Groton — The Groton Town Police Department will reduce its community policing services, the hours of its part-time animal control officer and has asked the school district to help fund the school resource officer due to budget cuts in the fiscal year that begins July 1, according to a memo by Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro.

Groton suffered a major loss in revenue this year and the losses trickled down, prompting cuts across the town’s general government departments.

The police department budget fell from about $6.9 million last year to about $6.7 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year, a cut of 3.2 percent.

Town Manager Mark Oefinger asked each department head to let him know how they planned to deal with the cuts, and Fusaro outlined the police department’s response in a June 13 memo.

Groton town police previously had assigned officers — in addition to patrol staff — to support community policing, which places officers in neighborhoods to get to know people and help deal with problems before they turn into crime.

The program has three offices: On Tern Road in Navy Housing, on Water Street in Mystic, and a recently completed area in the former Fitch Middle School.

"Community policing is critical to the department and establishes a vital link between police and the public," Fusaro wrote in an email about the cuts. "Our officers are committed to continuing to foster that partnership with the community which develops trust and enhances our ability to effectively police the Town of Groton."

"Having said that, our ability to dedicate officers to exclusively conduct community policing, and for that matter, dedicated traffic enforcement, will be reduced as a result of this economic reality," he wrote.

The department also will cut back the hours of its part-time animal control officer who helps the full-time animal control and assistant animal control officers and covers when they are off duty, Fusaro wrote.

Patrol officers will handle those tasks if an animal control officer is unavailable, he said.

The department has asked the school district for help covering the cost of the school resource officer, who has been assigned to Robert E. Fitch High School for several years. 

Fusaro said he recently discussed with Superintendent Michael Graner having the Board of Education share the cost, as the position has been covered by the police.

Despite the economics, Fusaro said he has emphasized to officers the importance of making frequent, random stops at all town schools to walk through buildings and talk to students, faculty and staff.

"This was well received last year and will continue when the school year begins," he said.

Cuts to department funding means that three positions will be unfilled this fiscal year and a fourth will be eliminated, his memo said.

The department will be unable to fill a patrol lieutenant, a records clerk and a Special Services Division investigator’s position.

The department will eliminate a part-time typist job.

Patrol lieutenants oversee patrol officers, including the tasks of scheduling and payroll.

Records clerks process the reports filed with the state and federal governments and conduct background checks, process paperwork for pistol permits and other duties.

The Special Services Division investigates crimes involving town youth and elderly, as well as sex crimes, the memo said.

"Groton Town Police officers will continue to conduct their duties in a way that prioritizes public safety," Fusaro wrote in his email. "While not optimal, commanders and supervisors will prioritize policing activities to maximize coverage."

"Our officers will continue to participate and take a leadership role in the Regional Community Enhancement Task Force, conduct traffic enforcement that targets hazardous violators, and we will conduct criminal investigations in a manner expected by the citizens we serve," he wrote.

Overtime spending will be reduced, which means officers will get less time off, Fusaro's memo explained.

Overtime is needed to cover assignments while officers attend mandatory training, are out sick or use earned time off.

The department also will scale back overtime spending for officers to cover parades, sporting events and other large programs.

“Agencies or town departments needing police services for public safety at planned events will have to pay for those services or eliminate some events to meet budgetary constraints in (fiscal year) 2017,” the memo said.

Fusaro said the department understands the difficult economic circumstances and is searching for efficiencies wherever possible.

"It is safe to say that these cuts have an impact, and the resulting reduction in the adopted budget means we have to assess programs and look to find areas where we can make adjustments that have the least impact on public safety," he said.

d.straszheim@theday.com