Butler is considering eliminating the desk sergeant position from its police department.

Mayor Tom Donaldson said he hopes to reassign the position to put another officer on patrol on the streets by July 1.

“I think it would be a big benefit to the city,” Donaldson said following the city council meeting Thursday night. “We would have an extra officer patrolling the streets.”

The police department maintains an officer at its desk 24 hours a day to answer phone calls and speak with residents who walk into the station.

If the position were to be eliminated, all calls to report an emergency or a crime would go through 911 at the Butler County Emergency Services department.

Donaldson said it would take about six months for the county to prepare for the change in policy.

“I am going to send the county a formal letter,” Donaldson said. “But I have already spoken to commissioners Dale Pinkerton and Bill McCarrier, as well as Steve Bicehouse.”

Bicehouse is the county emergency services director.

Donaldson said the county likely would have to hire additional dispatchers to handle the task.

Now calls made to the county 911 center requesting city police assistance are typically transferred to the police desk. Without a desk sergeant, the calls would be handled by 911 dispatchers.

Donaldson said Butler Township police use 911 dispatchers for its calls.

However, the city department would still have personnel in the office during the day. Donaldson said Chief Ron Brown is often at the station during the day as are the department’s administrative captain and a detective.

He added a nonemergency telephone number also will be available to residents.

He said there also is the possibility of having the parking ticket clerk in the station to assist during working hours.

The station now is open during the day, and residents can ring a buzzer to be let in at night.

The mayor said the department would likely have to place a red telephone outside the station’s doors, allowing residents to call in an emergency at night.

Brown said the move would be an adjustment for the department, but said having the extra officer available would aid in fighting crime.

“It’ll put an extra guy out on the street,” Brown said. “That’s a good thing.”

Donaldson said eliminating the desk sergeant position would not only put another officer on the streets, but said it also will cut down on overtime costs.

“That’s not why we’re doing this, but that is a spinoff benefit,” he said.

Councilman Kathy Kline said after the meeting that the move makes sense.

“It’ll be more efficient,” she said.

The city has 23 police officers.