Hires boost ranks of Millcreek police force as union heads seeks more discussion on staffing

Millcreek Township officials have boosted the ranks of the township police department through the recent hiring of two groups of new officers.

The department's union president said while the new officers are welcome, additional discussion is needed with township supervisors to more adequately address staffing levels as population and crime numbers grow.

The swearing in of five new officers in July and the recent hiring of three additional officers — who await certification — has boosted the Millcreek police force to 64 officers, Police Chief Scott Heidt said.

But the department, which Heidt said has no set complement, currently has some officers off because of injury or other matters, he said.

Because of that, the department has been "feeling the strain, just like everyone else," Heidt said.

"We hope to get people back and start returning to normal," he said.

Issues over staffing levels within the Millcreek Township Police Department became public in March, when officials of the union that represents township police officers issued a news release questioning what they said was the township's failure to replace retiring officers with new hires.

Members of the union's executive board wrote that the "common practice" was stopped in 2019, as two officers who retired and one who left the department since then were not replaced. The union filed grievances related to the vacancies and meetings were held with Millcreek's three supervisors and other township officials, but as of the date the news release was issued no resolution was reached, according to the statement.

The board also wrote in the release that supervisors had advised them that they had no intention of hiring any new officers in 2021, when four were expected to retire by July.

Union officials said at the time that the force totaled 63 officers in 2018, but with the scheduled retirement of four retirements in 2021 the number would drop to 56, including 39 patrol officers.

Union officials wrote in the release that they were concerned for the safety of township residents and officers at the current staffing levels and following the 2021 retirements, and that the shortage had increased the workload for existing officers.

Millcreek Supervisor Jim Bock, the liaison to the police department, told the Erie Times-News in an article published after the union statement's release that supervisors were considering the hiring of several officers based on Heidt's recommendation.

Bock also said in the article that Millcreek had "consistently maintained a maximum patrol presence on each shift."

Millcreek considers adding officers: Millcreek Township supervisors consider authorizing hiring of additional patrol officers

Millcreek police Cpl. Kyle Caldwell, the president of the Millcreek police union, credited township Supervisor Dan Ouellet with "kind of pushing this resolution along" in adding more officers to the police force. He said some township officials were "less than eager," but Ouellet "wanted to see it done."

"I think we're back to our complement, and I think that the police chief and the board of supervisors are all very satisfied with where we are, where we've come from and where we are," Ouellet said.

Another issue that the police union has challenged township supervisors over has been in making promotions within the department, Caldwell said. That has cost the township money, he said, as the lack of a supervisor on some patrol shifts has resulted in overtime costs.

Township officials announced in early March that a recent study found that the Millcreek police force had a high number of supervisory positions. Bock said in a statement that officials would evaluate the department's supervisory needs and would hold high-ranking supervisory positions open for evaluation as they became vacant.

Millcreek supers review police command: Following study, Millcreek supervisors say they will 'right-size' police command structure

The township recently filled a number of vacant supervisory positions through promotions. The first promotions were made in the Investigative Services Division, with one promoted to captain, two to lieutenant and two to sergeant, Heidt said.

Those promotions were followed by promotions in the Patrol Division, with one promoted to lieutenant, two to sergeant and three to corporal, he said.

Heidt said a priority for him going forward is to get some specialized units operational. One of those units, the department's Special Investigative Unit, which focused on drug crime, was shut down temporarily earlier this year because of staffing shortages in the detective division.

Millcreek drug unit halted over staffing: Detective shortage shelves specialized Millcreek police unit created to combat drug crime

Caldwell said there are still issues to address concerning the size of Millcreek's police force, noting that the township has grown and he does not believe that the level of crime has dropped, even with the COVID pandemic.

He noted that many departments, including the neighboring Erie Bureau of Police, have a greater number of officers per resident than the Millcreek police force, which covers a township of 54,073, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

"With the new supervisors, I would like to have that discussion" on staffing, Caldwell said, noting the recent election of Kim Clear, who will join Bock and Ouellet on the board in January.

More: Kim Clear wins Millcreek supervisor race, defeating Kirk McCaslin

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County policing: New Millcreek police hires address staff shortfall