Rochester police brass get OK to do road details
ROCHESTER NY March 6 2020 — To address staffing and recruitment issues, the Rochester Police Department’s three lieutenants and two captains will now be able to work the lucrative road details coveted by lower-ranking officers.
The City Council unanimously eliminated Tuesday night the city employee handbook clause that prohibited these salaried, non-hourly department officials from being paid to work privately funded details.
“The real need for this is we have a hard time promoting someone from the position of sergeant, an hourly position,” said Chief Paul Toussaint.
Toussaint said highly qualified sergeants have refused promotions because losing their details would represent a “pay cut.”
Private details and officers’ completely separate overtime pay account as the primary reason why patrol officers and sergeants typically rank among the highest-paid employees in area municipalities.
Toussaint said another reason he proposed the change was because the department had so many road jobs last summer “we could not fill them with police department personnel.”
It forced the department to offer the details to outside agencies. That resulted in high-ranking officers like Milton’s police chief working some of the details.
“Which obviously created some bad feelings among my staff,” said Toussaint. “They questioned why they can’t work these details when people who outrank them in other communities can.”
Now, Rochester lieutenants and captains will be eligible to be paid the same amount that the union contract stipulates for patrol officers and sergeants.
That amount is paid by the private entity contracting Rochester police for the detail, not the city, Toussaint said.
The amount has no bearing on whether the officers would hit overtime pay on any given week, though Toussaint the amount the entities pay Rochester for details is based on an hourly officer pay grade plus the cost of retirement and benefits.
With the change, patrol officers and sergeants will get first crack at any and all details. Toussaint said that was the union’s only request.
After 24 hours, details are first-come, first-serve to all officers but the chief and deputy chief. The chief and deputy chief are still ineligible to be paid for working private details.
The previous version of the handbook didn’t outright ban lieutenants and captains from working private details; rather, it just stipulated they couldn’t be paid any additional compensation for working them.
“No one takes them up on that,” said Toussaint.
Lieutenant and captain details will be approved on a case-by-case basis by the chief or the chief’s supervisory designee, Toussaint said.
The officers would still be expected to work their regular hours and shifts; their detail work would be above and beyond their regular duties, not replace them.
The change wasn’t the only Rochester Police Department item City Council took up Tuesday night.
The city also recognized Community Engagement Officer Kyle Danie as Rochester’s March employee of the month.
“His dedication to the team and goals of the department make him a huge asset to the city,” Sgt. Eric Babine wrote while nominating Danie for the honor.
