In a 705-74 vote, electors overwhelmingly approved using an appropriation of $98,790 to hire the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) to conduct a study of the Old Saybrook police department at a referendum on Jan. 22.

At a Board of Finance (BOF) meeting on Dec. 5, 2023, the board voted to approve a recommendation from the Police Commission to hire PERF to conduct a study of the Old Saybrook Police Department with a focus on the retention and recruiting of officers.

While the board approved the measure, residents still had to approve the appropriation at the referendum.

Reached for comment after the referendum results were announced, Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna laid out what comes next.

“The next steps are for me to contact the folks at PERF and engage them. I am hopeful that we will get to the bottom of why we have an inability to attract and, most importantly, retain police officers. We need to know whether it’s pay and benefits, opportunity, location, or something else. Having this information will help us build a better department of police services for the next 20 years,” Fortuna said.

Police Commission chairman Alfred Wilcox also weighed in on the results. “I am very pleased to see the voters so overwhelmingly in favor of this initiative to support the Old Saybrook Department of Police Services in being the best it can be. Special thanks are due to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance in supporting the Police Commission’s recommendation of PERF for this responsibility,” he said.

The Issue

In the summer of 2023, Old Saybrook Chief of Police Michael Spera gave a presentation to the Police Commission on a large concern facing the department: the staffing level.

At that time, there were 17 officers on the department roster. In the months since the presentation, the staffing level has remained well below the 25 authorized officer level the department aims for.

To remedy the issue, Spera recommended that the town negotiate with the police union to see if proposed incentives like a higher salary or increased benefits would help attract and retain quality officers.

However, before the town agreed to negotiate the proposal, which Fortuna said could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Fortuna said he would like to see a study of the department done to ensure that the proposed incentives would fix the staffing issue.

“On behalf of the taxpayers, we need to make sure if we make this investment, that it will stem the flow of officers that we are losing,” Fortuna said at the time.

Originally, a different consultant was recommended by the Board of Selectmen (BOS), though the Police Commission and BOF recommended PERF be hired due to what proponents felt was a more comprehensive proposal. The BOS did vote to endorse the PERF proposal at a meeting in December.

Despite the majority of voters at the referendum voting in favor of holding the study, the move was not without its critics.

Old Saybrook Police Sergeant Ryan Walsh and Master Sergeant Chris DeMarco attended the BOF meeting in December, where they read a letter into the record outlining concerns union members had with the study.

Part of the stated concern was PERF’s proposal to interview officers who had left the department, which the union representatives said seemed to them like an attack on the department and chief.

Members of the BOF and Fortuna stated more than once that they did not mean to show any disrespect to the officers or chief but felt the study was needed before making a substantial investment in the department.