Police, Fire departments brace for wave of retirements

Don't worry, Brookfield taxpayers, it's not like employees of the city's Police and Fire departments are bolting out the door as soon as they hit retirement age.

And so far, none of the retirement-eligible workers - a figure that tops two dozen this year across both departments - have announced plans to leave in 2010.

But if all 27 sworn personnel, or even a significant portion of them, decided to leave at the same time, that would definitely cause problems in terms of staffing. After all, that figure represents 20 percent of the city's total firefighters and police officers.

"If they all left at once, it would be truly devastating," Fire Chief Charlie Myers said. "The only thing that we can hope is that there's a staggered effect to those folks as they choose to depart."

Both departments have policies in place to address vacancies due to retirement via promotions and outside hiring, but the city next month will start exploring ways to add flexibility to the process. The discussion is directly in anticipation of an uptick in the number of retirement-eligible employees over the next three to five years.

And when the departments do need to address those vacancies, there likely won't be a shortage of qualified applicants, thanks to strong programs at schools like Waukesha County Technical College.

Pace to pick up

Human Resources Director Jim Zwerlein said the city isn't anticipating "a big swell in retirements suddenly," but he acknowledged the demographics of police and fire work force have brought the issue to the forefront.

"We just want to make sure we have sufficient flexibility to react, if we need to," he said.

Zwerlein said there haven't been many retirements in the last five or six years - typically about one police officer and one firefighter every two years - but the city could face a situation within the next five years in which retirements are happening at a pace of three or four a year.

To prepare for that, Zwerlein, Myers and Police Chief Dan Tushaus have held discussions on how to address the jump in the number of retirement-eligible employees. One option being reviewed is hiring or promoting employees before current employees retire, Zwerlein said. That could help give the employees time to get acclimated to their new roles and save overtime costs that come with maintaining minimum staffing levels in the departments.

Crisis not expected

Tushaus said the Police Department has not hired anybody in more than a year, but the department also hasn't had to deal with an inordinate number of retirements, either.

"For the most part, we have had people leave for either career changes or other opportunities in law enforcement," he said. "Most stay here and develop their career and vocation with us for an extended period of time."

When the department does look for new officers, it participates in a consolidated recruitment system with Elm Grove, New Berlin and the village of Pewaukee, but Tushaus said that hasn't been necessary in recent years.

"We haven't run a recruitment for quite a while because we haven't had the need," he said.

Like the Police Department, the Fire Department keeps a running list of those employees who have reached retirement age, and the department has a succession plan in place. Still, it's not a problem at the moment, Myers said.

"Many of our folks stay past that minimum retirement age," he said. "They don't leave right on it, and they work beyond that, which gives us a little more time to help get people prepared to fill those vacancies as (the retirees) choose to leave."

Plenty of hiring options

When those retirements due occur, however, the city need look no farther than a few miles away - at Waukesha County Technical College - for new recruits. Classes in law enforcement and fire protection are among the most popular at WCTC, and graduates of those programs take jobs across the county, state and country.

"We always have more students than we actually have capacity to provide education to," said Gregory West, associate dean of the college's fire and EMS training programs.

West said there are almost always waiting lists for courses in WCTC's two-year fire protection technician degree program. He said the occupational outlook is generally pretty steady for firefighters, but there has been some growth in full- and part-time positions recently in southeastern Wisconsin.

"The protective services are usually the last area where you make cuts," West said.

Still, he said, the job market is "very, very competitive" because of the large number of qualified candidates looking for work.

The college's two-year criminal justice and law enforcement associate degree program enrolls more than 500 people, from college-aged students to those looking to get back into the work force. WCTC also holds a 13-week police academy for departments across Waukesha County.

Smart decisions needed

Myers said it is vital for police and fire departments to look at both ends of the career spectrum as they plan for the future.

"I think it's important to look at your organization and to understand what the potential is for folks to retire and to leave so that you can put in place a succession plan so that you can fill those vacancies as they arrive," he said. "At the same time, it's important to look at what the trends to the future are that says, 'We need to take a look at who we're hiring and do they have the ability to fill those roles that are going to come on later in their career?'

"So you have to look at not only internally what you're doing but externally to make sure that you're trying to find the right folks to hire."

BY THE NUMBERS

57

firefighters in the Brookfield Fire Department; 10 are eligible for retirement in 2010

65

sworn officers in the city Police Department; 17 are eligible for retirement in 2010

70

credits required for a fire protection technician associate degree at Waukesha County Technical College

520

hours required in Waukesha County Technical College's police academy

NEXT STEP

WHAT: Human Resources and Public Safety Committee initial discussions on how to deal with pending retirements in the Police and Fire departments

WHEN: 7 p.m. March 10

WHERE: City Hall, 2000 N. Calhoun Road

CONTACT: Human Resources Director Jim Zwerlein, (262) 796-6642