By GLEN WERLING
Should Ossian’s Police Chief be a salaried position or an hourly position? That was the question posed by Ossian Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners president Caleb Chichester at Monday night’s meeting of the Ossian Town Council.
The position is currently hourly, but Chichester observed that most police chiefs in towns the size of Ossian are salaried not hourly.
If the council thinks a salaried position would be better, what should that salary be? Chichester asked. “If you could come with a number, that would be good.”
Council member Dennis Ealing observed that with overtime Rigney was paid $72,000 last year.
“That’s beside the point,” said Town Manager Luann Martin.
Council members mulled figures in the $64,000 to $65,000 range.
“The commissioners would like to do salary,” Chichester said. “I think that we would rather do salaried,” said Ealing.
Chichester said that the commissioners explored what other towns were paying and requiring of their police chiefs. “It varied based on the size of town. A lot of what we based our requirements on was on a town of about 5,000 residents. That was a little bit bigger than us, but it’s close,” he added.
Although current Police Chief Dave Rigney has not formally submitted his retirement, he is currently running unopposed for the Lancaster Township Trustee in the November election.
Chichester also sought the council’s input into what qualification requirements should be included in the advertisement for a new police chief. “We would like to post this as soon as possible,” he said, adding that he thought it was the plan of Rigney to hold of on formally announcing his retirement until a new chief has been hired.
At a Sunday meeting of the commissioners, they decided to sit the minimum requirements at a high school diploma or a General Education Development diploma, 10 years of experience and three years of supervisory experience. A bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or public or business administration field will be preferred.
“We would also like to see training in basic investigation techniques, interview and interrogation, crisis intervention team and drug interdiction,” Chichester added. Management training is a plus, he said.
Any candidate must also be willing to relocate to Wells County in six months, Chichester said.
He added that the job description for the chief’s position has become outdated and will need to be rewritten. “I don’t think it was written of a current word processor,” Chichester said. “It looks like it was typed up on a typewriter.”
The council members also agreed to permit the police department to pay for training for officer Russ Mounsey on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu survival tactics in Telford, Pa., from June 20-24. The training is $1,200. The motels and meals are pegged at around $1,000 for the five-day training.
Mounsey will then become a trainer for the other officers on the department. The current trainer, part-time officer Larry Butler, retired recently.
glenw@news-banner.com
