What Happens When Watertown Police Officers, Firefighters are Deployed Overseas

Both Watertown police and fire departments operate now with fewer people on duty — partly because both departments have men doing military service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many Americans joined the military to serve the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. That same sense of service leads some people to become police officers or firefighters. So when National Guard and Reserves units get called up, those same people must head overseas.

Watertown Police has two officers serving:

• Brian Gannon is in his second tour, and he is flying U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters in Iraq
• Ken Dinjian’s National Guard unit was deployed to Afghanistan

Watertown Fire Department has three men deployed:

• James Maloney is in his third deployment with the Army, this time to Afghanistan where he serves with a Special Forces unit.
• Sean Costigan serves as an Army medic in a forward surgical team.
• Paul Bourque just left in August as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve

The department is proud of the members in the military, said Police Chief Edward Deveau. A plaque from the U.S. military sits in a display case in the police station.

When the men are gone, however, a hole is left in the staff roster.

“There are no contingencies for us to have new officers or temporary ones,” Deveau said. “There is so much training needed to become an officer, it is not possible.”

Fire Chief Mario Orangio faces similar challenges.

“I am proud of the firefighter that serve, and anyone who serves,” Orangio said. “It is a challenge (for the Fire Department), but a challenge for the right reason.”

Orangio sometimes pulls administrators to fill in during the day, but that is not a perfect solution.

“Their administrative work does not get done – inspections and training,” Orangio said.

The Watertown Police operate with fewer detectives, Deveau said, and they have lost other positions, such as the school resource officer assigned to elementary and middle schools.

Neither chief blames the military call-ups for the staffing difficulties. They just come at a bad time for municipal governments.

“We have a confluence of incidents that comes together and creates a problem, and we felt it a little bit last year,” Orangio said.

In the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, the Fire Department had to transfer money from other accounts to cover overtime.

“The biggest effect is on overtime, we have to replace those guys somehow,” Orangio said.