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Chief seeks to slow officer retirements
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- The retirement bash already is in the works. A party bus will pull up to the police station and pick up scores of veteran officers wearing T-shirts that read, "Out The Door in "04." Police Chief Chuck Harmon wants them to stay. Already short three dozen officers, the chief will meet next week with 61 of the Police Department's most seasoned officers who are eligible to retire Jan. 1, 2004. "I don't want them to walk out the door," Harmon said. "I'm going to encourage them to stay." The exodus of officers expected in 2004, coupled with the department's recent inability to retain younger officers, is forcing Harmon to consider unprecedented measures to keep an adequate supply of officers on the street. Next week's meeting, which is mandatory and scheduled for two hours, may give Harmon an idea of who among the 61 would consider staying, and what incentives might tempt them. Money isn't one of them. Harmon wants to know if the officers -- 11 percent of the sworn staff -- are interested in part-time work or expanding a special retirement program. "I don't know what he could say that would make us stay, make me stay," said Jack Soule, 49, union president and a 25-year patrol officer. "I just realize that I've reached a point. I'll have over 26 years on the Police Department, and enough's enough." City Council member Bill Foster said if bonuses would help retain officers, he's game. "If it's a money issue, the council can do anything," Foster said. "Granted, we have to find it and fund it. This councilman is willing to do whatever it takes to see that we retain the good, experienced, quality officer." Across the nation, law enforcement agencies are feeling the ripple effect from mass hirings 20 to 30 years ago. Waves of officers are leaving at once, and fewer fill-ins are stepping up. All of the officers meeting with Harmon next week were hired in the 1970s. "They're not going to talk money, and the only thing that will keep people here is money," said Officer Jimmy McKinnon, 57, who will be at the meeting. Even if more money were offered, McKinnon probably would not stay, he said. McKinnon will retire in 2004 after 30 years because he wants to enjoy life with his wife. He's a beekeeper and woodworker. He also has 111/2 acres in Georgia and wants to build a cabin. "I'll be 58 years old," McKinnon said. "I'm getting a little old to be running around the streets, scuffling with people." While departments nationwide struggle to retain officers, resignations in St. Petersburg exceed those at other Florida metropolitan police agencies. So far this year, 50 officers have quit the St. Petersburg department, compounding the 2004 retirement exodus. In August, Chief Harmon appointed a committee of officers to figure out how, beyond more money, to retain officers. Some 205 officers said in department surveys they wanted an expanded program for take-home squad cars, longer shifts and shorter workweeks, improved morale, flexible schedules and a better promotion process. After the mayor learned of the incentives, he called the chief, and those ideas were scrapped. While Harmon deals with retaining younger officers, he is now turning his attention to keeping veterans. During the Dec. 20 meeting, Harmon will pass out a one-page questionnaire that asks officers when they plan to retire and if they would be interested in part-time work, or extending the Deferred Retirement Option Program, known as DROP. Twenty-one of the 61 officers are in the DROP plan and must leave the force unless the city changes the plan's rules, because officers can only stay in it for five years. The program allows officers to work for five years while accruing monthly retirement checks in a special account. The remaining 40 officers are not in DROP. Those are the people about whom Harmon is curious. Among them are three majors, seven lieutenants and two sergeants. "You have a lot of people who frankly may say, "Let's see what we're going to get,' " said Sgt. Phil Quandt, a Fraternal Order of Police representative. "If it's business as usual, the officers may say, "You know what, we'll take off.' " Officer William Warner, who joined the department 31 years ago, does not plan to leave in 2004. "We're losing people faster than we can hire," said Warner, "but I'm not terribly unhappy with what I'm doing now."
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