Methuen Lays Off Half Of Police Force So Brass Can Get Big Raise

A compromise that lowers the average pay police captains were in line to get by $250,000 on average won't be enough to keep Methuen from laying off more than half its police force. Methuen started handing out pink slips to 50 police officers Thursday, something the police chief called "a debilitating blow to public safety" for the whole Merrimack Valley.

The cuts come as a pay raise is coming due for ranking officers. The massive bump, written into the current contracts, could have seen the department's five captains begin earning $434,841 on average. A compromise reached over the summer would have lowered that number to an average of $188,206 - but the City Council refused to fund them as recently as Tuesday. Mayor James Jajuga went ahead with the lower pay raises, which are about a 24 percent bump.

Now Methuen is set to essentially go broke and overspend its budget within months, hence the mass layoffs to balance things out.

"A very sad day in #Methuen as the City issues 50 layoff notices to officers and 3 K9s," Police Chief Joseph Solomon wrote on Facebook Thursday. "A debilitating blow to public safety not only in Methuen but the entire Merrimack Valley. A level funded budget to last years level is all that is needed to save these jobs and ensure public safety and our residents safety!"

The city could stop the bleeding and recall the pink slips if the City Council funds the police department with $1.8 million from the stabilization fund, according to the Eagle Tribune. That's the route Jajuga wants them to take.

Even if the $1.8 million is pushed through, there is a concern Methuen officers would be scooped up and the city would have to pay to replace them. The Eagle Tribune reported that hiring a new officer and sending them to the academy for nine months can cost $55,000.

Officers were receiving pink slips as they arrived for the late afternoon shift change Thursday. That will continue through the weekend, The Boston Herald reported.

Methuen has 95 police officers, including 71 patrolmen.

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