By Danny Teigman
The city's 2006-07 budget, which passed by default May 31, demoted the Long Beach Police Benevolent Association president, Detective John Sharpe, along with Detective Walter Munsterman and Detective Sgt. James Canner, who heads the department's Narcotics Task Force, to patrolman status. City Manager John Laffey, the former police commissioner, defended the demotions as crucial to curtailing overtime.
The vote to eliminate the demotions will cost the city more money, but the expense will be balanced by pending retirements, Laffey said.
The dissenting vote came from Councilwoman Denise Tangney, who said she was skeptical of the notion that residents' safety would be better served if the three retained detective status.
For nearly half an hour, Tangney engaged City Manager John Laffey in a lengthy dialogue, questioning the logic and function of the Long Beach Police Department's power structure. Her point of view - that detectives solve crimes, but patrolmen prevent them - was hardly unanimous. In fact, Republican councilmen Tom Sofield Jr., the son of the current police commissioner, and Jim Hennessy questioned Tangney's motives in light of her support for other spending increases on the agenda, including for the city's tax certiorari consultant, Sam Ungar.
"You want to demote these cops to save money, but you support a pay increase for Sam Ungar? Your comments ring hollow," Sofield said. "Don't sit there and pander."
But Tangney said unorthodox solutions were the only way for the city to get out of its fiscal hole. "I'm adamant that we need to be creative in terms of restructuring things, and this is just the beginning," she said. "We have made a commitment to do that, and this was the first attempt to do it, and it got squashed."
Sharpe, who spoke on behalf of his fellow nearly demoted detectives, said he was relieved, but suggested that larger forces were at work. The PBA endorsed the Republican slate in last November's election, and while Laffey suggested that the union work with the city to find another way around the overtime issue, Sharpe said it was an empty gesture. "[The Democrats] have never asked to meet with me since they took office," he said. "But I'm glad this is over. It's a win for the community and will help us do our jobs."
Despite the political infighting, North Park resident and community activist Sammy Sloan said he was pleased that the detectives had been reinstated. "These guys are the top guns," he said. "The elite."
