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Highlands Today

Dettman has new plan for CRA cop

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: February 10, 2010

SEBRING - An employment notice for a police inspector/Community Redevelopment Agency cop went more than three months with no takers, so Sebring Police Chief Tom Dettman went to "Plan B."

That officer was supposed to split his or her time between the CRA area, and also perform evidence technician work for the police department, with the city and CRA splitting the bill.

Due to the lack of interest within the law enforcement community, Dettman appeared before the CRA board of commissioners Monday night with a new plan.

He told the board he was scrapping his police inspector plan, and if the CRA got on board, with the city council's permission, he could fill it from within his department and change its scope.

"This is Plan B," said Dettman. "Plan B is actually a better deal for you; not as good a deal for me."

He said he would go to the next city council meeting on Feb. 16 and ask that the police inspector position be refrozen.

"There's no reason to keep something like that on the books if I can't fill it," said Dettman. "You have to remember, too, that was a culmination of many things, that particular position, a lot of which had some managerial responsibilities that I was looking for to help manage the police department a little bit more effectively."
Dettman will also ask the city council to direct the police chief to select an experienced police officer and assign him to the CRA district and evidence custodian's position, and to unfreeze one new recruit's position to take that experienced officer's space.
Dettman posted an internal notice on Feb. 1, and said he had a good candidate already. But he did not want to say who that is until the internal job posting for "a special assignment opportunity" had sunset on Feb. 15.

Back in July, the chief presented the board with his plan to thaw out a frozen police position and create the rank of inspector while adding a police presence to the CRA district.

The chief asked the CRA board to fund $25,000 of the cost, saying he might be able to convince the city council to unfreeze his much-needed evidence technician position and dedicate about a third of the inspector's time to the CRA district.

The city council approved the request in October.

The chief asked the CRA to put up about $16,000 in salary and $9,000 for benefits. This would be about one-third of the inspector's total cost.

Under the new plan, and if the city council goes along with it, since the patrol officer's cost is $10,000-plus cheaper, the CRA would get about 75 percent of the officer's time using bicycle, foot or a police cruiser to patrol the CRA area; which includes parts of Washington Heights.

"We need to have a higher police presence there," he said, referring to a recent homicide on Lemon Avenue.

Twenty-five percent of the officer's time would be relegated to the evidence and property functions, he said.

"The end result is also a better one for the city because it doesn't cost us as much to hire that police officer as it costs to hire the inspector," he said. "So the city also saves a little over $10,000."

This officer would also be available to adjust his or her schedule to work at some downtown special events and existing police coverage would be unchanged.

Larger cities such as Boynton Beach have their own CRA police force with their arm patches the same as other officers on the police force with the distinction of having the letters CRA in the center, Dettman told the board back in July.

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at 863-386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com

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