AUSTINTOWN — The township has a new plan to restore the police department to adequate staffing levels.

In an emergency meeting on Thursday, trustees approved a memorandum of understanding between the Austintown Police Department and FOP Lodge 126, representing the township’s sworn police officers.

The MOU establishes a lateral hiring plan intended to make transferring to Austintown from other departments more enticing by matching experienced officers’ wages and pensionable time and offering a one-time vacation bonus. The terms of the MOU will be incorporated into the next collective bargaining agreement.

“The bottom line, for me, is that the residents voted to have a fully staffed department and voted for the services they’re accustomed to and now it’s our duty to return those services as quickly as possible while still maintaining our standards,” said Township Administrator Mark D’Apolito. “We had to make the adjustments that we’ve made over the last 18 months to work within the available funds, and they were gracious enough to give us the opportunity to demonstrate our services and we intend to do that.”

The department has dropped from 43 officers to 31 in the past few years because of retirements and officers leaving for better-paying jobs in other communities, and Austintown has saved money through attrition by not replacing them.

But Chief Valorie Delmont has said that the department has reached a point where the lack of officers is causing scheduling and staffing problems, issues with vacation scheduling and deteriorating morale.

Detectives have been put back on patrol shifts, limiting their time investigating more serious crimes, and the department also has pulled its officers from their duties on the Mahoning County Drug and Human Trafficking Task Forces.

Trustee Bruce Shepas said immediately after voters passed a 2.22-mill levy to generate about $2 million for the department that the township intends to hire at least two to three officers and one dispatcher as soon as possible.

HOW THE PLAN WORKS

The MOU is designed to honor the experience officers already have and save the department time and money on training.

Austintown has a five-step plan in place already for officers coming in from other departments, but until now, experienced patrol officers would have to start at step one and would be paid according to the corresponding rate.

Under the new agreement, an officer with three years of experience would come into the department at the step three pay rate.

Qualified officers entering at the steps one through three levels will be automatically transferred in at those rates. Any officer who would enter at steps four or five would require the approval of Delmont and D’Apolito.

“Without a doubt, it’s going to enable us to recruit people that have experience, which is going to greatly reduce training time and cost so we can put officers back on the street more quickly,” D’Apolito said. “Training is less than half for the person with three years compared to someone fresh out of the academy because we really only have to teach them Austintown policies and procedures.”

Incoming officers also will receive a one-time 40-hour vacation allotment, but officers brought in under the plan will not jump over existing Austintown officers for vacation and shift scheduling preferences or seniority.

“We’re recognizing loyalty and experience in the profession and also loyalty and experience with Austintown,” D’Apolito said. “They may have a family, kids, and they’ve perhaps already made vacation plans before taking on this opportunity, and we want to be flexible with them on that,

so they have an enjoyable transition.”

D’Apolito said the department’s desired staffing level is between 37 and 39 officers.

“It’s going to take us some time to get there,” he said.

“At this time, we’re entering our first round of hiring. Even after this, we won’t be back to that because it takes time to train and staff up. We’ll still be at the low end of what it takes to keep patrol shifts properly staffed and that is the priority.”