By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

At the first leg of Town Meeting, Hooksett Police Department veteran Frank Gray said he thought establishing a revolving fund for police special details would be a “no-brainer.”

“Then I found there are maybe some politics involved,” said Gray, who circulated and submitted a petitioned warrant article calling for the fund, and an initial expense of $10,000.

The warrant article and Gray’s explanation of it at the April 1 deliberative session of Town Meeting have summoned questions relating to officers’ rights to special details, and even the police department’s performance and management.

Police special details generally involve an independent contractor hiring the town’s police officers for jobs like directing traffic, independent of the officer’s normal departmental duties.

Hooksett police currently make $31 an hour, with a minimum of four hours, for special details. Funding for the work comes out of a line in the police department’s operating budget.

At a February budget committee meeting, that line was cut by $50,000, to $10,000. At a March budget committee meeting, Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis said it was the police commission’s position that no money would be transferred from other areas of the police department budget once the special detail line was expended.

“They said they would not exceed the dollar amount that’s in there to provide special details,” said Gray. “That would cut that out.”

Gray said a revolving fund would benefit the police department’s younger officers, since the fund would continuously see updated revenues, allowing officers to work special details throughout the year.

“They start, obviously, on the low end of the scale,” Gray said of the department’s newer officers. “They need and depend on those (special details).”

Budget committee member Bryan Williams, however, said the committee purposefully cut the special detail line.

“There were a number of changes to their budget,” said Williams. “They revolve around the performance of the (police) department.”

The budget committee also cut $100,000 representing wages for two currently unfilled police officer positions.

But Williams described the special detail line as the “gravy” line, and said trimming it down to $10,000 “was supposed to send a message that we’re not happy.”

Williams referred to 2004- 05 police department statistics showing the numbers for vehicle stops, arrests, summary action codes and calls for service.

Agrafiotis said overall police activity was slightly up for the time period, but the number of police-initiated actions was down, and, “a small minority of officers – and mainly the newer officers – were doing the majority of the work.”

At the recent Town Meeting, Gray suggested that trimming special detail funding was supported by Agrafiotis in a nonpublic budget committee meeting.

“Mr. Gray doesn’t have all the facts and jumps to conclusions,” said Agrafiotis. “I do not make motions or take votes for the budget committee.”

Police Commission Chairman David Gagnon shared a similar statement.

“We funded (the special detail line), we submitted it, the budget committee cut it,” he said. “I can’t answer for what the budget committee did.”

Agrafiotis said he takes offense to the notion that he’s trying to punish other members of the department.

“We’re not making an issue out of this because we’re not hurting our officers,” he said, describing special detail work as a “part-time job.”

“If somebody’s living beyond their means, it’s not my job to give them a good part-time job,” he said.

According to the current police union contract, Hooksett’s officers may work special details if it’s no hindrance to the police department’s shift coverage or manpower.

The contract also states that sick employees can’t work special details, and that such work is limited by the amount of funds in the special detail line.

“It’s a service we provide when we’re able to do it,” said Agrafiotis. “Our number one job is to protect the safety of the people of Hooksett.”

Yet Gray, who recently retired from the department after 11 years as animal control officer and community resources officer, suggested providing special details to officers is critical to keeping qualified people in the department.

“We’ve invested in these officers,” he told residents at Town Meeting. “We have a good police department and I don’t know of very many people that have complained about them not doing their job.”

Voting day is May 9, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Cawley Middle School.