A union rep for area police officers say the city Morgantown Police don’t see eye to eye when it comes to how to handle traffic control during public events.
The city confirmed Thursday it is working on a plan to use a third-party contractor to conduct traffic control during parade events, to “allow police officers to focus on management of public safety issues such as crowd control and parade management.”
Brandon Viola, president of the Monongalia and Preston County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #87, told The Dominion Post Friday, he and officers he represents see things differently.
Viola said the consideration of a third-party contractor “is little more than a further attempt by the city administration to micromanage and undercut the Morgantown Police Department.”
Despite staffing shortages over the past three years, Viola said that MPD has been able to have officers present to allow nearly all public events to be held safely. While the 2023 Pride Parade is a notable and unfortunate exception, “officers have routinely stepped up to staff community events after working their regular shifts because they care about the City of Morgantown and its residents,” he said.
Expanding on the Pride Parade, Viola said the cancellation “had less to do with staffing shortages and more to do with the city’s ever-changing interpretation of their own personnel rules.”
Viola explained that some events are “guaranteed overtime” for officers who volunteer, while others are not, and some events are said to be “guaranteed overtime” when officers sign up to work them, but are not when the officers go to fill out their timesheets.
“Most officers are not willing to work outside their regularly scheduled shifts for unknown compensation,” Viola said.
MPD is short 20 officers, which Viola pointed out is one-quarter of the department.
“That means the city is saving well over $1 million in those unfilled positions. Yet, they are wanting to quibble over a little over $1,000 in overtime to ensure that nine officers will be available to staff a parade,” he said.
In a statement this week, Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said the city has worked directly with the Special Services Unit of the Police Department to evaluate the traffic control services and they were “generally supportive of this method.”
“To say that MPD’s Special Services Unit is ‘generally supportive of this method’ is a tad disingenuous,” Viola said. “The city’s proposed plan would be replacing police officers who direct traffic, manage crowds and ensure safety with individuals wearing green vests who direct traffic. And at higher cost to the city.”
Muzzarelli previously said the cost of the service is comparable to using police staff when factoring in salaries and benefits, but Viola said the average cost to the city in overtime per parade is $1,600 and the average cost of a flagger service for the same event is $2,300.
The Dominion Post reached out to city administration Friday afternoon for response to the FOP president’s statements but had not received a response in time for this report.
