"7 Police Departments  Needed to Fill Gaps"

By Ted Brunelle
You need the police to help you… Dial 911… and the officer’s reply to the call from dispatch is “No cars available…” or “Car call in…” You will have to wait up to three hours for an officer to come.

Councilman Bill Courtwright, in charge of the city’s Safety Committee, states that there is a very serious problem in the Scranton Police Department - thin staffing when needed most at peak crime hours. “Scranton is almost 27 square miles, and there have been times when as few as three to five officers have been available to respond to incidents. In addition, the officer who drives the wagon and the desk officer needed to look up license plates and take calls from citizens, the Comm Center and other officers, are being included in this count. The desk officer doesn’t even have a vehicle,” stated Mr. Courtwright.
Under the original recovery plan’s manning clause, police shifts required 12 patrolmen to be on staff at any given time. Then, following a court ruling on July 7, the city was allowed to allocate manning to each police shift as the captain of patrol feels is required.
Mayor Chris Doherty has stated that reform would be immediate, and it has been. The juvenile supervisor position has been eliminated, the highway unit dissolved and a grievance procedure instated. But, were these changes for the better?
Referencing a situation that took place as recently this past Friday, Aug. 8, Mr. Courtwright told the Post that during the hours of 11 p.m. until 7 a.m., the “C” shift, manning problems were already visible. On duty was one officer in South Side, two officers in North Scranton, two officers covering West Side, two in Central City, and no officers in the Green Ridge area.
Then, at 1:49 a.m., a fight broke out in Bangor Heights and two officers responded. At 2:05 a.m., a fight involving as many as 20 people broke out on Mulberry Street at Wyoming Avenue. Officers from Olyphant, Throop, Dickson City and Blakely were also called. One officer broke off from the Bangor Heights incident and also responded.  Police from all communities responded to this call with the exception of Olyphant, who was called off. At 2:09 a.m., a fight at the Amber Bar erupted. Police from Moosic and Taylor were dispatched.
“In under half an hour, we had three large fights, and no available Scranton officers to respond…” said Mr. Courtwright. He further stated that, as a recent example of the manning problem, on July 20 there were no patrol cars covering downtown Scranton, and only four patrolmen covered the peripheral areas.
Blakely Chief of Police Guy Salerno during a telephone conversation confirmed the responding cars to the Aug. 8 incidents.  When asked if Chief Salerno felt that Scranton’s Police Department was being adequately manned, he responded, “When I used to work down there (which was pre-July 7), manning was pretty adequate … if it’s less than before, then that’s not good.  I don’t work down there now, so I can’t comment on their current situation, but what I do know is that on Aug. 8, seven different communities’ police departments were needed to cover Scranton incidents.”
According to Scranton Police Chief David Elliot, “The alleged manning shortages are because we are required to count police officers in a different way than we have in the past. The recovery plan previously dictated that there had to be the same number of officers on duty, regardless of the hour of the day. I have nothing against Mr. Courtwright, but he is just not counting the additional staff that is available.” Mr. Elliot explained that there is also the PACE (Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement) unit, which consists of four officers, a number of detectives, and additional officers from other departments still on staff which simply aren’t being counted. Mr. Elliot also stated that the apparent understaffing has nothing to do with overtime…“We try to budget how many officers are enough to have on duty on the average night.  We can’t always anticipate what might occur in the future, but what I can tell you is that I will never jeopardize the safety of any citizen’s or police officer’s safety.”
But what about the recent patrol shortages, like that occurring on Aug. 8?  Is Scranton vulnerable? At the moment, at least theoretically, yes. A savvy criminal could stage a police distraction on one side of the city, wait until all available officers respond, and then wreak havoc in carrying out their real objective while all patrolmen are busy at the distraction.
“Changes are being made,” Mr. Elliot assured the Post. “We will be adding another shift from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Ten additional officers will be added to patrol during these peak crime hours. The public will see changes within days.” He assures Scranton residents that there will be a much more visible police presence in Scranton possibly as soon as Aug. 18, but more realistically, closer to the 25th of the month.