The Southwest Mercer County Regional Police union has a grievance with the way the police commission handles grievances.

The union has notified the commission it wants to take the issue to arbitration, said police commission Chairman James DeCapua.

The grievance procedure is spelled out in the police contract, DeCapua said.

Grievances must be approved by a majority of union members before being filed with the commission, DeCapua said. The police chief determines the merit of the grievance but the union can appeal the chief’s decision, he said.

The commission assigns grievances to a committee of two or three commission members for disposition, which is what the union has a problem with.

Police union President Sgt. William Hite said the union believes at least a quorum of the board should consider the appeals.

"I believe it had been done in the past," he said.

Hite said the more people who consider the request the less chance there might be a tie vote.

"Our position is they’re trying to tell us how to run the commission," DeCapua said.

The commission assigns a committee to handle grievances for a number of reasons, most notably the tight time restrictions in which appeals must be addressed. The commission has 20 days to hear a grievance or the union automatically wins, DeCapua said.

It’s difficult to get all seven commission members together on short notice, and the state open meetings law requires the commission to advertise a meeting anytime a majority of the commission members meet, he said.

The full commission can overturn the committee’s decision.

DeCapua said assigning tasks is nothing new, noting committees have been established for personnel and finance issues, and the last police contract was negotiated by a committee.

Police contracts have to be approved by a majority of commission members.