SHELBY — A restructuring of the Shelby Police Department remains in limbo this week after a lengthy discussion at Monday’s city council meeting.
Shelby City Council, Chief Lance Combs and Capt. Dave Mack debated for nearly an hour the pros and cons of the police department restructuring their leadership positions. Currently the Shelby Police Department has three captain positions and two sergeants; the legislation would change that to two captains and three sergeants.
Capt. Mack opposed the idea of the restructure in the 11th hour – the ordinance was scheduled for its third and final reading on Monday. It was first introduced at council’s April 2 meeting.
“We fully support the chief of police; we recognize the management rights; we respect council’s authority to make this piece of legislation,” Mack said. “All that we ask is when something is as important as this restructuring of the police department, it probably would’ve been a good time to call a labor management meeting.”
Instead, Mack said, members of the union had to read about the proposed legislation in the media.
“I know there’s no requirement of council to notify the union this is going to happen,” Mack said. “But sometimes a little communication goes a long way.”
The Shelby Police Department has two active captains, Dave Mack and Eric Rath. The third captain’s position is vacant.
According to Mack, the idea of restructuring the leadership positions was first raised three or four months ago through negotiations with the union. At that time, Mack said, the union “begged” the city to change the structure through attrition over time.
“At that point we were pretty much stonewalled, absolutely not, we have to have three captains,” Mack said. “Now here we are three or four months later, and seeing different things.”
The legislation as written would establish one chief of police, two police captains, three police sergeants, 11 patrol officers (two of which would serve as school resource officers) and four police dispatchers.
Mack requested the legislation be pushed back to a committee in order to allow the chief of police, the mayor and the union to negotiate the details of the restructure. He also noted two sergeants are currently studying to take an exam to fill Shelby’s vacant captain position.
“As its written right now those two individuals would be taken away that opportunity,” Mack said. “In the end, is there even going to be a job to study for?”
Chief Combs stated he “respectfully disagreed” with Mack’s position, noting that talks of realignment have occurred since he was a patrolman in the 1990s. The last shift in leadership structure at the Shelby Police Department occurred 46 years and four chiefs ago.
“In discussions I’ve had with three living former chiefs, all agree realignment is appropriate and long overdue,” Combs said.
Combs explained that as far as shift supervisions, the roles of captains and sergeants are nearly identical. The difference comes via scheduling: currently captains are scheduled eight-hour shifts, five days a week Monday through Friday, whereas sergeants are scheduled for 12-hour shifts Saturday through Monday and one eight-hour day every other Tuesday.
According to Combs, there have been talks in the past of switching captains to 12-hour shifts, which he does not support.
“In my view, captains should have a more managerial, administrative command role, and 12-hour shifts for captains does not afford the administrative coverage that I feel appropriate,” Combs said.
Combs knows the struggles of captains firsthand, serving in that capacity before being named chief.
“The busiest shifts I used to get very frustrated, and was unable to complete the simplest of administrative tasks because of manpower shortages and high call volume,” he said. “Many times, inappropriately, I lamented that I was nothing but an overpaid patrol officer.”
Long-term, the goal of the police department is to change leadership structure once again to one captain and four sergeants. However, Combs emphasized that change would only be made through attrition over time, and probably not for another eight years or so.
“I won’t willingly participate in something that eliminated positions,” Combs said. “I have no desire to eliminate anybody’s position or reduce anybody’s income as a part of this process.”
Council unanimously voted to postpone the legislation until the May 21 meeting, though members of council leaned towards making the change from three captains to two. Councilman Nathan Martin volunteered to change ordinance language to state that future changes could only be made through attrition.
“I agree with the steps, and I agree with the long-term plan. It makes sense,” Martin said. “I have a military background, and I understand promotions have to mean something fundamentally more than just a pay raise. They also need to be an actual supervisory change.”
