THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100507
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
About 20 officers have been pulled from off-duty anti-drug patrols in Portsmouth's seven housing projects because of a labor dispute between the city and more than 200 members of the force.
Police Chief Dennis A. Mook issued an order Monday that no officers will be permitted to work for the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority until the court resolves an overtime suit filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 3, 1994.
Danny Cruce, executive director of the PRHA, said he was notified last week that the officers would no longer be permitted to work in the projects while off duty. No arrangements for replacements have been made, but Cruce said private security officers may be hired.
``It has been very effective,'' Cruce said of the patrols by off-duty officers. ``We have seen a drop in a drug activity in the public housing communities and an increase in arrests.''
Cruce said seven city police officers still work full time in the city's housing projects. That number is sufficient to maintain safety, at least for the short term, he said.
But residents of the Ida Barbour community in downtown Portsmouth said they may feel less safe without the off-duty officers.
``It worries me,'' said 81-year-old Ruth Holman, who has lived in Ida Barbour for 36 years. ``We need police out here. Things have really calmed down since we had these extra officers out here.''
For the long term, though, Cruce said, ``I'm not sure what we will do. We will have to look into it.''
The seven projects have 1,906 apartment units, and all are filled, Cruce said.
The authority paid the police officers with money from three $450,000 federal drug-elimination grants, additional federal subsidies and unit-rental fees, Cruce said. No city money was used.
The program was started in 1991 to help fight drug sales and violence crime. More than 100 off-duty officers have participated in the program since it began. Cruce could not say on Thursday how much the officers were paid.
Mook said he was advised by the city attorney to take the action because of a lawsuit filed by more than 160 officers who demanded overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Other officers have joined the action, bringing the total to 206.
In a memo issued Monday to all personnel, Mook said the lawsuit maintains that the PRHA and the city should be considered the same employer, and that hours worked for the PRHA should be classified as time worked for the Police Department.
The city disagrees that the officers are working for the city during after-hours patrols for the housing authority, Mook said.
``Until this matter is adjudicated, no one will be permitted to work for PRHA,'' Mook said in his memo.
Mook said the lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in federal court this April.
Mook, who promised to increase the number of police officers in the city when he took charge last spring, said the program's elimination will not put housing project residents in danger.
``In an overall sense, it does not impact on safety or security,'' Mook said.
Mook said nine officers hired with federal crime bill money will be assigned to the city's housing projects. They are now in the police academy and will be on the street in June, he said. Another 20 officers have been budgeted for the next fiscal year. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Police Chief Dennis Mook banned off-duty work for the housing
authority.
by CNB