East Lyme police look for reinforcements to cover traffic details
Aug. 9—EAST LYME — Police this week are struggling to fill 82 overtime shifts for projects and events ranging from Interstate 95 roadwork to the Niantic Bay Triathlon.
Police Chief Mike Finkelstein even had to man one of the shifts on Interstate 95 on Wednesday morning.
The highway project requires eight East Lyme police officers each time the state Department of Transportation shuts down the highway for 15 minutes for blasting crews to dislodge another piece of ledge, according to Finkelstein.
The blasting, which takes place twice a day, four days a week, is part of a four-year, $148 million construction project at the Exit 74 interchange that began Aug. 1 and is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Plainville-based project contractor Manafort Brothers Inc. is picking up the tab for the overtime assignments, Finkelstein said. That leaves the logistical impact of securing the extra coverage as one of Finkelstein's main concerns.
"You want to make sure you're able to fill those jobs because they're needed for public safety, but at the same time not completely burn out your workforce," he said.
Wednesday morning, the chief was among members of the police department helping to shut down the highway for a detonation around 10:30 a.m.
"I ended up having to do it because we don't have enough people," he said. "Everyone's having to pick this up to make sure we can fill these shifts because they're all necessary."
Finkelstein said the project contractor is authorized to request up to five state troopers, though the Connecticut State Police typically provides between zero and three. He has described the state agency as "drastically" understaffed.
There were 877 state troopers when the state police contract was approved earlier this year, according to the Connecticut Mirror. That's below the targeted staffing of 1,150.
The East Lyme Board of Selectmen last week signed off on an agreement with the newly independent Montville Police Department to make it easier to share officers for private-duty assignments. There's a compact in place among departments in the region to ensure coverage for emergencies, but the new Montville document spells out the process for non-emergency roadwork details and other private-duty jobs.
The same morning Finkelstein was supplementing police coverage on the highway, he said a Montville officer was working a private-duty job involving utility work near the new Noble gas station at Exit 75 because there were no local officers available.
"Having agreements with other communities provides us with an additional staffing resource to help ensure traffic safety is maintained," he said.
East Lyme Police Department policy requires there be at least two patrol officers and a sergeant on duty to respond to emergencies at all times.
"You're not going to tie them up with anything road construction related," Finkelstein said.
There are currently 28 full-time officers on the force, with two more budgeted to start in October.
Montville has a private-duty assignment agreement with Colchester, according to Finkelstein. He said he's in conversation with Waterford about establishing a similar agreement.
