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Committee flags short‑term staffing, overtime impacts if officer joins task force
Summary
Committee members acknowledged the training benefits of task‑force participation but said Waterloo could drop to minimum staffing and incur overtime until replacements are trained; the committee asked the department to clarify timing and backfill plans before council action.
Committee members said the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force offers training and investigative benefits but emphasized that sending one of Waterloo's officers to the task force would reduce local patrol staffing in the near term and likely require overtime.
An Agency official (speaker 1) told the committee the department could send an officer but that doing so "would probably go to minimum staffing and and it would be overtime incurred" when officers take vacation. Members noted recent retirements and an officer on workers' compensation and asked whether the department has capacity to backfill; the Agency official said the internally selected replacement needs academy and field training and estimated staff would be up to speed near the end of the year. The Chair and other members stressed that approving participation does not itself expand the authorized roster from 20 to 21 officers — any increase in authorized positions requires a separate council approval.
Committee members requested clearer budget and timeline details for replacing any departed officer and asked Dane to provide a fuller staffing plan to inform the council vote. No formal mitigation plan was adopted at the meeting; the committee forwarded the program participation recommendation to the full city council for final action.
