Wappingers Falls trustees provisionally allow longer part-time police shifts amid staffing shortfall

Wappingers Falls, N.Y. — At its May 14 meeting the Village of Wappingers Falls Board of Trustees agreed in principle to allow part-time police officers to work up to 24 hours per week on an interim basis while the village addresses staffing shortages and training, and asked department leadership to provide weekly staffing reports.

The trustees’ discussion, which ran more than two hours, centered on officer safety and operational capacity after the village’s police force reported multiple violent incidents and recent staffing gaps. Sergeant Ludwig delivered monthly statistics showing 272 service calls in April and a range of incidents including arrests, traffic stops and motor-vehicle accidents.

Trustees and staff framed the request as temporary relief to cover shifts while recruits complete academy training. The board debated options from modest increases to a request to allow part-time officers to work up to 39 hours. After debate the board instructed department leadership to operate at up to 24 hours per week as an interim measure and to return weekly spreadsheets tracking hours.

Village attorney Ian Lindars cautioned that taking a final vote on the matter without prior public notice could violate the state Open Meetings Law. “It would put you in violation of the open meetings law,” Lindars told the board, and said a formal resolution should be prepared for a properly noticed future meeting. Trustees said they would present a resolution at the next scheduled meeting to formalize the change.

Trustees and police command described a staffing crunch: several officers were out (including an injured part-timer), and leaders said one-off overtime was leaving gaps. Supporters said modestly higher part-time hours would allow two-officer shifts and safer responses to an uptick in violent incidents as warmer weather arrived.

Trustees asked that police leadership — identified in the meeting as Devin, who has been running the department in recent months — supply weekly reports showing actual hours worked and shift coverage. Several trustees said they were willing to monitor the arrangement and revisit it within weeks.

The board did make one motion on the floor to turn over the 20-hour restriction to department leadership for 90 days with reporting; that motion was seconded, but legal counsel reiterated the need for proper notice. In practice the board agreed to permit up to 24 hours as an interim practice and scheduled a noticed resolution to formalize the policy.

What happens next: the board asked for written weekly hour reports from police command, and the trustees said they will bring a formal, noticed resolution to a future meeting to document any change to part-time hour limits.