Ask the Editor: When police meet during early hours, what’s going on?

By Terrance Thornton
Twitter: @ININEWSMAN

One of the many reporting initiatives at Independent Newsmedia of particular note is the hyperlocal effort coined, “Ask the Editor,” whereby readers are able to write in and ask questions on various topics of interest.

The idea, then, is we would in the newsroom follow up with an answer and publish it in both digital and print form.

But sometimes a letter to the editor can play a similar role in a newsroom.

As was the case with one reader, a former first responder, who on his routine early morning walks would encounter several Scottsdale Police Department vehicles parked together at what looked like several on-duty officers repeatedly having breakfast together. This reader believed the practice to be egregious and not the best use of public resources.

As with all things digital today, the letter to the editor at YourValley.net experienced several thousand page views in moments and accompanying users debated the issue. We took notice.

Turns out, a part of our own internal guidelines — our living document: The Newsroom Guidelines — encourages news editors to get out into the communities they cover at all hours of the day and night to see what is happening.

Here is an excerpt from one of our guiding documents:

“Some ideas: Drive different ways to the office and back or through the city, looking for new signs of development; observe the area during odd times, like late at night, early in the morning and on weekends; take note of the people involved in community events or in attendance at government meetings.”

Could local police departments be doing the same thing? A kind of community policing? Using our collective nosey-reporting skills, our award-winning corps of local journalists went to work and found out a few items on why and if these early morning meetings are a part of the plan.

Below, from corner to corner of the Valley of the Sun, this is what our intrepid journalists found out.

Scottsdale Police Department

News Editor Melissa Rosequist reports all uniformed services bureau — uniformed officers — within the Scottsdale Police Department are allotted a 30-minute paid meal break when time permits, according to the department’s field order 1012.

When taking a break, no more than two units may be at a single location, excluding supervisors, according to department officials.

Scottsdale PD Sgt. Benjamin Hoster, who responded to interview questions, said the police department does care about the public appearance when several police officers on are break at the same time.
Mr. Hoster also acknowledged it is a common safety practice for officers to eat together while they are out in public.

Squad supervisors have the authority and expectation to restrict the number of units on break at one time if a specific reason exists.
The Scottsdale Police Department has four patrol districts covering the entire city, officials say. Each district has four squads that cover each 24 hour period, and patrol squads average between five to eight patrol officers.

Peoria Police Department

News Editor Philip Haldiman reports that Peoria spokesman Brandon Sheffert said these are policies and procedures regarding meal and rest breaks for officers, however, supervisors can allow for a deviation of the policies and procedures.

Regarding the appearance of many officers in one place for a meal:
The amount of officers patrolling the entire city varies depending on the day, time, and how the department has decided to deploy staff based on historic crime stats, Mr. Sheffert said.

“[Supervisors] regularly discuss this with officers and explain what the public may perceive by seeing a significant amount of officers or police vehicles at any given location. It can also be a bit confusing as some officers in uniform may be in training and/or special details, which in those cases they are not counted as patrol officers in an operational capacity,” he said.

When a police officer is authorized a 30-minute compensated meal break, he/she must comply with the following when taking meal and rest breaks:

• Advise communications of the address for the break via radio or MDC.
• Officers may combine one of their 15-minute breaks with their 30-minute lunch break because of the difficulty in ordering and eating in under 30 minutes.
• Remain within one mile of the assigned area and not take breaks outside the city limits, unless the establishment is across the street from the assigned area.
• Ensure no more than two marked department vehicles or three uniformed employees are at the same location for a break or meal.
• Monitor the radio and respond to traffic as directed.
• Avoid taking meal breaks within the first and last two hours of the shift.

Goodyear Police Department

News Editor Kelly O’Sullivan reports that Goodyear Police Department Public Information Officer Lisa Berry said the department has between six and 20 officers on duty at any given time.

She provided a copy of the department’s meal periods and break policy, which allows uniformed officers one 30-minute meal period and two 20-minute breaks per eight-hour shift.

Officers may take their breaks at home if they live in the city, or at any reputable location within a mile of city limits, the policy states, noting they must notify department communications before their meal period, and remain on call during that time.

