Officers’ military service leaves Fayetteville’s chief of police juggling roster

As three Fayetteville police officers return from active military duty, another handful could be shipping out.

“We have four officers who could potentially be called out,”said Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor. “With a new president, who knows what will happen. It could all change.”

Despite future uncertainties, Tabor said the department will make do with its existing resources.

He said officers called to active duty get 30 days worth of salary, after which they aren’t paid, but the spot is held for them.

“By law, you must hold a person’s spot if they’re deployed for military service,”he said.

Soldiers from the officers’ brigade, the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade, were initially called to active duty for training in Arkansas on Oct. 1, 2007, and were federally mobilized on Jan. 2, when they departed the state for continued training at Camp Shelby, Miss. Approximately 3,000 soldiers with the brigade deployed to Iraq in late March.

Those soldiers are slated to return from deployment during the coming weeks.

“We’ve heard word that they’re coming back pretty soon,”Tabor said. “We’ll be glad when they do.”

Tabor said officer deployments don’t effect police presence in the community, regardless of a current hiring freeze.

“We make do by getting creative with shift scheduling,”he said. “We’re required to have a minimum number of officers working each shift. Sometimes we end up with shift overtime, but we try not to. We only do that if someone calls in sick without giving notice.”

Officers won’t go back to their law enforcement jobs for at least a month after their return from overseas. They must first undergo a postdeployment phase, which includes both a physical and mental evaluation. During that time, soldiers remain on active duty while readjusting to their daily routines.

Once they return from active duty, Tabor said officers are slowly re-integrated back to their roles at the Police Department. Officers are initially placed with a field training officer until they become comfortable on their own.

“So many things are constantly changing, particularly when it comes to technology,”he said. “For instance, we just got new in-car computers. It’s going to take some time for those officers to familiarize themselves with the new equipment. It’s different for each officer.”

Military deployment, Tabor added, isn’t the only thing that keeps the Police Department from being fully staffed. Family and medical leave, along with required training, also keep the department from filling all 120 of its positions.

Typically, at any given time of year, Tabor said the Police Department has eight to nine unoccupied positions that can’t be filled.

“Right now, we probably have about 12 positions filled that aren’t benefiting us,”he said. “We recently hired a new guy, but he’s not doing me any good right now. He still has to be trained. We never have everyone.”

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