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Politics & Government

Creative Solution Found to Lakeville's Police Records Tech Position

Two part-time positions would supply greater customer service, flexibility and cost savings.

The controversial police for various reasons appears to have reached a creative resolution. During a work session on Monday evening, Lakeville Police Chief Thomas Vonhof submitted a recommendation that would see two, part-time positions fill the role with staggered start dates that would fit within the already budgeted costs for the position.

The position was originally slated as a full-time need to be hired beginning with the 2012 budget. But during a 2011 budget readjustment process earlier this year, the council approved allocation of approximately $27,000 to fund the position for the final six months of this year. As part of that approval, it was implied that council member Matt Little, who had advocated for the earlier hire date, would donate approximately $4,000 toward funding the position by giving up half of his annual salary.

But in a surprise move, in a 3-2 vote in which Mayor Mark Bellows and council member Colleen Ratzlaff LaBeau dissented. A 4-1 majority was required to accept the donation.

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That move left the city with a quandary as to what to do with a position that had already been approved but was now facing a $4,000 shortfall in approved funding.

Enter Vonhof with a creative approach that seemed to satisfy all interested parties.

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Vonhof’s recommendation calls for two, part-time, 24-hour a week positions to take the place of the approved full-time position. This, says Vonhof, would allow for the position to come in within the allocated budget as well as provide the department with greater flexibility in scheduling and more productivity from the position.

“If two part-timers offers the most flexibility then, in this case, it really sounds like it makes sense,” said Little who wanted to make sure the city wasn't choosing not to provide benefits for a full-time position as a means to save money.

“Sometimes part-time can work out better than full-time,” said LaBeau. “We’re getting almost thirteen hours more, stretching the dollar and getting more productivity. That’s why we keep trying to think creatively.”

According to Vonhof, by hiring one part-time position in July, and another in September, the department would reap the benefits of the extra hands earlier and within budget, while the public would begin to see some increased efficiencies in obtaining important reports.

“Insurance reports (for accidents) are required to be filed within ten days according to Minnesota statute,” said Vonhof. “We may have up to fifteen per day.”

Vonhof said the police department can experience a backlog of transcription needs of as much as 20 hours at any given time. Patrol officers are the ones mainly responsible for transcribing accident reports and court documents for criminal cases at this time. That system has resulted in lagging turnaround times and reduces the amount of times officers are on the street during their shifts.

“At one time (the department) had a 24-hour turnaround time on these reports,” said Vonhof. “Now, we get to times where we’re seven to ten days out and that’s a long way from providing the level of service we’d like to see.”

The two part-time positions would free up officers for more patrol duty as well as provide greater convenience to the public when obtaining copies of those reports. The scheduling flexibility would allow for potentially opening the police station lobby on evenings and weekends so citizens could obtain records outside of normal business hours and receive them in a more timely fashion as well.

Vonhof said the department had looked into voice dictation software and other methods of transcription, but haven’t found a viable option that could as yet replace humans for that job.

“It’s really critical that we get these reports right,” said Vonhof. “Evidentiary reports have to be literally perfect. We’re just not there yet,” with the technology he said.

The proposed recommendation would also save approximately $1,700 annually in addition to providing more coverage due to the positions not being eligible for benefits. The positions would pay approximately $27,000 each for part-time employment versus more than $55,000 for one full-time position that included benefits.

Council members were able to reach a consensus approval on the recommendation. A formal vote will be taken at the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting for final approval.

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