Committee approves transfer of $120,000 to cover overtime costs

Marlborough - Chief of Police Mark Leonard came before the City Council’s Finance Committee Feb. 1 requesting several transfers from within the Police Department budget. Hoping to transfer funds from the salary line item to the overtime line item, Leonard explained to the committee that he needed the transfer to cover the cost of overtime salaries accrued to have the work shifts of injured officer s covered.

“Over the past seven months there have been eight officers and one sergeant on leave due to injuries,” Leonard said.

With $120,000 in transfers to the overtime budget before the committee, Ward 1 Councilor Joseph Delano was concerned with the number of officer s bein g injured.

“Are these injuries a freak thing? … Is this average?” Delano said.

Some of the injuries are from motor vehicle accidents, Leonard explained, but several are from arrests that caused injuries that have led to officers needing surgeries.

“It is a little unusual to have three to four officer s ou t for three or four months at one time, but we have been in situations a little worse … I think it is pretty average,” Leonard said.

Councilors asked if there have been studies or trainings available that might reduce the number of injuries that the officers sustain on duty. Leonard said that there is substantial evidence that the use of nonlethal electric shock weapons, better known as tasers, by arresting officer s hav e decreased the amount of injuries inflicted on both the arresting officers and the individuals being detained.

“I did not realize that we did not use them,” Delano said.

“It is something we are looking at,” Leonard said. “A few departments across the state are using them.”

Continuing to investigate using the equipment in the future, Leonard said that there would be a large training aspect that would need to be considered for both initial and maintenance use of the devices.

The finance committee voted unanimously to approve the transfer. Ward 5 Councilor Robert Seymour applauded Leonard for working within his budget.

“Thanks for coming with a solution,” Seymour said.

Leonard also responded to concerns from the committee about how the decreased number of police staff might aff ect the community-policing substation. Agreeing with the need to maintain the community policing substations, which have recently re-opened, the police chief assured the committee that his goal was to not cut the officer s statione d at those sites.

“I have really tried to keep them in that area … we need to have some consistency in that area … I am trying to take officer s fro m othe r areas.” Leonard said.

In other news, the Finance Committee approved the acceptance of several grants, including one for $178,000 from the Energy and Efficienc y Block Grant – funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) - to replace the oil heating system at the Department of Public Works.

The city also received $5,900 from the Student Awareness Fire Education Grant to support the fire awareness programs run for the past several years within the city’s public schools. Finance Committee Chair Michael Ossing was thrilled to see the city receive the funds to continue the program.

“The feedback from my kids is great … you do a fantastic job with this program,” Ossing said.