Extended shifts seen for DPS

Department of Public Safety personnel on Saipan would work on 12- and 24-hour shifts once members of the Army Reserve leave for Hawaii tomorrow.

This comes even as the Babauta administration green-lighted the emergency hiring of new personnel—a process that could take up to two months.

DPS commissioner Edward Camacho said the department is counting on former employees who have resigned to go back to service. He strongly urged former DPS personnel to turn in their applications to the Office of Personnel Management so they could be rehired.

The department is also looking at possibly tapping the services of DPS retirees, although it is still reviewing the legal implications of this option before actually implementing it.

Camacho said policemen would work on 12-hour shifts, with about 8-16 hours of break before reporting for work again. A similar break period applies for firefighters who would work on 24-hour shifts.

Some 30 DPS personnel from Saipan would leave for Hawaii for the annual three-week training of reservists, but the administration is anticipating the reservists’ prolonged deployment and possible assignment to the Middle East and Afghanistan. Twenty of them come from the police divisions, while 10 others are employed with the Division of Fire.

The deployment leaves the department with 115 policemen and 71 firefighters on Saipan.

“The number can go up,” Camacho said, referring to DPS personnel who might also be deployed off-island, after the Pentagon alerted reservists to augment U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He maintained, however, that there is no need to declare an emergency, assuring that DPS would continue to provide uninterrupted public safety services despite its manpower shortage.

Camacho said it would be quicker to process employment applications by former policemen and firefighters, which could be completed in a few weeks. He said he has already communicated with former DPS men and asked them to join the police force again.

The commissioner said previous applications are also being reviewed. He said the DPS could also take in retirees should findings of a legal review allow for it. Hiring retirees on a contractual basis is also being reviewed, Camacho added.

Camacho said new applications submitted to the OPM would undergo a rigid process, such as background investigation and polygraph tests. “We cannot just take anybody.”

The CNMI recently received notification to deploy the reservists, totaling some 83, including the DPS personnel. Reservists from Saipan, Guam and American Samoa form part of the Army Reserve’s 500-strong 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.