SUPER TROOPERS
STATE POLICE TO RETURN TO CITY STREETS IN PUSH TO END VIOLENCE; SWEEP TARGETS 50 SUSPECTS
From left are Trooper Timothy Greene, Trooper Jim Lark and Trooper Patrick McMillan, all from the Media Barracks.
CHESTER >> Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland was in his weekly briefing with high-ranking members of the Chester Police Department discussing ways in which to improve morale on the force when he had an idea.
“Why don’t I meet with them?” Kirkland asked Police Commissioner Otis Blair and Chief James Nolan IV. And that’s what he did. Amidst false layoff rumors, disagreements within the hierarchy of the department, stress factors in stalled contract negotiations, the mayor thought it was necessary to host a discussion between the highest ranking officials and the rank-and-file on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I understand contracts, sick time, requesting time off, but I wanted the police officers to understand that they raised their hand, put their hand on the Bible and said they were going to protect and serve, just like I raised my hand to try to be the very best elected official in this city as I can possibly be,” Kirkland said Wednesday after announcing the return of Pennsylvania State Police patrols in the city.
On Tuesday, Chester Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Bothwell said those talks were friendly and constructive, focusing on staffing and morale issues without dwelling on the lack of a renewed contract.
Quelling the rumors of layoffs was among the first topics of discussion.
“The layoffs were a rumor spread by unknown people. There was no talks of layoffs,” Bothwell said. “We’re not actually concerned about layoffs. That rumor just grew feet and ran, but it had no substance.”
Kirkland said he was concerned about the rumors because of the “hysteria and panic in the community” it facilitated. He said the rumors took him by surprise.
“I saw all this crazy stuff about layoffs, I saw the news cameras running and a lot of this started a lot of hysteria and panic in the community,” Kirkland said. “I was like, ‘Are you serious?’”
Chester police officers working under the terms of a contract which expired Dec. 31, 2016. Per the Act 47 Economic Recovery Plan, all financial contracts in the city must now be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
In February, a settlement with the Chester Fraternal Order of Police was sent to the state and kicked back without comment.
FOP President Randy Bothwell said that pact contained some of the union’s biggest concessions yet, including cuts to pay, benefits, vacation days, sick days, longevity freezing and increased contributions to health care coverage.
The talk of layoffs was yet another reason for officers to feel pressures mounting.
Nolan said the rumors spread like wildfire when it was announced that Kirkland would speak with officers face to face, which he contended was unprecedented in and of itself.
“We never had a mayor who wanted to sit down and address the law-enforcement personnel directly,” Nolan said.
Nolan said the mayor’s idea was borne from the weekly command meeting to address manpower, morale and the general state of the police force. “He said,‘Let’s remind them of the oath of office,’” Nolan said. “Now unfortunately, when he announced that he wanted to meet with them, because this is unprecedented, there was a bit of a Chicken Little situation that went on.”
Nolan, who himself was laid off from February 1995 until June 1997, said he understands what it’s like to protect and serve while fearful of losing his job.
“If that was a possibility, we would have already had mechanisms in place and discussed things with people, discussed things with the union,” Nolan said. “We would never roll it out as a surprise.”
“There’s no intention of that,” he continued.
Bothwell agreed, saying that he was “99.9 percent certain he would have gotten a phone call from the mayor or the solicitor.”
“The rumor mill of police layoffs was put to rest,” Bothwell said. “The city and police had a very productive meeting, no negatives came out of it.”