Friday, April 24, 2009
By Denise Dick
The newest police officer is a recipient of the Bronze Star.
BOARDMAN — While they await a fiscal analysis from the state on the township’s financial condition, trustees moved forward with a promise to hire new police officers.
At a meeting this week, trustees unanimously voted to hire Paul Poulos, 28, of Youngstown as a new police officer. The hiring is contingent on his successful completion of a drug screening.
“I think we’re trying to walk a balancing act between doing the responsible thing as far as watching the budget and doing the responsible thing in keeping the community safe and living up to the promise we made to the community when they passed the levy to hire police officers,” said Larry Moliterno, trustees chairman.
Under the most recent contract, which expired last December, police officers with less than six months on the job earn between $22.01 per hour and $22.66 per hour, depending on their shift.
Poulos, who recently graduated from the police academy at Kent State University, completed two tours of duty with the Army in Iraq, where he earned the Bronze Star.
Earlier this month, township officials asked the state auditor’s office to conduct a financial analysis that will determine if the township is at the brink of fiscal watch. In the letter to the state, officials cited the lagging economy, high foreclosure rates and reduction in personal property tax as reasons they needed help in examining finances.
Moliterno said he isn’t prepared to hire any additional officers until that state review is complete and a contract is reached between the township and both police bargaining units.
“We had an excellent candidate [in Poulos], and we didn’t want to see him get away,” he said.
Last November, voters passed a 2.2-mill safety services levy that was to generate about $2,078,924 annually for five years. Trustees had pledged that if it passed, they would hire up to 10 new police officers and recall laid-off firefighters. Six of the nine firefighters laid off in early 2008 have returned to work.
Police Chief Patrick Berarducci said he’s made cuts and believes his budget can sustain the new hire. The department’s roster is 15 officers fewer than two years ago.
Earlier this month, an employee in the police records division resigned.
“The board told us that any money we saved would stay with the department,” Berarducci said.
There’s about an $8,000 annual difference between the pay of the clerk and a new police officer, he said.
Berarducci said he’s also been using the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, money seized from drug dealers, for equipment purchases, freeing up funds for personnel.
“I’m down 25 percent in appropriations and 30 percent in manpower this year,” the chief said. “You can’t just keep bleeding us.”
Additional savings have been realized through a cut in rent on the North End police substation and by diverting the in-car police computer system to Canfield.
Recent crimes in Youngstown where perpetrators used semi- automatic weapons is an example of why the township needs more police, he said.
If that spills onto the township streets, it increases the risk to both police and the general public, Berarducci said.
“The type of caliber used in those weapons cuts through an officer’s vest like a hot knife through butter,” he said.
Berarducci also applied for a $2.8 million grant through the federal stimulus package to hire up to 10 officers. That money would cover 100 percent of new officers’ pay for three years. After the three years, communities that receive the grant would be required to employ the new cops for at least one additional year.