MAHONING VALLEY Sign of the times: No guns allowed despite new law

A state-funded Weed and Seed program is paying for the additional overtime.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Police overtime pay for 2003 and 2002 ran 40 percent to 47 percent higher than in 2001, but the city didn't have to pay for it out of the general fund.
The increase has been covered by the Sharon/Farrell Weed and Seed program, which is using state grants to pay for special police patrols in a 60-block area along the Sharon/Farrell border.
The Weed and Seed program, designed to boost law enforcement and then help revitalize a low-income/high crime residential area, was launched in late 2001 with a $228,000 state grant.
Much of that money has been used to pay for increased police patrols in the targeted area as part of the "weed" aspect of the program, creating a strong police presence to crack down on crime.
How much was added
The program channeled $62,390 into Sharon's police overtime account in 2002 as the increased police patrols began, and added an additional $56,733 in 2003.
Police officers volunteer to work those extra patrols at overtime rates.
The Weed and Seed grant runs for four years and will expire in September 2005, said Adrienne Gordon, Seed coordinator for the program.
The grant is structured so that there is a lot of "weeding" by police during the first couple of years to make the neighborhood safe.
The grant then turns its attention to "seeding" the area in terms of community revitalization and rebuilding, she said.
The increased police patrols are likely to end, or at least be substantially reduced, as the grant winds down, Gordon said.
Sharon's police overtime would likely return to normal levels at that point.
Michael Gasparich, city finance director, said Sharon fronts the overtime cost for Weed and Seed patrols and then is reimbursed by the program.
When the program started, Weed and Seed was reimbursing the city at rates equal to each officer's actual overtime rate at time-and-a-half their hourly pay.
The reimbursement rate was later set at time-and-a-half or a maximum of $30 per hour, he said, noting some officers taking the patrols had an overtime rate that exceeded $30 per hour.
Accounts for overtime
Police Chief Tom Burke, who took over the reins of the department at the beginning of 2002, said officers can draw overtime pay from a number of accounts:
U General duty overtime to fill empty shifts and cover major crimes needing extra police hours. That's paid at time-and-a-half.
U Court time, which is a big-ticket item at time-and-a-half. Officers get a minimum two hours at the time-and-a-half rate when reporting for court hearings.
U Shooting overtime, which is paid at straight hourly rates to reimburse officers for off-duty hours they must spend at mandatory gun qualifications.
U Special duty overtime is for services police are called upon to provide for events like high school basketball and football games, parades or other activities.
U Weed and Seed overtime, a handful of officers are members of the Attorney General's Drug Task Force and can earn overtime working special drug details, Burke said.
Some officers draw from all those accounts, but there are others who don't want to work overtime and turn down requests to do so, Burke said.
Others are eager to work extra hours, he said.
Boost in annual pay
Some officers were able to boost their total pay for 2003 from the $40,000-$43,000 base range for patrolmen, corporals and sergeants to more than $50,000 a year by combining overtime work with longevity pay (an additional $100 per year of service after three years) and shift differential (50 cents per hour for afternoon and midnight turns).
The city has a police complement of 32 but has maintained a force of only about 30 officers over the past several years due to retirements and resignations.
A review of city audits shows the department has generally lived within its overall budgeted overtime accounts.