Collective bargaining for Newton Falls police to end Jan. 1

Staff report

NEWTON FALLS

Newton Falls has been a village since the 2010 census showed that its population had dropped below 5,000. A community of less than 5,000 citizens becomes a village instead of a city.

On Jan. 1, when the village’s contract with its police officers expires, collective bargaining with those officers will end, because villages do not have to allow collective bargaining, said Eugene H. Fixler, Newton Falls police chief.

He said Tuesday the village will reduce two full-time police officers to 28-hour part-time officers effective Jan. 1, and make other management changes to allow the village to cut its budget.

All of this is at the direction of village council, which approved a 2014 budget Monday that cuts $163,825 from the police department’s budget, Fixler said.

The chief says the department still will employ 21 officers after Jan. 1 and continue to have a school resource officer and canine officer. It will have four full-time officers including the chief.

If collective bargaining were kept, the department would be able to have only one officer working per shift, which isn’t enough, Fixler said.