Stratford police budget review: staffing stability, a social worker slot and higher forensic equipment costs

At the Town of Stratford council's March 20, 2024 budget workshop, Police Chief McNeil told council members the mayor's proposed police budget is lean but sufficient to maintain services while contractual pay increases and equipment costs have driven some line‑item growth.

Chief McNeil opened his presentation on page 51 of the budget book and said the increases listed are largely contractual, including union pay and equipment and service costs. A councilmember flagged the PAL administrator salary listed at $88,919 and a police administration total of $558,183. Chief McNeil identified the five positions in that administration total as himself, Deputy Chief Paul Dos Santos, Captain Anthony Ruh, administrative assistant Marlene Viscarando and PAL coordinator Aaron McLaughlin, and said the $88,919 entry was a clerical error: "The position was put into the union, and it was not updated on that," he said, confirming the PAL administrator is a union position.

Councillors pressed on staffing and headcount. The police patrol headcount is listed as rising from 70 to 73; Chief McNeil said that figure includes a social worker for the final three months of the fiscal year and noted the town is pursuing a grant to cover that position. On whether the three additional positions are all new hires, Chief McNeil said timing explains much of the change: "We're not adding any new officers," he said, explaining internal reassignments (for example, a traffic officer moved into patrol) and the long training pipeline—"it takes 10 months to get someone through the academy"—affect how headcount appears in the budget.

Council members asked about volatile supplementary payroll lines, which can spike with retiree holiday cash‑outs and comp time. Chief McNeil described the supplementary payroll as cash‑outs for holiday credit, comp time and payouts when officers leave, which can cause large year‑to‑year volatility.

A separate question addressed a large increase in a police investigations line titled "equipment services" tied to crime‑scene mapping. Chief McNeil described the system: "It's called FARO. It's a laser that any fatal accident scene or very bad accident or a crime scene, you place this and basically shoots, lasers, spins around, and it maps gives you a 3D view of the whole crime scene... We use it for evidentiary material. We send it to court," he said, explaining vendor and service costs account for the higher projected spending.

Members also reviewed overtime and callback costs (time‑and‑a‑half pay used to fill minimum manning), special event coverage and a traffic/garage gas and oil line, with Chief McNeil describing spikes as a mix of contractual pay increases, staffing timing and event coverage needs. The chief highlighted community engagement programs (PAL/SROs, summer camps, sports camps and public safety day) and said officers assigned to PAL programs are vetted for communication skills.

The council concluded its police questions with an agreement to follow up on some historical accounting and headcount details.

Ending: The council recessed police discussion and moved to fire administration on the agenda; follow‑up work on detailed payroll and staffing explanations was requested before the next workshop.