Portsmouth chief: Shift changes put more cops on streets

PORTSMOUTH

The city's police chief says it's too early to see the results from a departmentwide shake-up that reassigned nearly two-thirds of the city's 220 police officers two weeks ago.

But Chief Ed Hargis said the changes - which included putting uniformed patrol officers on 12-hour shifts - have put more officers on the street, in the hopes of keeping the city's sinking crime rate down.

"We want to keep those numbers in a downward trend," he said. "My main focus is to reduce crime."

Portsmouth is the first city in Hampton Roads to try 12-hour shifts. Hargis said the change has allowed at least three more patrol officers to be on the streets at any given time, and he hoped it also would reduce overtime and sick-day costs.

"I wasn't getting the staffing levels I was looking for," he said. "Twelve-hour shifts gives you the opportunity to put more numbers on the streets."

The shift increase, which began Jan. 8, was accompanied by other personnel moves in a shake-up that also put more experienced officers on the streets and increased patrol supervision.

The changes are the latest in a series of shifts the department has made under Hargis, who has held the Portsmouth job for 25 months.

When he was hired, city officials said they hoped he would reduce crime and provide stability to a department that has seen its share of chiefs and employee discipline problems.

Eleven people had shuffled through the position of chief or interim chief in the 18 years before Hargis arrived. Some headed the department more than once.

"The city manager realized the instability in the Police Department, particularly at the chief level," Hargis said. "They were looking for somebody to... hang around for a while."

As part of the changes Jan. 8, Hargis put some experienced officers back on the streets and some newer patrol officers in specialized divisions where they could get training. The moves will help veterans pass knowledge to new recruits and give young officers experience, he said.

"It was just time to move some people around," he said. "We'll be a better Police Department."

The 12-hour days for patrol officers are an increase from 8 1/2-hour days and night shifts and 10-hour swing shifts. In exchange for longer days, officers now work a schedule that gives them seven of every 14 days off, Hargis said.

He said the department planned to monitor the crime rate, sick days, officer accidents and other statistics to make sure the changes were effective and weren't leading to officer exhaustion or other problems. Tweaks will be made throughout the year, and in September the reshuffling will be reviewed, he said.

Hargis said that with the changes, he hopes to improve on last year's crime stats. Portsmouth's violent crime rate dropped 14 percent last year, and property crimes fell by 4 percent.

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com