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05/20/2019 12:00 AMBy unanimous vote on May 14, Branford has restored a traditional defined pension benefit plan, lacking since 2011, for Branford Police Department officers. The plan is effective through June 30, 2031.
Branford’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) also voted May 14 to approve a new, three-year contract with raises of 2.5 percent for police, effective through June 30, 2022. The pension plan and contract, negotiated between the Town of Branford and the police union, was ratified in April by union UPSEU/COPS Branford Police Unit #459.
Immediately following the RTM vote on May 14, Branford police union president Sgt. Stanley Konesky said the return of the pension was a “win-win.”
In 2011, the Town removed the traditional pension for new police hires as a cost-saving measure. Instead of pensions with defined disability coverage, the department instead offered new hires a 401K plan. But in the ensuing years, significant turnover of new officers became a retention issue, after new hires were salaried, academy- and field-trained over the course of a year at the town’s expense, then often moved on to departments offering traditional plans.
Konesky said word of the union’s ratification of the contract boosted interest in the department among potential new hires. He said it’s also been a boost to department morale and gives peace of mind to current officers hired as of 2011.
Konesky said at least three of the officers who came to listen to the RTM vote on May 14 had families and concerns; as they would have had just 18 months of disability pay to fall back if injured in the line of duty, under the old contract.
Officers hired from 2011 through the point of the newly-approved contract will be credited retroactively as pension participants and will be able to fold their 401K savings into the plan.
Konesky also praised the efforts of former Branford Police Chief Kevin Halloran during the negotiation process, which took approximately two years, as well as the support received by current Chief Jonathan Mulhern, who came on board in 2018 and was promoted to Chief in April 2019. Halloran retired from Branford to become North Branford’s Police Chief in April 2019.
Mulhern said he was pleased with the new contract, adding, “Chief [Halloran] did a lot of work on it, and the union as well. I’m just going to reap the benefits.”
The department, which is currently in the process of hiring, is narrowing candidates down from an exceptionally high number of 190 applicants, said Captain John Alves.
Restoring the pension “...definitely became a draw,” said Alves. “And it will be a bigger draw in the future.”
It’s not only good news for new hires, it’s big news for the department as it exists, and as it’s perceived among other agencies, he added.
“It’s huge for us. It’s going to increase retention and we’re going to draw certified officers from other agencies,” said Alves. “It’s also turned around several [Branford] officers that began looking at other agencies.”
Since 2011, “...we’ve lost a lot of good people. I’ve seen officers who’ve had to leave due to being injured on the job,” said Alves, adding the department also lost several good new hires.
“Just as they start getting good at their jobs, they were going somewhere else; and we’ve had to start over again,” said Alves. “It’s been difficult.”