Chiefs, Officers, Firefighters Can Weigh in on Watertown Public Safety Study

The Public Safety Committee will hear from firefighters and police officers along with the Fire and Police chiefs as they go through the recommendations from the .

The report includes 22 recommendations for the Police Department and 27 for the Fire Department, some of which 

Who Gets a Say

Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli, the chairman of the Public Safety Committee, proposed a process for going through the study, one recommendation at a time. He said he plans to take input from Fire Chief Mario Orangio and Police Chief Edward Deveau, as well as members of the police and fire departments and the public.

The chiefs, and the heads of the fire fighters and police unions will be able to submit written responses to all of the recommendations. 

The fact that the process would be opened to the rank and file members of both departments pleased the firefighters and police officers at the hearing on Monday night.

"It should be an open process that includes not just the department heads, but everyone," said Officer Tony Fantasia, vice president of the Waterotwn Police Patrol Officers Association. "I think that's huge. On a day to day basis, we will be the ones that do the work."

Deputy Fire Chief Tom McManus said he is glad to hear that firefighters will also get a chance to talk about the recommendations, but he said it is still up in the air whether it will make a difference.

"It is all about, do they (the Town Councilors) listen," McManus said.

Firefighter Union President Tom Thibaut said he still is concerned about how the report was written.

"My main concern is the whold process (in making the report)," Thibaut said. "I feel it is tainted. If you Google Matrix you will find the exact same problems." 

He cited a story from the Glocester Times about a study of the Department of Public Works in Gloucester where Matrix's report was late, and the recommendations changed in the final version. Also, in Hanford, Calif., the City Manager lost her job after controversy arose from a study of the city's management conducted by Matrix, according to a story in the Hanford Sentinel. 

Thibaut said similar things occured in Watertown's Public Safety Report - a late report with different recommendations than the draft report.

The Process

When Public Safety Committe goes through the report, Piccirilli said, they would look at each recommendation and make one of four recommendations to the full Town Council:

• Recommend it for implementation
• Recommend it for implementation with modification
• Recommend it should studies further
• Recommend it should not be implemented.

The recommendations of the Public Safety will not go into effect automatically, Piccirilli said. 

"This Committee will develop and vote on preliminary recommendations," Piccirilli said. "The whole council will vote on whether to make it policy."

The process could take a long time, but Piccirilli set a goal of finishing the report before October when the town's preliminary budget is presented for the following year. 

The following is the full text of the statement from Public Safety Committee Chairman Vincent Piccirilli: 

May 14, 2012

As the Public Safety Committee begins the task of reviewing the recently presented public safety studies on the management and operations of the Police Department and Fire Department, I would like to propose, as chair of the Committee, a strategy on how we will proceed.

First, however, I think it is important to highlight something important that is contained in the studies, and that is the fact that both the Watertown Police Department and the Watertown Fire Department provide a very high level of service to the residents and visitors of Watertown, as compared to many cities and towns in Massachusetts as well as the rest of the nation.  We should be proud of the work that our two Chiefs, their command staff, and the rank-and-file members of the two departments perform, especially during these past three years of reduced staffing from budget cuts, and I want to thank them for their dedication and service.

The reality that governments face today is that the drop in revenue from the 2008 financial crisis has become the new normal, and while the Watertown’s annual revenue growth has stabilized, it will be a long time before it returns to the pre-2008 levels.  This is the reason that Watertown has taken a detailed look at how efficiently services are provided in each department, and this is why the public safety study was commissioned.

Because of the large number of recommendations contained in the studies (22 for police, 27 for fire) as well as the complexity of the issues, I propose that the Public Safety Committee proceed as follows:

1. The police and fire studies will be taken up separately. 
2. The Committee will discuss each recommendation in the study, and then vote on each recommendation as follows:

• The recommendation should be considered for implementation.
•  The recommendation should be considered for implementation with the following modifications (as specified).
•  The recommendation should be studied further, and why.
•  The recommendation should not be implemented for the following reason (as specified).

1. At the end of the process, this Committee will submit two final reports to the full Town Council summarizing its conceptual recommendations.  These recommendations are to be considered policy guidance from the Town Council to the Town Manager, and are not to be construed as exercising administrative control over the Police and Fire Departments, as delineated in the Watertown Charter.
2. To assist the Committee in the decision-making process, the Committee requests that the Police Chief and the Fire Chief submit to this Committee a written response to each recommendation made in their respective study, using the four criteria listed above, as well as any other material that they feel would be helpful to the Committee. 
3. The Committee will ask the Town Auditor to review and provide an opinion on the fiscal impact of each recommendation in the studies.
4. Because improvements in operations are best achieved with the participation of and input from employees, the Committee invites the leaders of the Watertown Police Association, the Watertown Police Supervisors Association, and the Watertown Firefighters to provide a written response to each recommendation made in their respective study, using the four criteria listed above, as well as any other material that they feel would be helpful to the Committee.
5. Multiple Committee meetings will be scheduled to discuss the recommendations.  Written responses are requested to be delivered to the Committee prior to the first meeting.  The first meeting will be scheduled after the approval of the FY2013 budget in June 2012.  The Committee will aim to present its reports to the Town Council prior to the preliminary budget overview in October 2012.
6. Members of the public will be allowed to speak during the Committee meetings as each recommendation is discussed.  Because of the number of recommendations under consideration, speakers will be limited to 2 minutes, and will be asked to be brief, to stay on topic, and avoid redundancy.
7. Members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments by mail or email.  These should be addressed to the Public Safety Committee c/o the Council Clerk.  Please include your full name and address.  Anonymous comments will not be considered.

Police, Fire, and Dispatch together represent the Town’s biggest expenditure after education, and it is important for this community to determine how to best deliver the level of service citizens want, more efficiently, which is why the study was commissioned.  Self assessment is never an easy task, but it is essential to bring about improvements.  I ask that everyone involved remain focused, patient, and respectful as we work as a team to evaluate the recommendations before us, in a timely manner.  I believe teamwork yields the best results, and I am confident that this Committee, working together as a team with the police chief and fire chief, will produce meaningful policy guidance for the Town of Watertown.

Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr.

Chair, Public Safety Committee