Seymour will keep its community police officer position.
The position was in jeopardy of getting cut for the 2011 – 2012 fiscal year because of staffing shortages at the police department and the loss of a grant that helped pay the officer’s salary.
But on Tuesday, five days into the new fiscal year, Community Police Officer Sergio Desiderato was at his desk at the Seymour Police Department working out details for the department’s latest community program.
Police Chief Michael Metzler has agreed to keep the position in tact after residents, First Selectman Paul Roy and the director of the Seymour Housing Authority lobbied him and the Board of Police Commissioners. Click here to read a story about their pleas.
Desiderato directed all comments through the department’s spokesperson, Lt. Paul Satkowski.
Metzler was on vacation and unable to be reached for comment.
“He is currently staying where he is,” Satkowski said of Desiderato. “That was the determination.”
Satkowski said Chief Metzler didn’t elaborate on his reasons for keeping the community police officer position.
Desiderato wasn’t in jeopardy of losing his job. But Metzler considered moving him back to regular patrols after the department lost two officers because of a retirement and a resignation. Five others are on sick leave.
“We need bodies,” Metzler told the Board of Police Commissioners last month, when questioned about the possible loss of the program.
Roy said he called Metzler two weeks ago to urge him to reconsider. Roy said part of the reason Metzler wanted to move Desiderato to the patrols was because a housing authority grant that used to pay for part of his salary wasn’t renewed.
“I think the money is in the police department budget to take care of it,” Roy said. “There’s always a few bucks. I’m sure there’s room in that budget for the extra money that was lost for not getting that grant.”
The community police officer works with the Seymour Housing Authority, oversees community block watch programs in town, and runs community programs such as the Trick or Trunk event and the Citizens Police Academy.
Roy called Desiderato’s work “invaluable.”
“He has a good rapport with the kids and the seniors,” Roy said. “He has helped quite a few people.”
Desiderato deals with issues such as neighbor disputes, noise complaints and tenant issues at the housing authority properties. He also helps direct residents to social resources in the community.
Several housing authority residents attended the June Board of Police Commissioners meeting to ask the commissioners to help make sure the program doesn’t get cut.
David Keyser, the housing authority’s director, said the residents trust Desiderato because he spends a lot of time working with them.
“We have a guy who knows the community and can relate to the people and their individual problems. And help to solve problems before they become bigger issues,” Keyser said. “He has been a great liaison for us.”
New Officers
Metzler has the final say on whether to keep someone on a special assignment, such as the community police officer position or the school resource officer.
But the Police Commissioners authorized Metzler to hire two new officers to help alleviate stress on the staff levels. The officers will replace the two that left the department last year.
Satkowski said the department plans to seek police officers who are already certified — for example an officer looking to leave another department — in order to get new employees in place soon.
The other option would be to send a recruit to the police academy, a process that Satkowski said could take between a year and 18 months to complete.
If the department is able to find two candidates who are already certified, Satkowski said they hope to have the positions filled in two to three months.
