Politics & Government

Hands Tied, Town Will Likely Pay For Cop's Dance Class

The Town of Harrison continues to pay for college classes for police officers, even when they are not related to police work.

Harrison Police Officer William Duffelmeyer just wanted to dance—or at least wanted to take a dance class—and according to labor contracts the Town of Harrison has to pay for it.

In a long-standing provision in the PBA (police union) contract with the town, Harrison pays for college classes taken by members of the police department if they are applied toward a degree. These classes are, according to the contract, required to be related in some way to police work if taken anywhere outside of Manhattanville College. If taken at Manhattanville, however, officers are free to take any class they choose—and the town doesn't have any real power to say no.

The class, entitled Principles of Rhythm and Dance, costs $2,845. It is not the first class Duffelmeyer has taken as he pursues a degree from Manhattanville, and not the first one unrelated to police work. Police Chief Anthony Marraccini estimated last week that the officer has spent about $25,000 on classes that the town has paid for, all of which were within his legal rights as a union member.

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"We will lose, if we don't reimburse him," said Village Attorney Robert Paladino. "We will be taken before and arbitrator or a mediator and we will lose, it's as simple as that." 

Marraccini told the board last week he doesn't support the class and several board members spoke out against it. But, according to the wording in the contract, Duffelmeyer can take any class he chooses as long as it is applied toward a degree.

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"You can take basket weaving," said Paladino. "You can take anything you want."

The town board chose not to vote on the issue last week, postponing it until Sept. 23. But with no other realistic option it appears that the class will be paid for.

Paladino estimates that the town-sponsored college classes have been offered and taken for decades, and are nothing new. Complaints from the board before approval have also been heard. "We've had some strange courses before," he said. 

Councilman Pat Vetere, who has spoken out against similar classes in the past, has already said he doesn't intend to give the officer his vote, despite being told that not refunding the money would almost certainly land the town in court.

"This is becoming ridiculous," Vetere said. "All my years on the board I have never heard of anyone going to college for dancing."

But, according to town attorneys the issue must be taken up with the union. The most recent chance for the board to address the issue was during the labor negotiations this spring. But, with $1 million in salary deferments necessary to balance the budget, Councilman Joe Cannella said the police classes were a small issue not worth ruffling feathers over.

"The dollars behind this education thing was comparatively de minimis," Cannella said last week. "We were looking at—potentially—an arbitration result that could have resulted in two, three and—with possible bad luck—four million in salary increases, which we could not take."

He further explained that if making a change cost the town votes during those crucial negotiations the results could have been disastrous. 

"Defend it as I've had to do from time to time, I feel today as I did then that it was clearly the right thing to do," Cannella said.

It was also questioned if spending money to have the legal department look into the issue would be worth it. The Town/Village of Harrison budget last year was more than $54 million, it was estimated at the meeting that the town only spends about $10,000 on college classes for police officers every year.

College courses for Harrison officers have been discussed and approved as recently as this summer, when board members applauded another officer for his choice to take a criminal justice class at Manhattanville. But reaction was much more sour when the dance class was discussed last week.

Marraccini said at last week's meeting that this is not a privilege frequently abused by officers. The program, he added, is useful when applied to the correct classes.

"Right now Duffelmeyer is the only one who has been taking advantage of this section of the contract," he said. "I think that the majority of the police officers are using excellent judgement."

The provision was originally put into place to give police officers the chance to earn a degree that they would not have had access to otherwise, according to Paladino. No one at the meeting knew why officers were allowed to take a wider variety of classes at Manhattanville.

Payment for Duffelmeyer's dance class will be voted on at a future board meeting and likely approved. The current labor contract with the PBA lasts until 2013, meaning that the wording in the contract is unlikely to change until then—if ever.

"It's continued to come up and we will all catch a little flack with it," said Cannella. "I understand."


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