The Plain City Police Department will have a second sergeant later this summer.
Police Chief Dale McKee spoke to council about the department’s need during a work session this week.
He noted that village ordinances already allow PCPD to have two sergeants.
McKee said the department previously had two sergeants, but left the position vacant when the village was implementing budget cuts.
Filling the position would provide a third-shift sergeant and reduce “a lot of the middle-of-the-night calls” to current leadership, McKee said.
He added that the position would likely be filled through the promotion of a current officer.
“I’d rather hire inside,” McKee said.
He noted that within two to six years, three senior officers will be eligible to retire. Within eight years, that number jumps to five – including McKee himself.
He said promoting current officers will “get those people ready” for leadership positions and ensure the department’s structure remains strong.
There are four or five current officers who McKee said he anticipates will apply for the sergeant position.
He said he would like to begin hiring now, as it is a “long process” because other police chiefs assist throughout it.
If the position is filled by August 1, McKee said it would cost the police department an additional $2,477.
Council President John Rucker said the position is already permitted by village code and the cost is within the PCPD budget, so McKee’s request was “more of a courtesy.”
Regardless, he and other council members said they supported his desire to promote an officer to sergeant.
Council member Michael Terry, who also sits on the personnel and finance committee, added that he would like to see projections for future staffing needs at the police department.
He said he has “no problem” with having a second sergeant at this point, but feels it would be beneficial to be able to better anticipate future hires.
“As the population grows, what does staffing look like?” Terry asked.
He said researching how many officers are needed per resident, as well as how many senior positions that would warrant, would make future hiring “a little more systematic.”
In other business:
– Council continued to discuss the village’s event sponsorship policy.
Solicitor Paul Lafayette clarified that the Ohio Revised Code indicates that the village has the authority to expend resources toward events, so long as they are for public purposes.
As long as an event provides a benefit to the village or serves a public purpose, he said council can choose to support it financially or otherwise.
He said it does not matter if the event is organized by a public or private organization, it just needs to be open to the public.
The village can also support events regardless of whether or not they are free to the public, Lafayette added.
Given these parameters, the solicitor said the village needs to implement a policy that outlines how officials select which events to support.
“Everyone can apply, not everyone is going to be funded,” Council member Frank Reed said.
Terry suggested village administration consider how much could be realistically allocated to supporting events. He said this could be a starting point to creating a policy, which could include a grant application.
Mayor Jody Carney added that the village could keep a calendar that indicates which local events are supported by Plain City council and staff.
Rucker said he would research policies of other municipalities and work to draft one for the village prior to the July work session.