Retirements may impact village PD

The village of Rockville Centre stands to lose the experience of as many as six seasoned police officers by year’s end, the Herald has learned, and if many of those officers do retire within weeks of each other, the village could face a substantial payout. The police department, already short staffed with two officers out on disability, an unfilled open position, and a lower-than-authorized headcount, would see the retirement of about 12 percent of its force by the end of December if all six officers leave.

The department is authorized to have 54 members but it currently has 51, including the officers not currently on active duty. About 14 or 15 officers are eligible to retire, said a police department source. One officer — Bob Anderson — has already retired this year and another, James Lauth, is set to leave this week.

“We knew that police officers were retiring this year, that’s not unusual,” said Deputy Mayor Chuck Joyce, who is the current liaison from the village board of trustees to the police department, “we just don’t know how many. We were advised a few months ago that there were possibly four at the time, but things change. Until such time that we are notified, we don’t know how many. Officer James Lauth is retiring this week and I know that there are some other people contemplating retirement. But I do know that until such time as they tell us or they put in their papers, we don’t know how many."

Joyce said that he believes that after this week, only one officer will be out on disability. He also said that he expects negotiations "to start shortly" on the police union contract with the village, set to expire on Dec. 31.

A source in the police department said that the department is in the process of hiring. At least three candidates have been interviewed and they are looking for another three, if they get approval. These new officers would fill the ranks, and promotions within the chain of command would follow to replace personnel of higher rank who retired.

When planning to retire,village employees have no more than 90 and no fewer than 30 days before the date of their planned retirement to notify the state, which then notifies the village. Even then, the papers can be withdrawn any time up until an employee leaves. If a large number of employees leave simultaneously, the village could face a substantial expense — if a retiring officer saves more than 3,200 hours of sick leave, the village would pay half of that amount up to 1,600 hours, which could be substantial if a large number of employees leave simultaneously.