Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part story on the Stratford Police Department.
As the Stratford Police Department combats recent increases in burglaries and automobile thefts and continues to make more arrests of narcotics criminals (see story Jan. 31, page 1), Chief Patrick Ridenhour has challenges managing the internal affairs of the department, too.
A top concern of Ridenhour, he told The Star during a January interview, is to make the department personnel “realize there are no hidden agendas” held by the department administrators.
Ridenhour, who came to Stratford from the Waterbury Police Department, said there is a problem “in policing in general — not just Stratford — where people feel there is a disconnect” between front line officers and a department’s administration. “I am trying to make [the front line officers] realize that we are here for them.”
One way he does that, the chief said, is by changing assignments of his personnel, so they learn a variety of aspects of policing and running a department and become truly qualified for promotion to a higher rank. By giving officers experience in a variety of duties and by providing leadership opportunities, Ridenhour aims to have a high level of job satisfaction throughout the department.
Ridenhour said he considers his job to “provide support and resources to officers to get the job done, and I take that very seriously,” as well as to keep the community safe and improve relations with community. It is a dual job of “officer safety and public safety.”
Staffing and budget
The Stratford Police Department is currently budgeted to have 108 officers, but it has 93 officers. “We are trying to get back to 2009 staffing levels,” which budgeted for 112 officers and had 108, Ridenhour said.
He said he is hoping to add 10 new hires, who would be untrained, in the next few months, to get to 103, and possibly add two already-certified officers to get to 105.
“If we can maintain 104 or 105, there could possibly be a drop in overtime” rates paid to current personnel, said Ridenhour.
Most of the new hires would be added to patrol duty, he said.
Of the department’s $10-million budget, about 5% goes to pay overtime. We are diligent managing what money we are given,” Ridenhour said. Overtime, he said, is “consistent at about $500K to $525K,” which he considers “not exorbitant.” Ridenhour said you cannot eliminate it; it is normal to have some overtime costs as some officers get sick or hurt or go off to military service.
He added, “It is not that easy to hire people.” Most who are hired are uncertified, and they take a year of training.
There is always some concern from the public about the amount of money paid in overtime, and how overtime may be used to drive up a pension benefit as retirement approaches. Officers and administrators are both concerned about possible misconceptions by the public.
Officers seen standing on the streets around utility company jobs are often on duty for non-town contractors, Ridenhour said. The companies hire police for traffic and personnel safety, and often pay the town for the police time. Those private-duty jobs do not count toward pension, which is based only on pay from the town, Ridenhour said.
He added that private-duty jobs do pay at higher overtime rates, which is good for the workers, but those payments are not calculated toward pensions.
Three benefits plans are in place for police officers. Plan A calculates a pension based on all town pay during the last two years of employment. The number of personnel in this plan is declining, the chief said. Plan B bases pension amounts on the years of service and the final-year salary and does not calculate overtime into the pension. This covers the majority of department members, according to Ridenhour. Plan C is for new hires and has no pension. Those workers have a 401(k) in their benefits package.
Mapping and mentoring
Elsewhere with internal affairs, the chief is excited about the department’s high-technology crime mapping system. The technology highlights “hot spots” for activities like crime and accidents, and the mapping is customizable by shift and duty of police. The system is not brand-new, said the chief, but personnel are getting more familiar using it, and it is now readily available to shift commanders throughout the department.
On a personal front, Chief Ridenhour has been a mentor in recent years to a Stratford High School student and later started mentoring a Second Hill Lane student. Ridenhour remains a mentor for that student, who is now at Flood Middle School.
“It makes me feel like I am making a difference,” Ridenhour said of mentoring. “It is what this job is all about — giving back. I like being a public servant.”
Stratford Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour. Greg Reilly photo.