Layoffs and illness hits Niles Police Department hard

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

NILES

The loss of three police officers because of layoffs Feb. 10 has reduced the Niles Police Department’s detective division from four to two, but staffing also took a hit recently with Chief Rob Hinton and Capt. Ken Criswell going on extended sick leave.

It leaves Capt. Jay Holland, who was promoted to captain in late 2011, in charge of the entire department as acting chief and in charge of the detective bureau because of the absence of Criswell, who is chief of detectives.

The detective division is now just Detective Jim Robbins and him, Holland said.

Niles Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia ordered the layoffs of 12 city employees Jan. 26 to reduce the city’s budget deficit.

Three were in the police department, three in the fire department and six in other departments that operate with money from the general fund.

The layoffs are projected to save nearly $600,000 if they continue for the remainder of this year, though Auditor Giovanne Merlo said the savings will be reduced by the amount the city must pay in unemployment compensation to the 12 employees.

Holland noted that it’s possible Hinton will not return to his position because he is close to retirement. Criswell has told The Vindicator he has a possibly serious illness and doesn’t know when he will be back on the job.

Holland said the department had 37 officers in 2010 and 32 at the start of this year. It has 29 now, but that is actually 27 because of the chief and chief of detectives being off sick.

To adjust, Holland assigned one officer from the detective bureau to road-patrol duties, moved traffic officer Shawn Crank to road patrol and moved an officer from the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force to Niles road patrol.

TAG is a multijurisdictional unit best known for working on narcotics investigations in Trumbull and Ashtabula counties.

Holland said there has been discussion of the Niles Police Department dropping to as few as 25 or 26 officers if the 0.5 percent income tax fails to pass at the polls March 15.

Holland said history has shown that such reductions can produce an increase in crime.

“All you have to do is look at neighboring communities that laid off officers, and the communities have never returned to where they were before,” he said.

Holland said one typical result of dropping numbers of police officers is a department goes from being proactive to reactionary.

“If we lose three or four more guys, it’s going to be a disaster,” he said.