Valley Independent Sentinel

Budget Woes Puts Seymour ESU On Hiatus

by Joseph Cole | Mar 18, 2010 11:40 pm

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Posted to: Seymour

On Tuesday, First Selectman Paul Roy Selectman Kurt Miller recommended the Board of Selectmen endorse a spending freeze to stop a widening budget deficit.

“The letter went out this morning, and (the various boards and commissions) have been abiding,” First Selectman Paul Roy said Thursday.

The first board to have its regular meeting since the decree was the Board of Police Commissioners. Through them came down the hammer: no more spending on training, classes, events or anything else for the police department’s Emergency Services Unit (ESU).

The deficit is at $192,643 according to Roy. He said the decision to halt funding to the ESU should help significantly.

Police Commissioner James Simpson said with an 8.8 unemployment rate in Seymour and a potential 4.1 increase in the town’s mill rate looming, the decision to cut ESU funding is nothing personal.

“This has nothing to do with performance, nothing to do with personalities, it has everything to do with fiscal responsibility,” Simpson said.

ESU members are highly trained. They handle SWAT and hostage response team for the town. According to an agreement with Naugatuck, the Seymour officers are that town’s emergency service unit as well.

With the spending freeze the unit is effectively on hiatus. Their equipment will still be available, but, according to Officer Richard Sprandel, part of the worth of the team lies in remaining sharp and well-trained.

“If they return the funding in six months, we won’t be instantly ready to up and respond as a unit,” he said.

The unit budgeted $31,000 on training last year.

While the big items, precision rifles and flash-bang grenades, for example, are purchased as part of their budget, the squad buys much of its own support gear.

The previous night the ESU hosted a Civilian Police Academy where the public was invited to learn about some of the squad’s duties and tactics. The police commissioners were invited to attend. Only one, Commissioner Stephen Chucta, attended.

“I was there and I was amazed at the training these guys do,” Chucta said.

The ESU officers have been called into action an average of twice a year since their 2003 inception. Those calls could range from hostage situations to suicide prevention.

Commissioner Frank Conroy Jr., noted that the cut felt by the 10 members of the ESU may not be the only hit the police department takes. The spending freeze mandate in conjunction with an imperative for a zero increase budget may leave everyone hurting.

“Every department is going to have to give a little bit. We don’t know where we are going to end up,” Conroy said.

Sprandel wasn’t happy with the decision, saying there wasn’t enough discussion on the merits of the program.

While the spending freeze may end up saving the town some money, Sprandel couldn’t say outright what the lack of a functioning ESU might cost the town.

“I don’t know,” he said in the halls outside the meeting room where the board rendered their decision. “If something happens (where the ESU is needed), it’s a lot.”

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