While Butler police officers are not happy about the arbitration ruling that freezes their pay this year, they are more concerned about possible changes in shift staffing.

Officer Bill Mayhough, who is president of Lodge 32 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said officers are concerned about language changes in the new contract that could alter the number of police on duty per shift.

City Councilman Jim Kraus said he expected to meet today with the attorney who represented the city in arbitration, city Clerk Bob Brehm and police Chief Tim Fennell to discuss how much "flexibility" the new language gives the city in restructuring police shifts.

For Kraus and city council, change is necessary to improve the city's finances, which have been in crisis for about five years.

What effect these changes will have on public safety in Butler is yet to be seen.

Arbitration ruling

The 22 members of Lodge 32 sent their contract to binding arbitration after negotiations with the city failed eight months ago.

The award issued by Michael McDowell, an attorney who heard the case, calls for police officers' wages to be frozen this year, with three percent increases in 2007 and again in 2008.

There is no change to the police pension, in which officers pay five percent of their wage.

The officers did receive an increase in shift differential pay to $1,050 from $800 annually.

But the biggest effect of the contract will most likely be felt by officers and residents in changes that could be made to shift make up.

Under the former contract, a shift had a four-man minimum along with a desk sergeant in the police station to take calls and dispatch officers and to watch over prisoners who are either sobering up or awaiting arraignment by a district judge.

If an officer called in sick, is on vacation or at training, another officer was called to make up the four-man shift, Mayhough said.

"This usually meant that there was overtime involved," he said.

The arbitration award calls for the manpower wording to be deleted in the new contract.

What that means, Mayhough and Kraus are unsure. Mayhough said the officers will wait to see what the city does with this wording.

Kraus said he, Michael Palombo, the city's labor attorney, Brehm and Fennell planned to discuss that issue today.

"I want to hear from the chief on what we need to do to cover our operational requirements. We need to do our due diligence to see what kind of flexibility this gives us," Kraus said.

A 911 option

One way council could change the police staffing is to remove the desk sergeant from the police station and have calls answered by the Butler County's Emergency 911 Center.

This was recommended as part of the city's participation in the state Department of Community and Economic Development's Early Intervention Program.

That attempts to help municipalities that may one day file for bankruptcy by paying for a consultant to examine city finances and operations looking for ways to reduce costs and increase revenues.

RDM, a Pittsburgh consulting firm, told city council in May to join the county's 911 dispatch service and put the desk sergeant out on patrol. RDM said this would save money for the city.

Mayhough disagrees, saying an officer will end up back in the station taking care of prisoners anyway.

"Also, we respond to about 1,000 calls a month and we found that the desk sergeant took care of about 80 percent of the calls that come into the station without dispatching officers — answering questions or taking information," he said.

"By law, dispatchers must send an officer to all calls made to the 911 center, so we will end up with 600 or so more calls that we have to go to, stretching our force even further," Mayhough said.

Kraus said council has not had a chance to discuss the matter with Frank Matis, director of county emergency services, or to find out if the center can handle the city's calls and what it may cost.

Kraus said he could have called Matis in recent months and asked, but he said all of council should question Matis at once.

Matis said Wednesday he had just been asked to attend council's meeting on Tuesday.

"I can't talk specifically about Butler because I don't know the details or what they will need, but I will say that with our recent expansion, we have room up here for additional dispatchers," he said.

A portion of the 911 center's costs are covered by fees paid for by land-line telephone subscribers and by cellular phone users. Landline users pay $1 per month, while cell phone users pay $1.25 per month.

Matis said that when Butler Township joined the 911 service in 1992 and Zelienople joined in 1993, it didn't cost those municipalities anything to join. They are the last two to link up with the 911 center.

What effect this possible staff change would have on police services is unknown and council will have to study the situation, Kraus said.

"Whether (removing the desk sergeant would be a detriment to the police force) is a legitimate consideration, but this may be a positive we can no longer afford," he said.