Mt. Kisco, Pleasantville look to join County police department

[peterose313 345]

In what might be quickly becoming a consolidation trend, both the villages of Mount Kisco and Pleasantville are in serious discussions with Westchester County to merge their police departments with the county’s force.The goal is for the municipalities to save money while still providing public safety protection and services for residents. For the county, a merger could extend its reach and also get them a real estate foothold in the northern reaches.

Mt. Kisco, Pleasantville look to join Westchester police department

Edited January 30, 2012 by peterose313

[ny10570 745]

Thats great, but why wouldn't Pleasantville go to Mt Pleasant PD?? They're nearly surrounded by Mt Pleasant.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I heard rumors that Mt. Kisco was thinking about this around late December.

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Thats great, but why wouldn't Pleasantville go to Mt Pleasant PD?? They're nearly surrounded by Mt Pleasant.

From what I heard neither Pleasantville or Mt Pleasant wanted to merge/consolidate with each other.

Let's face it unless something really big changes (like we find gold under the Old Faithful or something) the town PD's will probably be next.

[velcroMedic1987 330]

I heard rumors that Mt. Kisco was thinking about this around late December.

Friends of mine that work for the County PD told me this has been in the works for a lot longer than a month.

[americanpolice 24]

Thats great, but why wouldn't Pleasantville go to Mt Pleasant PD?? They're nearly surrounded by Mt Pleasant.

It would make sense to fold the villages into town PDs. but from an officer's perspective, the opportunities with the County PD are greater:

- faster promotions and advancements

- more specialized teams

- exposure to various facets of the county, from parks to social services to airport.

- larger dept, better support

[Bnechis 3,961]

Thats great, but why wouldn't Pleasantville go to Mt Pleasant PD?? They're nearly surrounded by Mt Pleasant.

When previously proposed MPPD said they would reduce the coverage (I do not know what the $$ was). This maybe why their is no interest.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Old news. It will be interesting to here how it develops after the long hiatus.

[HollaHoseCompany5 0]

I think it would be a great move for both towns, It will save taxpayers money in the towns of Mt Kisco and Pleasantville

[x635 4,066]

For the county, a merger could extend its reach and also get them a real estate foothold in the northern reaches.

I'm not sure I understand the above quote, or how it is aimed?

I agree with americanpolice's comments above. For an Officer in a small village, this allows tremendous lateral specialized oppurtunities and promotional advancement. It would also let the "rookie" officers in these department to get more experience right out of the academy...which is already taught by WCPD.

I mean, the only issue I seee, and I am completly PRO merger, is the different Town and Village laws. How is an Officer supposed to remember all the Town specific laws?

[Steve 78]

How many officers are in the Mt. Kisco Police Dept?

[peterose313 345]

How many officers are in the Mt. Kisco Police Dept?

4 Lieutenants, 5 Sergeants, 3 Detectives and 20 Patrol Officers

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Hoping some LEO brothers/sisters can help me with a few questions...Isn't minimum staffing for PD regulated by population? And if a merger takes place and the officers slide over to the new agency..while your civil service time carries over...don't you lose seniority in terms of the CBA...or is that negotiable?

Also I love hearing savings to taxpayers..there are plenty of other things in most places that are wasteful...public safety is not. What is the minimum staffing per tour of these areas? What will it be once a merger takes place? Of the other places where a merger took place..do you have the same amount of staffing on the road in your town or village?

Funny thing is many will support PD mergers...yet talk about FD consolidation and adding professional staff and forget it.

[INIT915 1,119]

Isn't minimum staffing for PD regulated by population? And if a merger takes place and the officers slide over to the new agency..while your civil service time carries over...don't you lose seniority in terms of the CBA...or is that negotiable?

1. It's not regulated by anything. There are some "suggested" ratios of officers:population, and "guidelines", but nothing with obligatory.

2. It is negotiable. And a slide isn't guaranteed. The absorbing agency isn't obligated to take all officers. They often do, as in the case of Ossining, but they have latitude.

