Petaluma police agree to unpaid leave

<p>Members of the Petaluma Police Officers Association have agreed to take unpaid time off next year to help the city meet its budget goals.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The tentative agreement, which awaits approval by city leaders, requires the association's 81 members to take 96 hours off without pay between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2011.</p><p>That includes 52 police officers and 10 sergeants, according to Ron Klein, the association's president.</p><p>He said time off can be taken a few hours at a time or in longer stretches, and that the city won't bring other officers in on overtime to fill in.</p><p>“If an officer takes a furlough day, that's one less officer we'll have on the street,” he said.</p><p>The time off was the best option given the alternatives, he said. The furloughs represent a 3.1 percent reduction in salary.</p><p>The Public Safety Mid Managers Association, which represents eight employees, also is supporting the tentative agreement.</p><p>— Derek J. Moore</p>