Response to missing child report raises police staffing questions
By Jennifer Misthal, Journal Inquirer
05/08/2006
EAST WINDSOR - A child is missing and the police are called. An hour later, an officer responds.
When a second-grader didn't get off her school bus one recent Monday afternoon, that is how the situation played out for the Snyder family of 39 Graham Road.
"The town doesn't have enough resources to handle it," John H. Snyder, the child's father, said recently. "Being a 7-year-old child, to me every minute counts."
His daughter returned home safe on April 10, after getting on the wrong school bus that took her to a day-care center across town, Snyder said.
In the end, school officials were able to locate their daughter, but the emotions of that day linger for the Snyders, who have lived in East Windsor for eight years.
The Snyders are making this situation public, by sending letters to town officials, and speaking out at the town's public hearing on the budget.
"With a one-hour response time, any number of possibilities could have happened, all of them with potential tragic conclusions," the Snyders wrote in their letter.
This inability to adequately respond to calls for service is occurring more regularly, Police Chief Edward J. DeMarco said Friday.
Police logs from April 10 indicate the Snyders called the police at 4:27 p.m.
When the call came in about the Snyders' missing daughter, the two on-duty officers were tied up at an accident on Bridge Street involving a drunken driver, DeMarco said.
Police were called to the accident just nine minutes before the Snyders placed their call.
Only two officers were on duty when those calls came in because of a personnel shortage, DeMarco said. Union contracts mandate each shift is staffed by at least two officers.
Of the department's 26 officers, there are six sergeants, two detectives, and 14 patrolmen serving a town with about 10,000 residents, DeMarco said.
"Doesn't this go to show you that maybe we do need one or two more people on patrol during the day?" Snyder asked.
But recently, the number of available patrolmen has dropped to 10: One officer joined the East Hartford Police Department, one may join a police department in Florida, another is on extended medical leave, and the fourth is on administrative leave, DeMarco said.
"There is a very strong potential that one incident can tie that entire shift of officers up for several hours," he explained.
When handling a missing child case, time is of the essence, DeMarco said, adding it is imperative to get an officer onto the scene.
"You really want to be there rapidly to intervene and start to enact some of the procedures," DeMarco said. Officers will help contact family and friends, get information out to the public, and talk with other police agencies, he added.
As the town continues to grow, the police department's calls for service rise, the chief said, and the strain is much more noticeable.
DeMarco has vocalized his concern over recent months as town officials finalize their budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
Last week, finance officials announced a $2.3 million budget, a 6.2 percent increase over the $2.2 million budget for the current year. Most of this increase is allotted for contractual obligations.
Original budget drafts for the department included plans to expand by one officer, which would cost $44,532 in salary.
The town's proximity to both Hartford and Springfield are to partly to blame for the rise in crime, DeMarco said, also citing the short distance to the airport.
Having witnessed the effects of the police department's budget constraints first-hand, the Snyders are calling for an increase in funding.
"Let's get these officers the staff they need to effectively respond to this town's needs. We feel that every parent in this town would agree," they wrote in their April 19 letter.
©Journal Inquirer 2006
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