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Ashland commission approves first reading to reclassify police supervision posts
Summary
The commission gave first reading to an ordinance that reduces one lieutenant position and adds a sergeant position in the Ashland Police Department to place more supervision at street level; officials said staffing moves respond to growth and federal task-force responsibilities and that cost implications will be based on existing salary differentials.
The Ashland City Commission on July 11 approved first reading of an ordinance to amend the police department's authorized positions, decreasing the number of lieutenants by one and adding one sergeant position to increase street-level supervision.
A police department official (speaker 13) told commissioners the change responds to operational and supervisory challenges as the department has grown and taken on federal task-force partnerships. "Our initial structure was kinda, very thin and upward. Where we've grown, we need to come more across the board," the official said, and added the move will put more supervisors in field operations and in specialized units such as criminal investigations and school-resource officers.
Commissioners asked how many lieutenants and sergeants the new structure would create; the official said the change would leave four lieutenants and create seven sergeants and that the shift was prompted in part by a recent retirement. The official said the estimated fiscal impact would be calculated from the salary-differential tables in the collective bargaining agreement; the commission did not adopt a specific dollar figure at the meeting.
The ordinance was moved, seconded and approved on first reading by voice vote. The measure will return for later readings and any final adoption would occur after subsequent readings and any additional steps required by ordinance procedure.