“As a general rule, no more than two uniformed officers and a supervisor may be at a single location at any one time for the purpose of a meal period unless authorized by the Watch Commander,” the policy reads. “Oversight comes from the expectations of supervisors to enforce department policy,” Ms. Berry said.

Apache Junction Police Department

News Editor Richard Dyer reports that Apache Junction Police Department’s 60 sworn staff members can take breaks and meals during the day under the same policy as other employees of the far East Valley municipality.

There are no rules regarding the number of on-duty officers who can meet together, a department spokesman said.

“We have no policy regarding how many officers are allowed to meet together for their lunch or coffee, but the supervisors are aware of their limited resources so this is a fluid situation,” said Cpl. Marshall Harshman, AJPD’s community and media liaison officer.

“Further, when possible and usually rare, we do allow officers to take breaks together for officer safety reasons — there have been some recent incidents across the country where officers have been ambushed while taking lunch or getting coffee. Call volume makes it difficult for more than two officers to take a break together, and any more than that has the tendency to create a negative perception by the public,” he said.

The police department’s policy concerning meals and breaks states it shall as reasonably possible conform to the policy governing all city employees. It also states:

• It is the policy of the AJPD to provide meal and rest breaks for all members as defined under departmental and city of Apache Junction personnel rules.
• Sworn employees and dispatchers shall remain on-duty subject to call during meal breaks. All other employees are not on call during meal breaks unless directed otherwise by a supervisor.
• Uniformed officers shall request clearance from the telecommunications center prior to taking a meal period. Uniformed officers shall take their breaks within the city limits unless on assignment outside of the city or have received authorization from a supervisor.
• The time spent for the meal period shall not exceed the authorized time allowed.
  The Apache Junction Police Department’s policy concerning 15-minute breaks includes:
• Each employee is entitled to a 15-minute break, near the midpoint, for each four-hour work period. Only one 15-minute break shall be taken during every four hours of duty. No breaks shall be taken during the first or last hour of an employee’s shift unless approved by a supervisor.
• Employees normally assigned to the police facility shall remain in the police facility for their breaks. This does not prohibit them from taking a break if they are outside the facility on official business.
• Field officers will take their breaks in their assigned areas, subject to call, and shall monitor their radios. When field officers take their breaks away from their vehicles, they shall do so only with the knowledge and clearance of the telecommunications center.

There is oversight and officers are expected to follow the policy regarding city rules for on-duty breaks, Cpl. Harshman said.

“Supervisors do take into consideration the fact that it is a rare occasion that an officer can sit down for coffee in a public place without being approached by a citizen to answer questions. It’s not uncommon for an officer’s entire break to be taken up answering questions from the public. We encourage these interactions with the public and the officers have come to expect it as part of the job,” he said.

Glendale Police Department

News Editor Steve Stockmar reports the Glendale Police Department has policies during all three patrol shifts – dayshift, swing-shift, graveyard – regarding on-duty break time.

While the total amount of dayshift officers generally on patrol is 26 or more, which is the same as graveyard, according to Sgt. Tara Ochoa with the Glendale Police Department, the swingshift patrol features 30 or more officers.
Per Glendale Police Department policy, on-duty police officers are limited to one 30-minute meal break and two 15-minute coffee breaks within their 10-hour shift.

Meanwhile, policy states that no more than two marked patrol units may congregate at any one time during meal periods or coffee breaks.
“However, there are exceptions to this rule,” Sgt. Ochoa told the Glendale Independent. “For example, sometimes supervisors will call a meeting with other supervisors from opposite sides of the city and pick a restaurant or coffee shop to hold the meeting; therefore, there are more marked units at one location during that time set for the meeting.”

Another exception to this policy, Sgt. Ochoa explained, are pre-planned events, such as “Coffee with a Cop.” These are scheduled meetings where multiple marked units and officers come together with local residents at a restaurant or coffee shop to discuss topics, issues and community concerns.

On-duty break oversight falls to patrol supervisors, which include both sergeants and lieutenants who monitor the number of marked units at a location at the same time during meal and coffee breaks.

Glendale PD sees no issue with conclusions members of the public may or may not draw when seeing more than one officer on break at a location.

“This is not generally a major concern as supervisors in the field monitor this daily throughout their shifts,” Sgt. Ochoa said.

Executive Editor Terrance Thornton can be reached at tthornton@newszap.com