[Remember585 815]

I'm still on the fence about everything folding into one agency.

1. With the increase in activity, would they expand their communications staffing?

2. With a growing amount of units on the radio, would there be issues with units in one part of the county stepping on others? Perhaps splitting the county into two radio frequencies (north/south or road units/other units) might alleviate this?

3. Someone from WCPD can answer this since I don't know for sure, but I routinely hear units from other areas covering other units - specifically I seem to hear a lot of "Sam 1" going to the Town of Ossining. If the nearest cop is 10+ minutes away, how is that beneficial?

On the up side of all of it - it's like others said. More promotional potential, more to do, specialized teams and cost savings to all.

Just keep painting the cars blue and white... it's grown on me and looks awesome!

[JJB531 652]

If the 44/46 precincts can exist on the same radio division, I think WCPD can handle their current radio traffic load...

[Mofire24 27]

There are alot of things that have to be worked out everything is in the talking stage. They would have to expand the communications staff and radio frequency because it is busy and getting busier. If the county would take on these two towns it would be like nassau and suffolk county pd's they are able to handle towns and villages as well as highways it's just a matter of figuring out frequencies and such. If there is important info such as a hotline or bolo it would be able to be simalcast if needed.

[x635 4,066]

Good point, MoFire. With all this expansion, it's placing a higher workload on the Telecommunicators of WCPD. They should not be forgotten with all these mergers. They are professionals as well and should be treated as such.

How many TCO's work per shift at WCPD? Besides the welfare of TCO's, Officer Safety is a big part of dispatching-simple things like getting Officers their returns or confirmations quickly can save lives. Heck, "blame it on the comm center" situation can make or break these mergers, so I would hope that a lot of this money is also being invested into expanding the core of the department's operations-more ongoing training, better facilities and equipment, better staffing, better pay, better schedules, etc. Because a lot of Officers are going to blame the Commm Center for "not knowing the area" to give reasons why the mergers won't work.....but the Comm Center should pull out every stop to proves themselves that they aren't complacent and are growing and adapting too.

As far as the frequency, you would need more channels for safety and increased interoperability.

Also, on the same note, the PSAP's would be reduced, potentially lowering calltimes and increasing the amount of Officers available.

[25truck26 29]

JJB. 42/44. Most divisions have patrol/ housing and all the pct level special units on the air and impact post too. WCPD might be able to. Is it the right thing to do? idk. It's hard sometimes in the city to get over the air when 200 cops are sharing a division and jobs going and central is in backlog.

[CBX4627 114]

If the 44/46 precincts can exist on the same radio division, I think WCPD can handle their current radio traffic load...

I believe the 46/48 are still on the same frequency.

At least that's how it was in 2000-2001 when I worked in the 4-8.

[ac316scu 31]

So if this were to happen would they keep the current stations in Pleasantville and Mt. Kisco and use them as substations or would they all be out of County HQ?

[turk182 37]

I am curious as to what happens to the local courts and the fines. Does the county take over the courts, and does the town lose the revenue from fines ?

[JJB531 652]

I believe the 46/48 are still on the same frequency.

At least that's how it was in 2000-2001 when I worked in the 4-8.

Yes you're correct, I typed it in a rush... 42/44 and 46/48 share radio divisions, thanks for pointing it out

[helicopper 1,050]

Courts are not involved with this proposed consolidation . Fines and fees from tickets/arrests by the county PD already go to the local courts so that isn't an issue.

[mreis95 77]

What about the town's parking officers who would be in charge of them?

[rayrider 94]

I wonder how they plan on saving 1 million from this merger? Especially if they plan on taking all the officers and making them county officers. Which I hope they do.

[fireboyny 61]

Just a little off topic, but weren't there "suggestions" that Yorktown was also going to switch to County PD?

[helicopper 1,050]

Just a little off topic, but weren't there "suggestions" that Yorktown was also going to switch to County PD?

There was a brief discussion years ago but it was pretty quickly dismissed by all the interested parties.