Newly-hired officers face being first cut
Stamford Police Chief: After diversifying the department, layoffs could erase those gains
STAMFORD – Like other cities, Stamford has for years struggled to create a police department that better reflects the diversity of the populace.
It has been making progress.
In 2016, 20 open entrylevel slots in the department attracted a record number of minority and female applicants. City officials said they had widened recruiting efforts and the result was the most diverse entry group in Stamford history.
There was success again in November, when Mayor David Martin swore in a racially diverse
group of seven cadets, including three women.
But budget cuts brought on by the coronavirus pandemic might trigger layoffs that could erase those gains at a time when police departments nationwide are under scrutiny for their handling of Black citizens.
An ongoing social justice movement was sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Laying off minority officers now would not be a good look, but civil-service rules dictate that the last ones in are the first ones out when pink slips fly.
Chief Tim Shaw said the seven cadets hired in November, who have completed their work at the police academy and now are in
field training, are at risk.
“If there are cuts, they would be the first to go,” Shaw said.
The department has made inroads in diversification, he said.
“The last 25 retirements were white males hired in the late ’70s and early ’80s, so we feel like the pendulum is swinging toward having the department better match the community,” Shaw said. “Any layoffs now would seriously affect that.”
Martin has said that 10 percent of city workers could be laid off. In a police department with about 270 officers, it would mean 27 could lose their jobs.
That number, however, might be smaller, said Sgt. Kris Engstrand, president of the police union.
About 17 positions are funded but currently not filled, Engstrand said. If the empty positions are eliminated, 10 officers would actually be let go.
If that’s the number, Shaw said, six of the 10 would be women or minorities.
That would be unfortunate, Engstrand said.
“The classes hired over the last two or three years have been some of the most racially, ethnically and gender-diverse we’ve had. They’re more representative of the community,” Engstrand said. “We’ve slowly changed the makeup of the police department, but by cutting people they will reverse that.”
Elected officials who last month settled the 2020-21 budget determined that city revenues, heavily dependent on property taxes that many residents may not be able to pay until the economy recovers, will fall $65 million short. It means the city will have that much less to spend.
Officials decided to borrow $15 million and take a roughly equal amount from the rainy day fund and
other cash reserves, leaving the shortfall at about $32 million.
They slashed the budget but decided that, rather than go deeper, they would ask the 10 city unions and four school unions to forgo raises for two years. City employees were further asked to switch to a cheaper state health-insurance plan already used by school employees.
Only two of the 10 city unions have agreed to costsaving terms.
Employees of the two unions, the UAW and the MAA, will not be laid off. But other employees are in the crosshairs.
Martin so far has sent pink slips to 13 city employees in what he called a first round, and Schools Superintendent Tamu Lucero has so far identified 30 staff positions and 41 certified educators in interim positions who are due to receive layoff notices before the month is out.
The city and the police union have been talking, but there was no progress to report last week, Martin’s spokesman said.
So the possibility remains that a long effort to diversify the police department could be curtailed even as Martin initiates changes designed to improve relations with the city’s diverse citizenry.
Earlier this month Martin told the Board of Representatives during his State of the City address that he is implementing a policy that will require police officers to intervene if observing excessive force. In the Minneapolis case, three officers did not stop the one who pinned Floyd by the neck, though Floyd kept repeating, “I can’t breathe.”
Martin said he has asked the five volunteer members of the Stamford Police Commission to meet in community settings to educate residents about their role as an appeals board.
The commission has the power to issue subpoenas and compel witnesses to testify at hearings, “which is more authority than most police review boards,” Martin said. “But in the past the commission has primarily reviewed appeals of police chiefs’ decisions.”
Now, however, the commission could review all excessive force complaints against police, Martin said.
Shaw said he respects the work of the police commission.
“I think it’s important for the community to find out what the commission does and what their powers are, and I credit them for going out to the community to explain,” the chief said. “They are separate from us and it’s important they stay separate from us.”