Letter to the Editor: State PBA Blasts Politicians, Media for Inciting Public Against Police Officers

Recent media reports on police salaries are disappointing and intentionally designed to turn the public against its police officers.

The fact that these stories are written barely two weeks since while on patrol is insulting to every cop in the state.

These stories are based on the premise that cops in New Jersey are "overpaid." Let me ask instead, what's the "going rate" to be a police officer? What's the fair market private sector value of an officer who is killed, seriously injured or who deals with the worst of society?

Just because every town doesn't have a cop killed though doesn't mean police don't regularly deal with serious or dangerous crimes the public never hears about. What's the "price" we should be paid to intervene in a chaotic domestic dispute or tell a parent their child is dead or walk up to a car at night not knowing if there is danger behind tinted glass. 

The crime rate is rising in every region of the State due to the bad economy and a loss of police officers.  The State Police gang report shows that over half of New Jersey towns have a gang presence. The increased gang activity has increased the threat levels to our communities and our cops.  These rising crime stats have nothing to do with what the “average” cop in the state makes a year.

We recognize that the economy and cuts in state aid to municipalities are squeezing taxpayers. The PBA throughout the state has done its part to help but public safety is a responsibility of government that can't be compared to what happens in the private sector. 

You can't blame contracts for layoffs when the state has cut aid, when foreclosures and reassessment challenges are killing tax rolls and when, after a decade of government mismanagement, pension payments have finally come home to roost.  

The governor can claim that 3 of every 4 dollars is spent on “employee costs” but he doesn’t tell the public that abolishing an average police department would save a taxpayer less than lunch at McDonalds for a month. 

Politicians and the media who mix and match old contract clauses from multiple towns are merely trying to distract the public that the cure for property taxes has no simple answer. 

We have asked the governor to meet with us many times since he was sworn in to work together to find solutions to get past these difficult times.  Instead he has ignored our requests and by doing so PBA members feel he has turned his back on every law enforcement officer we represent. Some media ask if police unions are the “next target” for the governor, but intentionally making a police officer a public enemy is dangerous and destructive. 

The fact is that a cops are real heroes who everyday try to make a difference in the lives of the communities they serve. The problem is that their value is not recognized by the media or politicians until a tragedy strikes.

Anthony F. Wieners, President, New Jersey State PBA