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PERF Study Extended to Dec. 13

On Nov. 15, the Town of Old Saybrook announced that it would extend the contract between the town and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) until Dec. 13.

In January 2024, Old Saybrook voters approved by a 705-74 vote margin using an appropriation of $98,790 to hire PERF to conduct a study of the Old Saybrook police department to help understand the department’s staffing issues.

On Nov. 15, a message was posted on the town website stating that the contract between the town and PERF would be extended beyond the Oct. 31 deadline.

“…PERF will develop a draft report that describes its findings and recommendations, which draft report will be delivered to the town and the Old Saybrook Police Department (OSPD) for review prior to finalization. Upon receipt of the draft report, the town and OSPD will have two weeks to review the draft and provide feedback to PERF. That draft report was not delivered by Oct. 17. Instead, it has just been delivered this week,” the statement the statement said in part.

Instead, the town agreed with PERF to extend the review period through Nov. 29, and the final report has a deadline of Dec. 13.

Old Saybrook First Selectmen Carl Fortuna said that the reason for the delay in the report is that PERF was still conducting the in-house review. Fortuna said that the Town does not have to pay more for the extended study time. Fortuna said the goal is to make the study public on Dec. 13.

The Issue

The PERF study hopes to shed light on an issue that dates back to a presentation given to the Police Commission in the summer of 2023 by Old Saybrook Chief of Police Michael Spera. That presentation was on the department's staffing level, something Spera called a serious problem for the department. At that time, there were 17 officers on the department roster. Not only was attracting officers proving to be a problem, but retaining them was also proving difficult. Spera and the commission both noted this was an issue faced by departments all over the country and not unique to Old Saybrook.

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. The Police Commission voted to endorse those ideas.

However, before the Town agreed to negotiate the proposal, which Fortuna said at the time 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, in fact, fix the staffing issue.

The Police Commission recommended PERF be hired to do that study due to what proponents felt was a comprehensive proposal.