TUPPER LAKE – It was standing room only as almost 50 people packed the village courtroom during the public budget meeting Monday night, mostly to voice concerns about the village’s tentative budget cutting an existing position from the village police force.

The position in question was held by Jason Amell, an officer who left on medical leave in December 2012 after 12 years of service. Amell never returned to work, and the village was paying his salary, which was about $65,000 including benefits, until Tuesday.

Village police Chief Eric Proulx said he would like to see that position filled once the new village budget begins in May.

Including Proulx, the police department currently has eight full-time employees and one part-time employee. Annual pay for a starting officer is $36,000. That gets bumped up $1,000 after a year. An additional $6,000 is added to that after the second year, bringing the salary up to $43,000. By comparison, New York state trooper salaries start at $66,905.

With benefits and salary, a new village officer with a single person’s insurance plan costs the village about $65,000. One with a family health plan costs about $80,000.

The officers respond to emergencies outside the village in the town of Tupper Lake but don’t do regular patrols there. The town kicks in $25,000 annually for that service.

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Police staffing

Community members and police personnel who attended the meeting were adamant about the need for a strong police presence in the village. The board members sat stone-faced as testimony after testimony came before them, some of which had a pleading tone while others were steeped in frustration or anger.

Officer Michael Vaillancourt was the first to address the board.

“We’re here just to explain some of the services we provide that you might not be aware of,” Vaillancourt said. “I went back a decade, to 2004 and 2005, when we had eight members in the department, and we had 659 cases. That worked out to be 82 cases per officer. Last year we did 3,119 cases. That worked out to be 734 cases per officer. Our caseload went up nine times. We’ve had a 900-percent increase in work since I was here in 2004.”

Vaillancourt said he understands that money is tight, but he questioned whether the board has made any other department work nine times harder than it did a decade ago. He also said current staffing levels not only place a burden on the officers; they also prevent officers from responding to calls and calling in sick.

Officer Matthew Dana elaborated on Vaillancourt’s point regarding the dangers of overworked officers. He told the board he assists with drug-related investigations and arrests in the village, and said he wanted to dispel rumors that state police coverage is adequate in Tupper Lake.

Dana said state troopers do provide some backup, but they are usually on the road and are often too far away to quickly respond to an emergency.

“Those state troopers are covering over a 350-square-mile tract of land for 12 hours,” Dana said. “If there’s one single call in the south end of their jurisdiction, which is 50 to 60 miles from here, that leaves my only backup at over an hour away. If it’s a severe call, I might not be getting backup at all.”

Dana told the board that drugs are an ever-increasing problem in Tupper Lake, too. He said alcohol and marijuana were the only drugs he encountered when he was in high school, but now opiates, pharmaceuticals and amphetamines are becoming more common.

Investigations and subsequent drug arrests can take months to do properly, and more time is required to do paperwork and to testify in court.

“With reduced staffing, these types of efforts by the police department are going to go away,” Dana said. “Drugs are never going to go away, but one of the most important functions of the police is to curb that and deter it. Without the enforcement, it’s just going to be out of control.”

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Safety issues

Several attendees shared stories about how the police have helped them.

Officer Heather Kennedy held up a photograph of her niece and explained that she stopped breathing when she was less than one month old.

“Officer Vaillancourt and Sgt. (Wesley) Hoyt showed up and got that little girl breathing, and she’s still with us today,” Kennedy said. “Saving a child’s life, what more do you want? You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Kennedy stressed that the safety of the officers is a concern in the village. She said any given shift can yield a felony arrest.

“The other day I was working alone, on day shift with a dispatcher, and I got called out to a dispute with three people,” Kennedy said. “I ended up handling it by myself, asking for backup, and I got an off-duty officer, Officer (Troy) Griffin, to show up in plain clothes to back me up. Troopers did show up, but that was after I put someone in handcuffs on two felony charges. Things are not getting any better in Tupper Lake. It doesn’t matter if it’s midnight or noon.”

Donna Tanner told the board she works for an agency that handles court ordered, supervised visitations with parents who had their children removed from their homes, oftentimes for violent reasons. She said those circumstances can sometimes escalate beyond her control, and having police nearby is safer for everyone involved.

“On a personal note, we had a situation at home where Joe fell off a ladder, and Officer Vaillancourt was the first to show,” Tanner said. “He was there within minutes, and his presence was very reassuring. It eased Joe from panicking because he talked to him and reassured him until the rescue squad showed up. I believe that is well worth our tax dollars.”

Former police Chief Tom Fee told board members they should begin looking toward the future. He noted that board members support the Adirondack Club and Resort project but questioned how successful that project would be in a crime-ridden village.

Fee also pointed out that many police vehicles, radios and other equipment are old and will soon need to be upgraded.

Fee asked village Clerk Mary Casagrain how much it would cost a taxpayer per $1,000 of assessed property value to hire another police officer. Casagrain said it was almost 48 cents per $1,000.

“I know you’re thinking about saving money, but the police department does a lot for quality-of-life issues,” Fee said. “I don’t think that’s too much to pay. In fact, I’d say double it and hire two more officers. Cops are not born; they’re made.”

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Town contract

Resident Ron LaScala urged attendees to understand that the village board is in a difficult position with balancing the budget. He said the village trustees are working with limited funds, and while he commended the police department for their service, he said the village taxpayers are “just about maxed out.”

He offered a solution.

“The town is paying $25,000 a year for five years,” LaScala said. “That does not even cover the gas when these guys are called out there. I think the board needs to contact the town and renegotiate that contract. People in this village are struggling hard.”

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Maroun’s response

Village Mayor Paul Maroun shared his thoughts on the police budget after the public hearing.

“I think the police are doing a great job, but I have to worry about the little old lady who might get thrown out of her house,” Maroun said. “Some people don’t think 40 cents a thousand is a lot, but I’m hearing 40 cents a thousand is too much. When you start talking about 96 cents a thousand, we’re out of the ballpark. People won’t be able to pay their taxes.”

Maroun said he and other trustees have done ride-alongs with police, and he understands the difficulties of their job. On the other hand, he said he also understands the need to have workers from other departments available, too.

“When your sewer backs up at 2 o’clock in the morning, I’ve gotta have a staff that’s going to go fix it, or it stays until the next day,” Maroun said. “I understand that there’s drug problems, but we only have a limited amount (of funds). It is a difficult issue, and we’re going to continue to work on it.”

One attendee brought up overtime pay and suggested a new officer could be hired with that money. Maroun said he’s heard that argument before, and overtime doesn’t justify bringing another person on.

“When you put another person on, more people are going to take time off, and you’re going to have to bring in people to cover their leaves,” Maroun said. “That does not follow out in their formula.”

Maroun didn’t say he’d pursue a revised contract with the town, as LaScala suggested, but he didn’t reject the idea, either.

“I think if they want more of a patrol, and they want to give us more than $25,000, that’s something I’ll talk to the supervisor about and see, because their base is much bigger than ours,” Maroun said. “We’ll work on it, and see what we can accomplish together.”

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Contact Shaun Kittle at 891-2600 ext. 25 or skittle@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.