Aurora lays off 8 police officers

Eight Aurora police officers received layoff notices from the city Monday night, despite their union's protests against shrinking the size of the force.

All the layoffs come from the patrol ranks, according to Chief Management Officer Carie Anne Ergo.

“The city will continue to maintain the same number of officers in the areas of community policing, school resources and gang prevention,” Ergo said in a statement.

The eight officers will be out of a job Jan. 1, according to the notices, said David Schmidt, president of the Association of Professional Police Officers, which represents Aurora's patrol officers.

Ergo said layoffs were necessary because the police union was unwilling to discuss possible concessions. All bargaining units representing city employees have been asked to make concessions to help fill an $18 million budget gap.

Schmidt said the layoff notices made their way to seven of the eight officers about 10 p.m. Monday. The eighth officer, Schmidt said, is in the Army reserves, and did not yet receive the notice.

Schmidt said he is unsure how the city decided on eight as the number of officers that must be laid off.

“They provided us no answers about where the math is coming from,” Schmidt said Tuesday. “When you get into the numbers, it doesn't make any sense.”

The union and the city have been going back and forth about whether 13 vacant police positions are still listed in the city's budget. But the 2011 budget has not been released to the city council.

“To come out with layoff notices before the aldermen even had a chance to look at the budget, to me, is just a huge power play,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the police union will meet Tuesday night to discuss what actions can be taken and suggestions for the laid-off officers.

In the past, the union proposed alternatives to the city which it believed would increase revenue, such as charging an administrative fee for booking prisoners and prosecuting DUI offenses within the city. The union had opposed layoffs, saying they would threaten public safety.

“While it is unfortunate that Aurora officers chose layoffs over concessions, the city will have eight more officers on the street in 2011 than it had in 2008 when the city achieved a record low crime rate with only two homicides,” Ergo said in a statement.

For more details, check back at dailyherald.com or read Wednesday's Daily Herald.