18 officers back on the job

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer - 11/4/2009




Document: View a PDF outlining the budget cuts presented to the City Council.
Related stories:
Feds approve police rehire
Alternatives sought
Oct. 28: 37 city workers out



One week after the city laid off 21 Tulsa police officers, 18 will return to work.

The officers were rehired using a federal stimulus grant that originally was intended to hire new police officers for Tulsa. The Tulsa Police Department will continue to search for methods to return the remaining three officers to duty, Capt. Jonathan Brooks said.

The officers return to work Wednesday. Some of the officers work the midnight shift, so they "could be out taking 911 calls as early as tonight," Brooks said Tuesday afternoon.

The 21 officers were laid off from the Tulsa Police Department on Oct. 28 due to budget cuts.

However, the city learned Monday that the Department of Justice had approved the city's request to use federal stimulus money to rehire 18 of the officers.

On Tuesday, those who were rehired completed paperwork, were reissued their equipment and completed some firearms training that they missed last week.

Because they remained on the payroll for one week after they were laid off, there was no lapse in their paychecks, Brooks said.

"They are going to have exactly the same assignments that they had prior to the layoffs," he said.

After the layoffs, the department used Street Crimes Unit officers to fill in the vacant patrol shifts. Now, those officers will return to their directed patrol duties and investigations.

As a result of the budget cuts, the Police Department also grounded its two helicopters and is selling the horses and equipment for its Mounted Patrol Unit. As a result, nine officers were freed up to work in the field.

Two of those officers are supervisors who are handling the transition of the units.

"Even before those officers were laid off, there were vacancies that needed to be filled, anyway," Brooks said. "The officers from the Helicopter Unit and Mounted Patrol will be filling those spots."

The three officers who have not been rehired were from the most recent academy class.

A lottery is conducted with each class that gives each new officer a ranking for seniority, and the three who have not been rehired were the lowest ranked.

Brooks said the department is "working around the clock" to find the funding to rehire those officers.



Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com


_________________________________________________

Tulsa World Reader Comments
_________________________________________________

EagleMom, Classified (11/3/2009 11:51:30 AM)
Thank God.

FS, Broken Arrow (11/3/2009 11:52:08 AM)
Why anyone would want to return to a job where he or she is obviously no more than a pawn is beyond me as this raises serious question re: their mental state. I'd like to see them all tell the Queen to go straight to hell - in unison.

2ndjoyce, BA (11/3/2009 11:55:30 AM)
How about a simple thank you for asking the federal govt if the stimulus money could be used to rehire them and receiving the answer 'yes'? Taylor is in that same can't do anything right boat. No wonder she wants out.

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/3/2009 11:57:49 AM)
I don't support Taylor at all Joyce. After something like 50 years of being a political junkie I can honestly say I've never known of a mayor as selfish and as pie in the sky style of management as Taylor. Having said that, the stimulus money was there, agree with it or not, and to not take it to save those 18 jobs instead of hiring 18 new people would have been absurd.

Rick222, (11/3/2009 12:00:03 PM)
So what happens after the stimulus money runs out? We ask for another one?

DBJohn, Tulsa (11/3/2009 12:11:56 PM)
I don't think a "thank you" from us is warranted at this point. She was just doing her job to fix a mistake she has made.

okkevin, Tulsa (11/3/2009 12:21:36 PM)
lets be sure the next mayor knows we will NOT tolerate this again. NO laying off Public Safety. tpd21 dot org

okierose, Tulsa County (11/3/2009 12:28:29 PM)
I think it was all contrived in the first place. She wanted the city to see what bad financial shape the city is in and she got the reactions she was looking for. Now she looks like the hero for getting the stimulus money and saving jobs. She knew ahead of time Tulsa was getting the money and when and what it could be used for.

FS, Broken Arrow (11/3/2009 12:39:54 PM)
okierose, Tulsa County (11/3/2009 12:28:29 PM) I think it was all contrived in the first place. She wanted the city to see what bad financial shape the city is in and she got the reactions she was looking for. Now she looks like the hero for getting the stimulus money and saving jobs. She knew ahead of time Tulsa was getting the money and when and what it could be used for. ________________________ Reading the news told all of us they were getting the money if they asked - at issue was if the Feds would allow the city to play the shell game they did. This was obviously a problem created in order to offer a solution (contrived, as you say) and the Feds were complicit in the shenanigans. If Tulsa citizens had any 'nads whatsoever a scene reminiscent of the old Karlof movies where the villagers are chasing after Dr. Frankenstein's monster would be occuring outside of City Hall.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/3/2009 12:49:44 PM)
This entire lay-off sceme is starting to look like petty political posturing. Does the City Charter address laying off a Mayor?...anyone know?...

Whoknew?, Tulsa (11/3/2009 12:56:04 PM)
Rick222 maybe in 3 years the investigation will weed out the bad cops and these 18 will get to stay? I'll bet if you ask the 18 coming back they wouldn't care how they got to come back. It's a job!

