Civilian Police Director Measure on Hold in Chester Boro

With the retirement of Chester Borough Police Chief Andre Kedrowitsch a little more than a month away, the mayor and council, in keeping with its decision to keep its options open, had prepared an ordinance amendment that would add the position of police director, a civilian that would help train a new chief or officer in charge.

But the presence of several area police chiefs and some new information prompted the Mayor and Council to table that change at their May 21 meeting.

Denville Chief of Police Christopher Wagner, who is also the third vice president of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, spoke for the assembled officers, explaining the benefits of having a police chief as opposed to a director and offering the services of a mentoring program that would benefit the borough’s next chief.

“The main benefit of a sworn police chief is you get two for the price of one,” said Wagner, who explained that a police director could not do all of the duties of a police chief, such as making arrests and reviewing criminal reports. “A police chief can serve as both a police officer and a police administrator.”

Wagner, who also said hiring a civilian director could negatively impact morale, then went on to explain the services offered by the state and county associations of chiefs of police.

“Our association agrees you should make sure you have the best candidate possible to lead the Chester Borough Police Department,” Wagner said. “We offer services so you don’t have to hire a police director.”

Wagner said the first option is the New Chiefs Mentoring Program, in which volunteer active police chiefs mentor and assist in training the new chief of police. The second option is the Police Management Consultant Program, in which a consultant would help with development and the selection of a new chief.

While the state association does not charge municipalities for these programs, the consultant would be an employee of the municipality, according to the association's website.

“We urge you to take advantage of the mentoring services,” Wagner said.

After hearing Wagner’s presentation, Councilman Gary Marshuetz, a captain in the Livingston Police Department, suggested the council table the ordinance and do research on the association’s mentoring program.

“My feeling all along is that we have the future chief of police within our midst,” Marshuetz said. “I was never in favor of having a long-term police director and definitely not in favor of having a chief of police and a police director at the same time.”

Other council members agreed on tabling the ordinance.

Councilwoman Janet Hoven said should the borough get a police director, it would only be for training purposes and was only meant to be temporary.

“The police director would be used in this capacity,” she said, referring to the mentoring program. “We didn’t know this existed.”

Hoven also voiced concern that, should the ordinance be adopted, a future council could appoint a long-term police director, which is not what the current council intended.

Council President Tim Iversen said he did not see an immediate need to take action on the ordinance.

“I don’t see an emergent need to pass this now or to pick a chief. We can have an acting chief,” he said.

Councilman Matthew Finney agreed that no decision should be rushed but also said he had no problem with the ordinance itself.

“The chief himself said we should not rush this along. I agree with that,” Finney said. “I considered this ordinance another tool, another option we could use. I don’t see a downside to it. I never saw that this was a threat. That’s the way it’s being couched now. I never saw this town hiring a police director. I don’t have any problem tabling it.”

Mayor Bob Davis said adopting the ordinance would not prevent the council from exploring the mentoring programs.

“Just because we pass this ordinance doesn’t take us away from these other programs,” he said. “I don’t think it matters one way or the other.”

Kedrowitsch will retire as of July 1.

At an April 22 special meeting to discuss the future of the police department, Hoven, who serves on the public safety committee, said there are two current members on the force who are eligible for the position based on years of service. However, the department does not have performance reviews to verify the other requirements in the borough ordinance.

Despite that, the council opted to move ahead by stipulating that the two candidates were eligible and then discussed how to test the qualifications of the two sergeants.

While not officially taking any options off of the table, the council members agreed they did not favor the idea of hiring an outside person for the next chief or sharing a chief with a neighboring department.

The shakeup comes less than a year after the failed merger/contracting talks between Chester Township and Chester Borough.