DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160458

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   68 lines

SUFFOLK POLICE REVAMP PATROL SQUADS INTO 3 UNITS THE CHANGES SHOULD PUT MORE WORKING OFFICERS ON THE STREET DURING PEAK TIMES.

Without hiring anyone new, the Police Department will be able to put as many as six more officers on the streets at any time, starting this week.

In the department's first major restructuring, the four squads in the uniformed patrol section will be realigned into three, effective Saturday. The changes will provide better coverage, particularly at times of typically high criminal activity, Chief Jimmy L. Wilson said in a recent interview.

Squad supervisors can call in extra officers a few hours early or have them report later to overlap with other shifts, Wilson said.

The department also is developing a crime analysis unit, which will study trends and pass on the information to the patrol officers.

``I've given the commanders the authority to get the job done,'' Wilson said. ``I don't have to look over their shoulders.''

The redistribution also should create a less stressful work atmosphere, said Capt. L.E. Wilson, head of the newly created operations division and no relation to the chief.

L.E. Wilson, formerly head of the uniform services division, will now supervise the patrol and community services sections as well as the criminal and special investigations sections. He reports to Deputy Chief W.A. Freeman, who is second-in-command.

L.E. Wilson surveyed the officers to find out what type of work schedule they preferred, then attended a school on police staffing.

``It's basic realignment,'' he said. ``It's not earth-shattering.''

But the officers will see a big difference. They will work five-day weeks now instead of seven days in a row. They also will no longer have to rotate among three shifts with little time to adjust.

Rotating shifts ``tears your system all to pieces,'' Lt. J.M. Howell said.

One section will work the midnight shift permanently. The day and evening shifts still will rotate, but many officers say they don't expect that to be as difficult to handle.

Sgt. Kyle W. Holmes is happy to forgo working nights because he has four sons - the eldest of them home-schooled.

``I'm not trying to sleep when they're running up and down the hall,'' he said. ``And I'll get to see my family.''

A number of officers volunteered for midnight duty, ``the best time if you want to do police work,'' Howell said.

The midnight shift, which will report at 11 p.m., often has a high number of offenses, he said.

``And you get through the city a lot easier,'' he said. ``And it's cooler.''

Patrolman Dean M. Smith sees it an opportunity to get things done during the day and still see his family. And Patrolman H.W. Duke wanted to work nights because he likes to hunt and fish.

``I can't do that except during the day,'' he said.

Plus, he said, he plans to go back to school, and it's difficult to attend class regularly on rotating shifts.

In other changes, Chief Wilson has created a staff inspections unit to provide additional internal controls and a marine patrol unit to assist in water rescue. And the bicycle patrol will expand from two to four officers.

``I didn't come here with schedule changes in mind,'' said Chief Wilson, who has been head of the 112-member department for six months.

Nearly as soon as he moved in, however, he began hearing officers say they wanted a change.

``I'm always seeking ways to improve the police department, while working to deliver service to the community,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Suffolk Police Chief Jimmy L. Wilson, who has been on the job six

months, is responding to officers' call for a new rotation.

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