Working to replace vehicles and expand involvement in state and federal task forces are priorities of local law enforcement, the Cranston Police Department’s leadership told City Council members this week.

Appearing before the council’s Finance Committee for a hearing on the department’s approximately $20.7 million budget plan for fiscal year 2015, State Police Capt. Kevin Barry – who is acting as Cranston’s chief – and Major Robert Ryan pointed to addressing the aging fleet as the most pressing need.

“You’re really at the crossroads,” said Barry, pointing to earlier situations in which the city found itself needing to replace a significant number of vehicles at one time.

“We need to be consistent,” said Ryan, recommending a plan be instituted to upgrade the fleet. “The cars are a definite priority.”

The budget plan for the coming year seeks to purchase two new unmarked vehicles and three cruisers. City Finance Director Robert Strom indicated additional purchases could be made if funding becomes available, and said options are being explored in terms of increasing or instituting fees to help with the replacement of vehicles.

Ryan said the department has between 50 and 60 vehicles, with many of them well above the preferred mileage for first-responder vehicles.

In terms of personnel, Ryan said the coming year’s budget provides for 151 uniformed personnel, along with 26 civilian employees and six part-time employees. While the full complement would be 153 officers, Ryan and Barry both characterized current staffing levels as adequate.

“We’re operating fine at 151 … I haven’t seen any operational deficiencies as a result,” said Ryan.

Barry – who took command of the department in January after Col. Marco Palombo Jr., who has since retired, was placed on paid leave amid a state police investigation into allegations of retaliatory ticketing – said expanding involvement in task forces is an area on which Cranston should focus.

Officers who are involved with such units, he said, “bring that requisite knowledge back with them” to their home department.

“Being the third largest city in the state, I think it’s important to have Cranston police involved,” he added.

Part of Barry’s recommendation to that effect would involve working with the police union to alter the existing rules for task force placement. Currently, he said, the guidelines provide for selections to be based purely on seniority. Barry would pursue a system in which an officer’s expertise and interest level, along with a vetting process, were considered.

Task forces are typically grant-funded, Barry said, with officers being compensated through the grant for time spent away from their local positions.

Tuesday’s discussion also focused partially on traffic violation enforcement, with Ryan indicating that additional resources are being devoted to that aspect of the department’s work.

“I’m confident that our enforcement will increase citywide,” he said.

Both Barry and Ryan deflected questions from council members regarding whether they felt the current $50 fine for overnight parking is excessive.

“I really don’t have much to say [about the amount of the fine],” said Ryan. “If we see a problem, we’re going to direct our traffic enforcement to combat it [regardless of the associated fine].”

Barry praised both Cranston’s patrol and detective divisions, and the work of local personnel.

“I’m very impressed with what they do,” he said. “They have a lot coming at them.”

The police department has been at the center of controversy for several months following allegations that two wards were blitzed with parking tickets following a November finance committee vote against a new contract with the police union.

In the months since, Palombo has retired, Capt. Stephen Antonucci – the union’s president – has been charged with misconduct and placed on paid leave, and an overall review of the department’s operations by state police remains ongoing.

Strom said the salary figures included in Mayor Allan Fung’s budget plan for the police department are based on 2012, the last time a contract was in place. If the contract situation changes through approval of an agreement or an arbitration decision, he said, the city will need to adjust.

Officials also spoke about the search for a new chief. Jerry Cordy, the city’s director of administration, said the advertising materials for the position are currently being compiled.

The hope, he said, is for a new chief to be in place before the fall, and for that individual to be extended the “courtesy” of making a selection for a vacant major’s position.

The ticketing allegations did come up during Tuesday’s discussion. Resident Richard Tomlins, during the public hearing portion of the meeting, called on Council President John Lanni to hold up approval of the police budget until the public receives a full account of what occurred in November and the months since.

“The public has a right to know,” he said, suggesting he would pursue legal avenues to obtain the information if required.

Lanni acknowledged Tomlins’ concerns, and reiterated his previous criticism of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights as being akin to the “witness protection.” He quickly shot down, however, any call for holding up the budget approval process.

“We’re not going to handcuff an entire police department,” he said.