Contract change puts more officers on weekend duty

OTHELLO - A change in the Othello police officers' contract may allow more officers on duty during the weekend.

The city council approved a change allowing police officials to schedule officers for the entire weekend during a recent city council meeting.

Othello police administrators negotiated the change with the Teamsters union representing the officers. The original contract set officers' work week so they had either Friday and Saturday or Sunday and Monday off, according to city records.

"So all of our staff is on duty on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on swings and graves, we may have four or five guys out there," Police Chief Steve Dunnagan said. "Yet on Friday and Saturday, when we need it the most, we have half of it."

Administrators and the union agreed to a solution by scheduling officers for four nine-hour work days, followed by two days off. The officers then work five nine-hour work days followed by three days off, according to city records.

"The nine-hour schedule will give us one-hour overlap, so the off going shift would come in an hour early, and the on-going shift would already be out there," Dunnagan said. "The off-going shift would be able to do all their paperwork ... and thereby, hopefully reducing some overtime in that particular category."

The change allows the department to stagger days off, so more officers are on duty when the city needs them - Friday and Saturday, Dunnagan said.

"So if our crime data is telling us that we need more resources on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we can make that happen with the new schedule," he said. "Instead of being locked into, 'Sorry we can't because there (are) only so many people we can field on Friday and Saturday.'"

They plan to start changing the schedule on Jan. 1, and try it for a year, he said.

"I think it will help with morale. It will help with the guys who are having to travel so much because they live in Tri-Cities or Ellensburg," he said. "I think all-in-all it will be very beneficial for the officers. It will be very beneficial for the city and it will be beneficial to the administration."

The change still needs to be approved by the union, Dunnagan said.