YPD to transfer officers to offset patrol shortage

July 10, 2019 at 12:05a.m.

Departures prompt need for reassignments

YOUNGSTOWN

Because of an exodus of patrol officers due to a low starting salary, the police department will reassign five officers from other units to road patrol.

Beginning Thursday, the officers – two from the Community Police Unit, one each from the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force and the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, and a member of the department’s crime lab will be joining the ranks of the patrol division.

Chief Robin Lees said the transfers are needed because of the ongoing departures of patrol officers, especially younger patrol officers, who say they are leaving because of the department’s starting salary of $14.92 an hour and also because of the 12 years it takes them to reach the maximum salary of about $54,000. Several area departments have a larger starting and maximum salary, and it also takes less time to achieve the maximum salary.

The department has seen 18 officers leave since the new salary schedule was implemented about eight years ago.

Because of the transfers of officers Phil Skowron and Joe Burnich from the CPU to patrol, the unit will have to be retooled, Lees said. At the time it was conceived, each ward in the city was assigned a specific officer who would be available to meet with block watch groups and address quality-of-life issues for residents, thereby freeing up a patrol car that typically handled some of those calls.

Now, Lees said the CPU will be redesigned so there is an officer assigned to all four sides of town and the downtown.

With the transfer of officer Brad Ditullio from the crime lab to the road, there is one less person available to be on call for after-hours major crimes, so the on-call schedule for the crime lab has been shortened, Lees said.

“It just crunches things,” Lees said of the transfers.

The other two officers who will transfer to the road will be Randy Miller, who patrolled the West Side for several years, and Marc Gillette.

All five officers will be spread throughout the five turns.

The department will be giving a civil-service exam Saturday for entry-level patrol officers, of which 99 people signed up to take the test. Lees said after the test is completed and graded, he hopes to have 12 to 15 new officers hired in the early fall. After those officers hit the streets, the officers who were transferred this week could go back to their old assignments if they choose to.

Also Tuesday, the department promoted three officers to detective sergeant: Jessica Shields, Nick Menichini and Seann Carfolo.

Shields will be a patrol supervisor on afternoon turn, while Menichini will be a patrol supervisor on midnight turn. Carfolo will be an investigator in the department’s Family Services Investigation Unit.

Also, Detective Sgt. Jose Morales Jr., who is a patrol supervisor on afternoon turn, will be transferring to the detective division, taking the place of Detective Sgt. Sharon Cole, who is moving to a supervisory position and day turn patrol.