Festival organizers pay part of police presence
Organizations planning festivals in Butler like the recent Jeep Invasion or the upcoming Italian Festival must budget for a significant police presence.
According to the city police officers' union contract, the city police exclusively provide security at all downtown festivals, according to Deputy Police Chief David Adam.
“In this day and age, people like to see a significant police presence at a large event,” Adam said.
Festival and parade organizers cannot hire a private firm to handle event security because it would breach the police contract, Adam said.
Also, the event organizers must pay the city 25 percent of the total cost of the police overtime to provide officers. Adam said about 10 officers work on the day of a large event in the downtown area, while five officers work on a typical Saturday.
According to annual overtime summaries provided by the city clerk's office, the city in 2016 incurred $17,242 in police overtime for seven festivals.
No reimbursement was charged for four of the events, so the total reimbursement from the remaining events was $2,671.
In 2017, a total of $24,933 in overtime expenses were incurred over eight festivals, four of which saw the 25 percent reimbursement from the organizer. The new festival last year, the Italian Festival, saw the highest police overtime costs of all the festivals at $8,600.
The least expensive 2017 festival regarding police overtime expense was the Memorial Day Parade, at $918.
The total 2017 reimbursement amount realized by the city in the police overtime category was $4,541.
The annual Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Spirit of Christmas parades are the events for which a reimbursement is not requested, according to the documents.
No reimbursement was received in either year for the annual Ice Festival, but no reason was given on the document.
City Councilman Jeff Smith said the city originally paid 100 percent of police overtime for events, but the 25 percent reimbursement was added when Maggie Stock was mayor.
While Smith agrees that the city should be reimbursed for events, he said city leaders should take a hard look at the number of officers scheduled for the individual events.
He used as an example the Jeep Invasion, and said the crowd there is generally quiet and spends their time observing the Jeeps on display.
“I'm not so sure that over the years, Butler hasn't had a tendency to put (officers) out on the street in a show of force, which costs more,” Smith said, “and I don't think it really adds to public safety.”
He said if the number of police were carefully decreased for some events, the amount representing the 25 percent paid today might be close to 100 percent of the overtime cost for police. Such a change would reduce the amount the city would pay for police overtime, he said.
“Rather than debate over what people pay, the first step council needs to look at is how much security we really need at the events,” Smith said.
He said he plans to have a discussion with Mayor Ben Smith about the subject.
A discussion by the 2014 city council about raising the reimbursement fee from 25 to 50 percent rankled event organizers and even chased one to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where it is still held each year.
The Rodfathers of Butler held its annual Cruise-A-Palooza on Main Street for 20 years, but moved to the show grounds in 2015 when the council discussed raising the police overtime reimbursement to 50 percent, according to a Butler Eagle article on the move.
Although the council did not enact the increase, the Rodfathers have remained at the Connoquenessing Township location.According to the article, the organizers of the Butler Fall Festival also were concerned at that time about the prospective increase of the reimbursement, while the organizer of the Butler Road Race said the event would remain in Butler if the increase was passed.Anthony Mastrangelo, the mayor in New Castle, Lawrence County, said on Thursday that the police officers' schedules there are manipulated so that all officers are working on the day of a festival without the city having to pay much overtime.However, covering security for festivals is not included in the police contract.Mastrangelo supposes an event organizer could hire a private security firm, but it wouldn't preclude a police presence.“The (police) are going to be there anyway, so why hire private security?” Mastrangelo said.He said the 4th of July Fireworks Festival and each autumn's Light Up Night are the largest public events in New Castle.In Oil City, Venango County, Mayor Mark Schroyer said the police department and fire police handle security and traffic during large festivals.“They are not contractually obligated to do so,” Schroyer said.He said extra officers are scheduled for major events, which is an expense that is included in each year's budget.“The organizers are not charged,” Schroyer said.Jared Sullivan, the president of Butler Downtown, said members who are business owners in the downtown told him the Jeep Invasion was a significant economic boon for them.“There were lines in some places,” he said.Sullivan said the festivals are important because they showcase the Main Street corridor.“They let some people who might not know what we have see our town,” he said.Sullivan agreed with Adam that having a significant, visible police presence during large events is important.“I don't think we need the officers because there are problems,” he said, “we need their presence to show people it is a safe environment.”Sullivan appreciates the officers and the city for providing them.“We have a really good working relationship with them,” he said. “The mayor and the new council and business owners are on the same page.”Butler Downtown organizes the Friday Night Concert Series that was once held in the New Castle Street plaza just west of Main Street, and is now held in the city parking lot off Main Street beside Peoples Gas.Sullivan said his organization includes 100 percent of overtime pay for two officers in its budget before they even begin planning the event.“We're OK with that,” he said.Sullivan hopes festivals and parades continue in the downtown area.“Everything going on downtown right now is wonderful,” he said, “and the police are an important part of that.”The eight events in which extra officers are deployed each year are the Ice Festival, the three parades, Jeep Invasion, Butler Road Race, Italian Festival and Fall Festival.
