Ossining town considers Westchester for police services

[x635 4,066]

Ossining town considers Westchester for police services

Ossining town considers Westchester for police services

By Marcela Rojas • mrojas@lohud.com • June 1, 2010

Unconfirmed reports that the town of Ossining Police Department will dissolve and be taken over by Westchester County police continue to circulate in the community while officials continue to deny that any deals have been made.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100601/NEWS02/6010318/Ossining-town-considers-Westchester-for-police-services

[EMSer 15]

along with Ossining and Briarcliff, I heard Mt. Pleasant PD (including the village departments of Pleasantville and Sleepy Hollow) could be involved with the merger as well.

Edited June 1, 2010 by EMSer

[helicopper 1,050]

I heard that TransCare was taking it over...

[Truck4 48]

This old chestnut again...

What's with the JN printing "unconfirmed reports?" That's professional.

[Bnechis 3,961]

This old chestnut again...

What's with the JN printing "unconfirmed reports?" That's professional.

It sounds better than "rumor has it"

[99subi 121]

along with Ossining and Briarcliff, I heard Mt. Pleasant PD (including the village departments of Pleasantville and Sleepy Hollow) could be involved with the merger as well.

honestly does Pleasantville and Sleepy Hollow really need their own pd's i mean cmon.

[Oswegowind 17]

A. T/O had this coming...since they spent how much on a new building, hired their own dispatchers, just to split hairs with the Village...so if it is true, their Police Chief is to blame! /end rant

B. The Journal News has been sinking to severe levels, recently they printed a story about a minor car accident in Yonkers (well web printed)...they didn't get all the info they thought that they were entitled too so they deemed it a police cover up and called out the Lt. they spoke to for info. What tools! /end 2nd rant

[INIT915 1,119]

Well, it's hard to argue that JN got this story out of left-field. County PD spokesman tacitly confirms the reports and the Town Supervisor hardly denies them.

[ny10570 745]

At this time Pleasantville is 100% committed to maintaining their own PD. They're looking to eliminate garbage collection and fire those workers, but won't consider a merger that would improve service and eliminate redundancy through attrition.

[Bnechis 3,961]

At this time Pleasantville is 100% committed to maintaining their own PD. They're looking to eliminate garbage collection and fire those workers, but won't consider a merger that would improve service and eliminate redundancy through attrition.

The last proposal was the town would cover them with existing units, which means fewer cars on patrol/available for calls both in the village and the town. Most would not consider that to be an improvement. I do not know what there coverage is or would be under that and generally I prefer the economy of scale, but one always needs to consider what the level of service will become.

[ny10570 745]

The last proposal was the town would cover them with existing units, which means fewer cars on patrol/available for calls both in the village and the town. Most would not consider that to be an improvement. I do not know what there coverage is or would be under that and generally I prefer the economy of scale, but one always needs to consider what the level of service will become.

I'll freely admit I haven't been involved with the details of what has recently been offered, but there was a proposal at one point I saw where savings were to come through reductions in management, facilities and support personnel. As for Pleasantville reducing the amount of coverage, thats something that should absolutely be looked at. The lone person manning the phones laid incapacitated for hours and no one noticed. No calls for help came in and its a common enough occurrence that none of the officers on patrol noticed.

[Remember585 815]

I'll freely admit I haven't been involved with the details of what has recently been offered, but there was a proposal at one point I saw where savings were to come through reductions in management, facilities and support personnel. As for Pleasantville reducing the amount of coverage, thats something that should absolutely be looked at. The lone person manning the phones laid incapacitated for hours and no one noticed. No calls for help came in and its a common enough occurrence that none of the officers on patrol noticed.

It's not just Pleasantville where you have one person working the desk, and I personally have been involved with several incidents and agencies that did not answer their phones and/or radios. It's a recipe for disaster.

If there was one police agency that covered all of the smaller municipalities, such as WCPD, and nobody lost their job, I'd be all for it. I just don't want to see anyone lose their job, especially now when jobs are hard to find.

I have a question for those in the know... how often does TOPD require assistance from OVPD, BMPD or another agency?

[jack10562 414]

Moderation Note:

Multiple posts not directly related to this discussion have been taken offline.

Thank you for understanding.

[Monty 35]

I may have missed this, but didn't see anything on this here on EMT Bravo. Interesting story that apparently is pretty much a done deal. It will be interesting to see if it works out as everyone seems to think it will.

Not sure how good the lohud link is, snippets of the story are pasted below

The town of Ossining is considering merging its police force with Westchester County's, an option that could save Ossining taxpayers more than $800,000 annually, officials said.

.....

The potential merger would allow for the same Ossining officers to work out of the North State Road facility, but they would be county employees, Borgia said.

...

the town is still looking at merging or sharing services with police departments in the villages of Ossining and Briarcliff Manor. ... A preliminary study favored the plan and showed that consolidation would save taxpayers an estimated $3 million annually.

....

The savings to Ossining would be realized through sharing administrative operations, supervisory and dispatching duties, as well as reducing the police force eventually through attrition, Borgia said.

....

The proposal calls for decreasing the staff from 17 members to 13 — a figure that includes a detective and school resource officer, Borgia said. A police chief would become a captain in this plan

...

Ossining town Police Chief Mark Busche said he supports the merger. Small police departments, he said, are becoming like mom-and-pop delis. The annual budget is $3.1 million, he said.

"This is the next logical step for small police departments who are being crushed by the costs of health care, retirement ... workers' compensation injuries, military deployments and mandates handed down for training," he said.

....

