Police Express Concern Over Staffing Levels

Princeton’s police departments do not want to see manpower dip below the existing 57 sworn officers post-consolidation, but have stopped short of specifying an ideal staffing level.

At 57 officers, that would still be well below the Joint Shared Services and Consolidation Commission's recommendation that a merged police department have 51 sworn officers by the end of 2015, which would help achieve the estimated $3.1 million in annual savings from consolidation.

“Fifty-one versus 57, that is going to create a huge disparity, or gap, in what we may be able to achieve in consolidation,” said Borough Council Member Jo Butler, who sits on the Transition Task Force and listened to the police department presentations on Saturday. “I know we’re going to address this in the subcommittee, but I want people to know that has not gone unnoticed and will be addressed.”

The Commission's report said that at 51 officers, the cost of services would decrease while service levels would rise. 

Borough Police Chief David Dudeck and Township Police Lt. Chris Morgan told members of the Transition Team that they open to discussions with the police subcommittee about what an ideal number of officers might be.

Those discussions will begin on Friday.

Borough Mayor Yina Moore said even at 57 officers, Princeton would save at least $1 million over three years.

“It’s important to state that it’s not just about saving money, there are services that need to be delivered,” Transition Team Chairman Mark Freda said. “The Public Safety Subcommittee will try to draw the best balance they can between services and cost savings and come back with a recommendation to the task force.”

Merging the two departments will not be easy, but Dudeck and Morgan agree that maintaining or improving service levels must be a top priority.

“The pride that we take is in our style of service,” Morgan said. “We believe we are a community service type of organization. In the Township, there is an expectation that if they (residents) call the police department, within several minutes there will be someone there to talk to them.

“Our concern is for our residents,” Morgan said. “Depending on what manpower looks like, is it going to be deployed to downtown and we going to lose police presence in the outskirts of the new Princeton?”

Dudeck echoed similar concerns about consolidation.

“If there’s one area that would concern me the most, it would be delivery of service,” he said. “I hope that as we go through this consolidation that our delivery of service is not impacted. I think our citizens of Princeton deserve high end service.”

There are differing philosophies between the two departments: Dudeck likened the consolidation to one between the New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox.

Where the Borough has a large downtown district, the Township is mostly suburban. Where the Borough often redeploys senior or specialized officers to help with daily patrols, Township patrols are sometimes understaffed help with specialized services.

“Manpower is always an issue, it’s always a number we have to meet every day,” Dudeck.

Princeton Borough currently has 30 sworn officers and Princeton Borough has 27, although it is also authorized for 30.

Last week, Township Police Chief Robert Buchanan told the Task Force the department can redeploy existing staff and rely on Borough Police for mutual aid rather than hire new staff this year.

The Township Police Department currently has both a traffic and community service bureau: the Borough does not.

Dudeck said decisions about police staffing should be made as soon as possible in order to adequately train officers by Jan. 1, 2013.