'Perfect side job': How much Taunton traffic officers make, what they do, who gets to bid

TAUNTON — If you want to make $67.20 an hour working part-time as a civilian traffic control officer in Taunton, then keep your eyes peeled for future notices on the city’s website or a job listing tacked onto a bulletin board in city hall.

And did we mention that the job pays an extra $5 an hour on nights and weekends?

Since the city adopted its own TCO (traffic control officer) program in the summer of 2022, at least 30 civilians have become qualified to fill the role, according to police Sgt. Kevin Medas, who oversees the municipal program.

All of those non-police civilians, Medas said, have undergone city-mandated training for both emergency medical CPR techniques and traffic control flagging.

And although civilians have to wait their turn and defer to both active and retired police officers vying for TCO jobs, he said they nonetheless are an integral part of an important, public safety program.

“If we didn’t have TCOs we would have a lot of unfilled jobs,” said Medas, referring to traffic detail officers — including civilians — on whom contractors rely in order to do road construction projects.

TCO assignments, however, can also include water main breaks and motor vehicle crashes resulting in damaged or destroyed utility poles, according to Capt. Eric Nichols, Medas’s immediate supervisor.

Nichols noted a serious crash involving a tractor trailer and car the night before at the major intersection of Highland and Winthrop streets that destroyed a large traffic light control box.

“The lights are still out,” he said.

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Reckless drivers always a threat

One of two TCOs working that morning at the busy intersection was a retired city employee who asked that his name not be used for personal reasons.

“I had to do something to keep busy,” he said.

The retired city worker said it’s always a challenge to get drivers to pay heed to a construction or accident clean-up zone.

“You know how people drive,” he said, as he stood in a steady drizzle of rain wearing a reflective jacket with its hood pulled over his head.

“They drive like (expletive),” he said, adding that “they see our signs and drive faster.”

A 67-year-old civilian TCO working that same morning near Church Green at the corner of Spring and Summer streets echoed that sentiment.

“People are not paying attention,” he said.

He described how, earlier that day, a seemingly oblivious driver heading towards him finally heeded his warnings to stop and not continue in the direction of a construction crew doing water and sewer main work in front of Old Colony History Museum.

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“She said she was following her google directions,” he said.

His fellow TCO worker that day was Taunton firefighter Tyler Tehan.

“It’s the perfect side job for me,” said Tehan, 26. “I like to walk and move around and be outdoors and help people. I think it’s great.”

He agreed that some drivers unfortunately don’t use caution as they drive towards construction zones with posted signs.

“They aren’t paying attention. They don’t care,” Tehan said.

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No endless supply of TCOs

Nichols said the amount of infrastructure-related road work in Taunton has steadily increased over the years.

And with patrol officers working mandated overtime hours it can sometimes be tough filling TCO positions, especially during warmer months when construction activity typically peaks.

“When I was young there were weeks when I would work overtime and road jobs and then bar details on the weekend,” Nichols, 55, said.

“Younger officers can work as much as they want to work,” he said, “but patrol overtime is their number one function.”

Nichols noted there are now seven police recruits enrolled in a police academy. The size of the city’s police force in recent years has ranged from 110 to 120 officers depending on frequency of retirements and medical leave of absence.

And he says no one should ever assume there’s an endless supply of civilians waiting to bid on jobs, for the simple fact that “most of them have full-time jobs.”

TCO controversy

The city’s TCO program made local headlines earlier this year when a lawyer for a former civilian employee named Brian Ratcliffe – who was fired by the city after allegedly making an obscene gesture to an Amazon driver, which Ratcliffe vehemently denied – said his client was seeking $20,000 in lost wages and the reinstatement of his job.

Both Nichols and Medas, the latter of whom has been a Taunton police officer for 38 years, declined to comment and stressed that Taunton’s human resources office, not the police department, is responsible for hiring and firing civilian traffic control officers.

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Who gets to bid on jobs?

Nichols said the city’s TCO program was adopted and implemented in 2022 after an agreement was reached following negotiations between the two police unions representing supervisors and rank and file patrol officers.

Nichols and Medas said active duty patrol officers, up until the mandatory retirement age of 65, are first in line to bid on TCO road jobs. Next are police retirees up to the age of 70, during which time they have full police enforcement powers.

The third bidding slot is set aside for active “outside” officers from other towns and cities. Police retirees 70 and older are next in line followed by civilians.

Retired officers who have reached the age of 70 are from that point on strictly considered to be civilian control officers.

Medas, 64, said during fall, winter and early spring of 2023 the percentage of civilian TCOs filling jobs were in single digits. But during the summer, he said, the number rose to at least 30%.

And for the time being, at least, the city’s human resource department does not impose an age restriction for qualifying traffic control officers, according to Ligia Madeira, chief of staff for Mayor Shaunna O’Connell.

Weekend TCO hours, Medas said, are designated as starting at 4 p.m. on Fridays, while night hours, he said, are officially 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Working either of those time slots ensures an additional, hourly payment of $5 bringing the hourly wage up to $72.20.

Not as easy as it looks

Nichols said TCOs try to limit their use of cell phones and grab lunch or dinner either in personal vehicles or while standing. Bathroom breaks, he said, depend on availability of portable toilets or sympathetic building occupants.

“And if you think it’s an easy job then try standing in front of a telephone pole for nine hours doing this,” Nichols said, making an arm motion. “You have to be on your game not to get hit, and you have to be polite to the public.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Taunton traffic control officers paid $67/hour. Who can bid on jobs?