Christopher Perricone, PBA president said the PBA is "100 percent behind" the county merger and favors it to consolidating with the village police departments, saying it would yield more police services and better job security for his members.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Chris192
Merged with existing thread

[spin_the_wheel 460]

I guess 60 control will get Ossining FD full time 24/7 if this goes through. PD still does the dispatch, except for some part time FD self dispatch during the hours of 7-10pm or something alog those lines?

[x635 4,066]

Does Westchester County PD Communications have the resources (equipment, space, personel) for the additional workload that will be placed on the communications division if this all goes through?

[MoFire390 118]

I thought ofd and ovac got dispatched through the village pd. Can someone clear that up for me.

Thanks

[helicopper 1,050]

Does Westchester County PD Communications have the resources (equipment, space, personel) for the additional workload that will be placed on the communications division if this all goes through?

If you're talking about the Town PD and it's workload, I'd have to speculate that they can. If you're talking about fire or EMS I'd say that should go to 60-Control and not the County PD. But since I think (and someone else may have said the same thing already) that FD and EMS are dispatched by the Village it won't be an issue.

The Village PD's volume probably would be a strain on the Communications Unit but I don't think the town's volume would be.

[Monty 35]

I thought ofd and ovac got dispatched through the village pd. Can someone clear that up for me.

Thanks

Yes that is correct. Village of Ossining Police do the dispatch for all calls that are not received by 60 Control. 911 Calls received by the Town PD are transferred to the Village Police. The part time dispatchers take over after the initial dispatch (call Coned, DPw, Code Enforcement etc).

So, it would seem at this point that this change wouldn't directly effect the FD / EMS.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Monty

[10512 214]

It seems the topic of mergers is becoming more common. Considering the cost factors, I can't say I am against it. It may lead to some problems, manning, communications, and so on, but if they can be worked out, it may be worth a look .

Wasn't there talk of a Yorktown/Westchester county merger a year or two ago?

Edited June 20, 2010 by 10512

[61MACKBR1 222]

This appears to be the theme across the entire United States. With money being so tight and the economy in the tank, many local and municipal governments are now seriously looking at consolidation of services (Fire, PD, DPW) in order to save money. From what I have read, the major stumbling blocks appear to be territorial fights, political ramplings, and union fights. No one within the "rank n' file" are in favor of consolidation, because it would mean loss of jobs, etc, etc. etc. However, given how angry taxpayers are now with City, Town, and Village Budgets and almost everyone not in favor of any type of tax increase, political leaders are now faced with the reality that this must now be considered. Down in the south, COUNTY Police and Fire are the common set up. There are very few local police departments in place. DPW is also covered by the county, with sanitiation usually privatized and paid for individually by each citizen OR with a local or regional garbage disposal site where citizens can dump their household refuse. In Westchester County, the regionalization of Fire Services has been on the table for several years, but because of political ramblings and union protests, it hasn't really been pushed. But unless the economy rebounds greatly and is back to a level that it was, say 6 to 10 years ago, I foresee over the next year this may become a reality for both FD and PD, even being talked about with some of our larger cities (yes, I am talking about Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Yonkers, etc). We can all say "it will never happen and the brotherhood will not allow it to happen" but with money being so tight and citizens getting more frustrated each and every day with the economy, they (citizens) will force their local and county officials to go to this type of format, dispite what the rank n' file and unions say.

[10512 214]

I think the obstacles can be overcome, if the people involved WANT TO DO IT. I look at my tax bill and compare it to several years ago, and I wonder what is happening. It is not just some of the PD/FD that should look at merging, the school districts should also look at it.

[aviator70 16]

It seems the topic of mergers is becoming more common. Considering the cost factors, I can't say I am against it. It may lead to some problems, manning, communications, and so on, but if they can be worked out, it may be worth a look .

Wasn't there talk of a Yorktown/Westchester county merger a year or two ago?

There was about a year ago, nothing since.

[gamewell45 258]

This appears to be the theme across the entire United States. With money being so tight and the economy in the tank, many local and municipal governments are now seriously looking at consolidation of services (Fire, PD, DPW) in order to save money. From what I have read, the major stumbling blocks appear to be territorial fights, political ramplings, and union fights. No one within the "rank n' file" are in favor of consolidation, because it would mean loss of jobs, etc, etc. etc. However, given how angry taxpayers are now with City, Town, and Village Budgets and almost everyone not in favor of any type of tax increase, political leaders are now faced with the reality that this must now be considered. Down in the south, COUNTY Police and Fire are the common set up. There are very few local police departments in place. DPW is also covered by the county, with sanitiation usually privatized and paid for individually by each citizen OR with a local or regional garbage disposal site where citizens can dump their household refuse. In Westchester County, the regionalization of Fire Services has been on the table for several years, but because of political ramblings and union protests, it hasn't really been pushed. But unless the economy rebounds greatly and is back to a level that it was, say 6 to 10 years ago, I foresee over the next year this may become a reality for both FD and PD, even being talked about with some of our larger cities (yes, I am talking about Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Yonkers, etc). We can all say "it will never happen and the brotherhood will not allow it to happen" but with money being so tight and citizens getting more frustrated each and every day with the economy, they (citizens) will force their local and county officials to go to this type of format, dispite what the rank n' file and unions say.

It's only going to get worse as taxpayers become more and more frustrated with the costs associated with providing services; particularly in Westchester County, which is rapidly becoming unaffordable for the middle class to live in. People are only willing to open their wallets only so much before they become fed up and demand elimination of non-essential services and sharp reductions of essential services. Especially since many non-union workers are not receiving pay raises or are on layoff status. We may not want to admit it can happen, but I honestly believe its not too far down the road.