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New Ipswich Select Board OKs chief’s extra‑shift pay, will re‑review in six months
Summary
After hearing that the police department remains short‑staffed, the Select Board approved the chief’s arrangement for straight‑pay coverage of extra shifts and agreed to revisit the terms in six months as additional officers complete academy training.
The New Ipswich Select Board voted to accept an interim staffing and compensation arrangement for the police department, approving the chief’s request to be paid straight time for extra shifts he covers and scheduling a formal re‑evaluation in six months.
Chief Jason Abel told the board the department currently has four full‑time officers, one officer in the police academy and one vacancy. He said staffing gaps arise because officers take training, vacation and court time, and noted the department faces about 17 weeks of planned vacation to cover this year (about 680 hours). “There’s four of us, one in the academy and one vacant,” Abel said while outlining coverage needs.
Board members compared the cost and reliability of contracting county sheriff coverage (the sheriff’s billing was cited at about $113 per hour) to keeping the coverage in‑house. Members acknowledged the chief’s 46 hours of extra patrol coverage in 2025 and described that compensation as reasonable given the department’s short staffing. One member said the arrangement should be applied consistently across departments if other department heads also cover extra hours.
The motion approved the chief’s terms with a requirement that the board re‑evaluate the arrangement every six months to confirm whether increased staffing has reduced the need for extra straight‑pay shifts. The board took the action by voice vote.
The board also heard that a new conditional hire has accepted an offer and is academy‑bound; the candidate is not expected to be fully available until after academy and post‑hiring processing are complete.
The Select Board’s next step is to monitor staffing and return to the subject at the six‑month review. No changes to the department’s permanent staffing complement were adopted at the meeting.
