By Doug Miller
While no name was mentioned publicly, several sources said the promoted detective would be Mark Stark, who works with the juvenile aid bureau but whom the council's Republican coalition described as a strong Democratic party supporter. While the promotion will result in a nominal increase in salary for Stark, from about $110,000 to about $112,800, it will create a savings of $25,000 in overtime for the city over the remainder of the fiscal year. The department was short one supervisor, so sergeants who filled in on extra shifts have been extra.
The Democrats who supported the move with the strongest voices, Council President Leonard Remo and Councilwoman Denise Tangney, focused their praise on the move's cost savings. Remo said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that the move was in line with his goal of sparing the city any more tax increases like the 25 percent hike homeowners were hit with this year.
Tangney said the move was part of her long-range goal of paring down the police department's detective division, which she called redundant given the services available to the city from the county and state. "We already pay $5 million a year headquarters tax [to Nassau County police]," Tangney said. "Or we can pay nothing and get detectives from the state police. I want the detective division streamlined."
The loudest dissenting voices came from the largely black North Park neighborhood, which, time and again, has railed against all cuts to the detective division. The Rev. Carlton E. Mobley, pastor of Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church on JJ Evans Boulevard, cited the division's record of clearing out the neighborhood's notorious open-air drug markets, and said he was most dismayed that the city manager and the council's majority had gone ahead with this move without consulting Police Commissioner Tom Sofield Sr. "He's been very responsive to my concerns over the years," Mobley told the council. "I'm very confused as to why he was not appraised of the move."
Sofield would not comment on the promotion. The commanding officer of the detective division, Detective Lt. Vincent Buscemi, confirmed that he and Sofield were not briefed about the promotion until after it was put on the council's agenda, but declined to comment further. Stark was not present at the hearing.
The head of the Long Beach Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Detective John Sharpe, whose promotion to detective last December was nearly overturned by the Democrats earlier this year, expressed concern, but stopped short of calling the move political. "I think the promotion itself is excellent - the union always supports promotion," Sharpe said. "But you'll remember back to the summer when the council promised us that they wouldn't mess with the detective division anymore. Well, here we go again. ... It's not a good move."
But Remo cautioned against attributing the move to any sinister motives. "We're looking for ways to save money everywhere, not just the police department," he said. "This move is similar to what we did with the fire department: By hiring three firefighters, we saved a tremendous amount of money on overtime. Police overtime is a huge amount of money. We're spending $2,500 to save $25,000."
Remo also stressed that the detective division would not miss one member, since the reduction would still leave it with 12 detectives, its largest complement in years. "In 1998-99 there were 12 detectives," Remo said. "In 2000-01 there were 11. In 2002-03 there were nine and in 2004 there were eight."
That explanation was not acceptable to the council minority, which voted against the transfer. "[The Democrats] are trying to create a job for their friend and bypassing the chain of command," said Republican Councilman Jim Hennessy. He cited the city's charter, which includes among the police commissioner's duties: "He may change the titles of police officers and employees under him, except deputies, designating such titles as he may see fit, creating whatever offices and positions he may deem necessary for the proper organization and conduct of the department..."
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