Faith, (11/3/2009 1:14:02 PM)
Thanks for the Stimulus Money and the jobs saved. We have to face facts that without the Stimulus Money the US would look a lot worse.

livinintheburbs, (11/3/2009 1:14:03 PM)
Welcome back...Now get out there and protect and serve

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/3/2009 1:26:32 PM)
Faith,...you're right in the short term. but wait until the cows come home...that is, the hyper-inflation sets into this nation due to printing and dumping trillions of dollars into this propped-up fake economy. remember the "we have to have" stimulous infusion of 'buy a new car deals"? Guess what, the critics were right. Everybody who got the car incentive cash has now bought a car, and dealerships have virtually no business now. Some analyists say ot will be close to a year before car sales pick back up. A short term faux band-aid that actually helped very little, yet cost the taxpayer tremendously. Socialism never works.

sr71v3, (11/3/2009 1:34:28 PM)
Corvetteguy ... you're exactly right. All this MASSIVE debt is gong to have to be repaid. Just how are they going to do that? .... THEY CAN'T. We're printing money as fast as the paper and ink can be loaded. We're buying our own debt - a prescription for certain disaster. We're stealing the future of unborn generations. Inflation like we have never seen is just over the horizon. All these joyful claims of the recession is over, the economy is turning around, the worst is behind us ..... utter nonsense. We will soon be longing for the days of Jimmy Carter's 20 percent interest rates. People you don't have much time. Clear as much debt as possible. Do not make unnecessary purchases. I would even suggest stockpiling some food to forestall future expenses.

TulsaDawgFan, (11/3/2009 1:35:27 PM)
Rick222; The money pays the salaries of these 18 officers for 3 years. In May, at least 30 are going to retire. TPD loses at least 20 every year to retirement. So, in 3 years if there are no more academies TPD will be 70-100 officers less than they have right now. That would mean we would be 150-250 officer short of what study's say we should have as a city.

Gazelle, Broken Arrow (11/3/2009 1:39:00 PM)
hmmmm... I wonder how many manhours were wasted in laying off then immediately rehiring all these people? Equipment check-in, payroll processing, benefit paperwork, computer accounts, all the other layoff paper work, and then to turn around and do it all over again rehiring. Why couldn't they just let the 18 officers keep working until the details of the stimulus money were confirmed? What a waste.

Moses, Jenks (11/3/2009 2:00:55 PM)
The federal government never makes decisions in an acceptable time frame. It usually takes months or years! I would like to know when anyone knew this stimulus money could be used to hire back law enforcement personnel who had been laid off. Was it before or after the action? If it was before then this was a terrible joke on the TPD. Just asking!

lizard183, (11/3/2009 2:37:51 PM)
Were were you whiners several years ago whe the police got raises and the rest of the city took paycuts and faced furlough days to make up for lossed revenue? I truly hate to see any officers go through a layoff, but in the end, they are employees just like everyone else. You have to make cuts to the funds that are losing revenue.

gunit123, tulsa (11/3/2009 2:39:34 PM)
Dont be so happy already... just wait for jan 2010 when sales tax revenues go to dump due to slow holiday season then 50 more cops will be cut. so who are they gonna cut then same 21 guys + some or older guys?

Bville, (11/3/2009 3:02:40 PM)
So, is THIS what people had in mind when the stimulating-the-economy package was passed? Good grief.

peelumba, (11/3/2009 4:37:15 PM)
okkevin, Tulsa (11/3/2009 12:21:36 PM) lets be sure the next mayor knows we will NOT tolerate this again. NO laying off Public Safety. tpd21 dot org ... yes just lay off all those other divisions that made adjustments for the coming economic hole. Yep just don't ever hold tpd accountable, right kevin? make all others pay for tpd's refusal to get real........same old same old back at the elitsm again.......on the story line, thanks for putting people back to work period.

tintulsa, Okmulgee (11/3/2009 5:14:44 PM)
I'm out of county, but work in Tulsa. From what I've heard from more than one tv broadcast source; the city has worked it out to the point that the 18 retained will receive their full pay even though they didn't work their shift?? What the He11??

JCash, (11/3/2009 11:46:06 PM)
lizard183: Get real. What you mention is only half true and as a city worker you should know better. Don't get mad at the cops because the city could, and did, shove a pitiful wage package down your throat. They tried to do it to us too but were unsuccessful. OK law allows police and fire to excersise semi-binding arbitration. That year was lucky for the police officers. Though the public safety personnel are paid below average wages the other city workers, like lizard183 are treated like illegal-aliens. They have very few rights and are treated harshly to say the least. We/they deserve better.

okkevin, Tulsa (11/3/2009 11:58:03 PM)
Peelumba...yes. public safety is paramount to the growth of a city. If Tulsa becomes a Detroit we are done. How about the mayor cutting the meat at the top. A few of her 150,000+ aid would have done it. But then again there are a few HIGLY paid folks that work in that office that are hidden as public works employees, and in other departments. WASTEFUL spending on unneeded people. The next mayor needs to go line item by line item. cut the fat EVERYWHERE.


View All Comments

Email to a Friend
Main Menu