's not mess with that."