Warsaw City Council Monday approved an ordinance allowing the Warsaw Police Department to add a second corporal to each of its three shifts.
Warsaw Police Chief Perry Hunter made the request.
"Our goal of having two corporals on a shift means that there will be a qualified supervisor on duty all the time, limiting potential civil liability issues that may arise," Hunter said.He said having two corporals on a shift will allow the supervisory workload to be distributed, and provides a larger pool of candidates to choose from for a sergeant promotion.
There will be three new corporal positions added to the shifts, costing the department $1,357.98 in additional salary paid per year.
The patrol officer base pay will be $1,577.05; senior patrol officer pay will be $1,608.59; and corporal base pay will be $1,626, all bi-weekly.
The ordinance states a sworn police officer who is assigned to the second shift will receive shift premium pay equal to 2 percent of a patrol officer's base salary. A police officer who is assigned to the third shift will receive shift premium pay equal to 1 percent of a patrol officer's base salary.
Officers who are assigned to another shift or position due to a demotion for disciplinary reasons by the police chief will not be awarded shift premium for a minimum of six months up to a maximum of 12 months.
Hunter said it had been brought to his attention, during recent meetings with shift sergeants and corporals, that the position of senior patrol officer, within the command structure of the three duty shifts, needed to be addressed.
Hunter said the position of senior patrol officer is obtained by having the most tenure over other patrol officers.
To ensure the proper chain of command, seniority of one corporal over another will be established by the date the rank was achieved.
In the absence of shift sergeants and corporals, the senior patrol officer is the officer in charge.
The corporal position will be attained through the current promotional process.
In other business, the council approved four tax abatement requests.
The tax abatements were for Flexaust Co. Inc., 1510 Armstrong Road; Whimet Inc., 2100 N. Detroit St.; Warsaw Engineering & Fabricating, 2780 E. Durbin St.; and Welsh Development, 120 E. Center St.
Also during the meeting, Mayor Ernie Wiggins said the council will again review a proposed sewer fee increase for the city at its May 19 meeting.
The council approved on first reading at its April 7 meeting an ordinance that proposes to increase the city sewer fees by $1.82 to cover the improvement to the city's sewage system.
Also during the meeting, Councilman Kyle Babcock recommended the city consider requiring organizations when seeking funds from the city to fill out a form with the organization's name, funding request, and include information such as grants they have applied for or received in the past.
