North Aurora patrol officers switching to 12-hour shifts
North Aurora police patrol officers will convert to a new 12-hour shift schedule, under a new contract.
The goal was to have more consistent coverage, Village Administrator Steven Bosco said. Four patrol officers will be scheduled to work each shift. Currently, three to four are scheduled on 8-hour shifts.
It should also reduce the amount the village spends on overtime, and will give the village the equivalent of an additional patrol officer's worth of work, he said.
The village board approved the new contract Monday. It is retroactive to June 1.
Patrol officers will work 84 hours per two-week pay period, or 104 more hours a year, at straight-time pay. One team will be scheduled two days on, two days off, three days on, two days off and two days on, three days off each pay period. The second team will work the opposite: two off, two on, three off, three on and two off, three on. Shifts will start at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The new schedule starts Jan. 1, and is subject to review at the request of the village or the union after one year.
If they decide to revert to the old system, the officers would still work the extra hours each year, until the end of the contract.
The hourly pay rate will increase 2 percent this year, and 1 percent each in years two and three.
In the new contract, pay starts at $27.43 an hour ($57,054 a year, based on the current schedule) for an officer at Step 1 on the scale. An officer at Step 8, the top of the scale, would make $38.09 an hour, or $79,227 a year, under the current schedule.
The village has 20 patrol officers, and intends to hire another one.
Sergeants are covered under another contract, which is being renegotiated.
The contract also changes how suspension of officers will be handled. Previously, the police chief could suspend an officer up to five days, and the officer could appeal that suspension to the village's police board. Now, the chief can suspend an officer up to 30 days, and appeals will be heard by an arbitrator.