BERLIN– Municipal officials voted unanimously this week to enroll in the Law Enforcement Officers Pension System (LEOPS).
In an attempt to improve police recruitment and retention efforts, Berlin officials agreed on Monday to enter into LEOPS. The program will cost more than $300,000 a year but is expected to dramatically increase the town’s ability to keep law enforcement officers on staff.
“To have 100% support is something that makes the officers know they’re being supported,” Police Chief Arnold Downing said. “I think it’s going to be great for retention.”
The Berlin Town Council hosted a work session Monday to discuss plans to enroll in LEOPS, something that’s been discussed in town for years. Kelsey Jensen, the town’s human resources director, told the council at least 60% of the current police force needed to support enrolling in the system in order for the town to do so. She said when the town’s officers had been polled, 100% of them wanted to enroll.
Currently, the town spends about $929,000 in payroll for police each year. State retirement costs for those officers is about $101,000 a year. Moving to LEOPS will cost the town not quite $343,000 a year if it maintains a force of 14 officers. When asked if the number of officers on staff was likely to increase, Downing said he hoped so. He pointed out that changes like a 24-hour Royal Farms and new apartment complexes like Oceans East, there was a greater need for law enforcement.
“Staff growth is dependent on the growth of the town,” Councilman Dean Burrell said.
Downing pointed out that the town used to have 15 officers on staff when its population was less than it is now. When asked how many people would be eligible for retirement once the town moved to LEOPS, Downing said there were five who would be eligible, as those five each have over 25 years of service. He added that the average age of his officers was 47.
Mayor Zack Tyndall said officials needed to decide if they wanted to use annual casino revenues to fund LEOPS. He added that if they did that, however, he thought a LEOPS stabilization fund of $300,000 should also be established in case casino revenue ever dropped.
Though Councilman Jack Orris suggested using some of the money earmarked for capital projects to set up the fund, Tyndall said the town could use the casino revenues that were left over after the town had paid off its new police station.
“That way it’s not coming from capital,” Tyndall said.
Councilman Jay Knerr said he wanted the town to enroll in LEOPS but didn’t want to use casino revenue to fund the program forever. He suggested decreasing the amount of casino revenue used for the annual expense gradually over three years, a concept he said had been proposed by Councilman Steve Green. He said LEOPS should be a general fund expense like payroll. Then casino revenue could be used for a variety of projects throughout town.
“I didn’t want to see us tied up with one specific source,” he said.
Green agreed.
“I like a diversified approach,” he said.
Councilman Dean Burrell echoed the sentiment.
“I don’t believe casino funds should be used in perpetuity,” he said, adding that he did want to see the town enrolled in the program as soon as possible.
Councilwoman Shaneka Nichols said she didn’t think three years was long enough to wean LEOPS away from casino revenues. She pointed out that once LEOPS became a general fund expense, it could contribute to the need for a tax increase.
“Your citizens are going to have a hard time swallowing this,” she said, adding that she did support enrollment in LEOPS.
Knerr said his proposal was just a concept and could be adjusted.
“It’s not carved in stone,” he said.
Green said he was a bit uncomfortable entering into LEOPS without funding identified.
Finance Director Natalie Saleh confirmed that the town had enough leftover casino revenue to fund the LEOPS stabilization and that casino revenues, preferably a portion of them, could be used for LEOPS going forward. Though there is a question of whether the Local Development Council, which approves the use of casino revenues, would approve of the LEOPS expenditure, the town’s attorney said the body was advisory and could not dictate how the town spent its money. Orris pointed out that the funding already earmarked for capital projects could be the backup funding plan for LEOPS.
When the council reconvened in open session immediately following Monday’s work session, Burrell said he was honored to make the motion to enter into LEOPS. The council’s unanimous support of that motion earned applause from the audience, which consisted of all of the town’s current police officers.
In an interview Tuesday, Downing said that in his three decades working in Berlin, he’d worked with 62 officers. While some left law enforcement altogether, 10 are still on staff. Twenty-five, however, left Berlin to join other agencies, primarily the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. Downing said that under the current retirement system, officers had to work a minimum of 30 years before they could consider retiring. They also have to be a certain age.
With LEOPS, officers will be able to retire after 25 years of service and will get better benefits than those who have worked 30 years under the current system.
“All of the surrounding agencies except Snow Hill have LEOPS or something better,” Downing said.
As a result, Berlin has lost officers, even those who had multi-year contracts in place, to other agencies.
“LEOPS attracts people who have experience and it’s easier to retain people,” he said.
Downing says law enforcement agencies should have a regular flow of officers working up through the ranks, not bottlenecks of older officers who can’t consider retirement until they’d been in place at least 30 years.
“For us as a town, we end up with older officers and have higher workman’s comp and insurance costs,” he said.
Downing is confident moving to LEOPS will enable the town to attract and retain quality officers into the future. He’s more excited about this than the Berlin Police Department’s new station or technology, because this takes care of the officers themselves. He’s grateful for the community, and subsequently council, support that made LEOPS possible for officers in Berlin.
“This is the highlight of my career,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been working toward for over 15 years.”
