"Faced with a severe staffing shortage, Albemarle County police officials are considering significant changes to the way the department does business - including possibly reducing the number of officers stationed in county schools.

Already overburdened, many patrol officers spend their shifts rushing from call to call, according to Albemarle County Police Chief John Miller.

“Normally people would expect a fairly quick police response, and in some cases they’re not getting it,” Miller said.

As a result, the department is seeking to increase the number of patrol officers and free up officers’ time.

One option is a policy called “call stacking,” which would mean non-emergency calls such as mailbox vandalism would no longer elicit an immediate police response, Miller said.

Another possibility is to stop having officers work events such as parades as part of their normal duties. Instead, officers working overtime would staff the events, the chief said.

But the option that has prompted the biggest response from area parents and school officials is the potential transfer of some school resource officers back to patrol.

In an e-mail to Burley Middle School parents on Wednesday, PTO President Shelley Payne cautioned that officers could be moved from their posts at county middle schools.

“If this decision goes through, when Burley has a problem, they will have to call 911 and wait until a police officer can get to them - a police officer who is not trained to deal with students and who doesn’t know the students involved,” Payne wrote.

Though nothing is official yet, such transfers may become necessary, Miller said.

“If we’re going to draw down from other places, I have no other place to draw from,” Miller said. “I can’t draw officers from investigations, and I can’t draw from traffic because they’re already doing patrol work.”

A population-based formula adopted by the county government dictates that the department should have about 135 officers. There are funds for 119 officers, but only 113 of the positions are filled, largely because of a lack of qualified applicants, authorities said.

While voicing empathy for police staffing troubles, Payne said middle school students need the firm yet friendly presence provided by police.

“Middle school is seen as a traumatic time for so many kids, and I think it’s important to have officers that students can go to for problems,” said Payne, who has a seventh-grade son at Burley.

Cathy Crosby, also a Burley parent, said school security should be a priority, especially in light of recent school violence.

“Once you pull the officers out onto the street, when are they going to put them back?” she said.

There are four officers assigned to county middle schools, three to county high schools and one officer who oversees them, according to schools spokeswoman Christy Sinatra.

Police department officials will ultimately decide whether the officers return to the schools.

“We could try to influence that because we do feel they’re valuable, but the final decision would ultimately fall on them,” said Steele Howen, the schools’ executive director of administrative services.

Superintendent Pamela Moran plans to speak with the chief about the issue soon, Sinatra said.

Miller said a final decision likely won’t be made until early July." (Matt Deegan and Rob Seal, The Daily Progress, May 18, 2007)