Sag Harbor May Rehire Laid-Off Police Officer

Sag Harbor Village officials are considering rehiring a recently laid-off police officer as a part-time officer.

Such issues as the liability to the village, as well how much former Officer David Driscoll could be paid and whether the village would need to provide him with medical insurance need to be ironed out before a vote could be held, according to Mayor Brian Gilbride. “There has never been an effort to get a part-timer like this, ever,” he said, but he called the rehiring “highly likely.”

Village Trustee Kevin Duchemin, a police sergeant with the East Hampton Village Police Department, said at a board meeting on Tuesday night that he wanted to rehire former Officer Driscoll that night at $30 an hour. Police Chief Tom Fabiano spoke in favor of the idea.

Officer Driscoll, the department’s officer of the year for 2012, was laid off effective May 31 after the Village Board, led by Mr. Gilbride, axed his position from the budget. As the last man hired, Officer Driscoll was the first to be laid off.

The layoff followed a contentious year between Mr. Gilbride and the police union, which entered binding arbitration over a contract dispute. Throughout the year, Mr. Gilbride threatened to trim the size of the force and even bring in an outside agency to help police the village, saying he needed to get a handle on ever-increasing costs, particularly those related to medical benefits and retirement.