With fewer and fewer people available to serve as reserve police officers, Police Chief James Babu has proposed hiring civilians to manage and direct traffic at work sites along public roads. Nearly all the surrounding towns, he said, have adopted the use of civilian agents for traffic control. The proposal is expected to appear as a warrant article at the Oct. 21 Town Meeting.
As Babu explained in a phone interview with the Press, state policy now requires 22 weeks of training for reserve police officers, instead of the previous 120 hours. The new requirements, Babu said, were “the death of reserves” for Massachusetts police departments. As a result, many departments are dealing with a shortage of reserve officers.
Babu has requested a pool of 10 civilian traffic control agents for safety at construction projects, parades, and emergencies. The Personnel Board approved his proposal unanimously at its Sept. 13 meeting.
The new civilian traffic agents, Babu told the Personnel Board, could provide traffic control at times when Harvard police officers are unavailable because of other duties. Police officers and retirees would still have first priority, however, if they wanted the extra work on traffic details.
Babu said he expects to need six to eight traffic control agents to cover all working hours at the upcoming major Ayer Road renovation project. Without the new civilian agents, he would likely have to call on other towns for assistance, but those towns are also facing shortages. Moreover, using out-of-town workers for a traffic detail results in a 10% administrative charge that goes to the town providing the workers.
When working a detail, the new traffic control agents would be paid at the same rate as police officers: $50 per hour for in-town details and $65 per hour for out-of-town details. Those costs would be borne by the entity in charge of the project. For example, if National Grid was doing work on a public roadway, the company would pay for the traffic safety detail. And, for out-of-town details, the 10% administrative fee would be paid to the town of Harvard.
Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro explained the new agents would be town employees, similar to substitute teachers. Babu said these agents would buy their own uniforms and would be paid only when they were working a traffic detail. The only new costs to the town, according to both Babu and Sobalvarro, would be for the agents’ coverage under workers’ compensation insurance and Medicare.
New agents would require eight hours of training in traffic management, as well as CPR training. They would also be required to pass a criminal background check. Babu said the civilian agents would not be assigned to events such as festivals or weddings. Nor would they have any law enforcement authority; if enforcement was required at a work site, the civilian traffic agent would need to call a police officer.
