THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080284
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK AND JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
IT IS THE second largest mass retirement in the history of the city's Police Department. And it comes at a time when most indicators say the city needs more, not fewer, police officers.
It means that 18 officers - with some 500 combined years of police experience and representing 8 percent of the force - are being lost in the city with the region's highest violent crime rate, the region's steepest increase in juvenile crime and the city with the worst cops-per-violent-crime ratio in Hampton Roads.
The retirees range from assistant chief of police - Lt. Col. Howard K. Darden - to mid-level sergeants and five uniform patrolmen. The loss of the veterans comes at a time that the community is crying out for more officers on the street.
But instead of alarm, the reaction being expressed by newly appointed Police Chief Dennis A. Mook is one of optimism.
``Any time you lose that amount of experience, knowledge and history, at one time, it hurts,'' Mook said. ``But we are unleashing a lot of energy from a lot of great people who are extraordinarily talented.''
Many of the top positions being vacated will be filled by eager young police officers with fresh ideas and open minds, Mook said. And he will streamline management, he says, making it more efficient, more modern.
Some of the retirements were expected because of incentives provided this year by the Portsmouth City Council. The major one was council's decision to sweeten the retirement pot for policemen with at least 20 years of service.
Police officers now can leave the force after 20 years and draw 60 percent of their pay in retirement. Before this year, maximum retirement pay was 50 percent.
The retirements come on the heels of layoffs in other city departments.
The police department was bypassed, which pleased Mook and confirmed to him that city priorities had been changed.
``I think this shows they are putting the emphasis where the emphasis is needed - economic development and public safety,'' Mook said.
But a former city councilman who fought unsuccessfully for a larger police force is less thrilled with the message sent by City Hall.
``I had tried to get 15 additional officers in the budget,'' said John Epperson, whose term ended June 30. ``I couldn't get my other council members to go along with taking advantage of what we anticipated to be early retirement savings to do that.
``The rest of the council wanted to take a wait-and-see attitude,'' he said. ``Hopefully now the new council will take action.''
The problem with waiting, Epperson explained, is the time it takes to train new officers.
Twelve new officers were hired Tuesday but have yet to begin the police academy. They probably will not be fully trained for eight to nine months.
``Now unfortunately . . . basically, we're caught with our pants down with all these retirements coming up.''
City Manager V. Wayne Orton did authorize the hiring of two more officers in April when he restructured the department after former Police Chief Leslie Martinez resigned.
The department is presently authorized to have 218 officers, up from 216 in 1993. The department now has 208 officers, including the new hires, said police spokesman Cpl. G. A. Brown.
The city has not yet come up with figures for salaries savings resulting from the early retirements and it is not yet clear whether any savings would result in raising the number of authorized positions.
But earlier Mook said he believes he will be able to hire seven more officers by late summer.
The early retirements, Mook said, have reduced upper-level management by 30 percent.
``We are leaner at the top than we have ever been,'' Mook said. ``Our officers are better educated, more knowledgable and more capable than ever before.
``We can do more with less,'' he said. ``I think the taxpayers deserve the best organization for their money and that is what we are trying to do.''
But a police video that the department came out with during the budget process drew a different picture of what the department can do with less.
It detailed a detective bureau so overworked thousands of cases went uninvestigated and a uniform patrol that on a ``good night'' spread 13 officers around the whole city.
Epperson said he has been told that as few as seven officers have covered the city on occasions due to vacations or illnesses.
As far as pleasing the taxpayers, Epperson said the message the community sent to council candidates was loud and clear.
``The whole time through the campaign it was echoed: `More police! More police! More police!' And all the candidates were pretty much in accord that we did need more,'' said Epperson, who lost in the May election.
``But I couldn't get the other six City Council members to agree (that) we needed to do something about it at budget time.'' MEMO: Related stories on pages 14-17.\
KEYWORDS: RETIREMENT PORTSMOUTH POLICE DEPARTMENT by CNB