Township Officials Will Vote Tonight to Appoint Acting Police Chief

Princeton Township Committee will vote tonight whether to promote Acting Police Director Chris Morgan to Interim Police Chief.

Morgan has been leading the Township Police Department since former Chief Robert Buchanan retired at the beginning of April.

“It’s on the agenda because a contingent of Township Committee thought it was important for us to address,” Township Mayor Chad Goerner said.

Committee Member Lance Liverman supports the proposal, saying it's for residents' safety and for morale of the police department.

“It’s something I think our community wants, our community has always had a police chief or an actiing chief, not having one makes no sense at all,” Liverman said.

But he is clear that just because Morgan might be promoted to Acting Police Chief, that would be a promotion in title only, no raise.

“I’m not looking to spend a dime more,” Liverman said.

Having an interim chief means the Township will have a seat at the table during negotiations about merging the Borough and Township police departments by Jan. 1, 2013, Liverman said.

The issue of having an acting chief came up recently when members of the Township police department expressed a concern that existing police personnel would result in a merged department staffed entirely by former Borough personnel at the command level.

Goerner and Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert brought those concerns to Borough Mayor Yina Moore and Borough Council Chairwoman Barbara Trelsdad in mid-April. All agreed to draft a memo outlining potential concerns to the Transition Team’s personnel subcommittee, Goerner said.

But just days after sending a draft memo to Moore and Trelsdad for comment, Goerner and members of Township Committee received a formal letter from Moore requesting that the Township not interfere with the work of the Transition Task Force, which would decide police leadership based on experience, performance, disciplinary record and seniority.

Last week, Borough Council member Roger Martindell called any Township attempt to appoint an acting police chief  “another unfortunate step in what appears to be the Township’s increasingly strident effort to attempt to influence the choice of employees for the new Princeton based not on merit but on parochial concerns: namely, whether the candidate is a present or former ‘Borough’ or “’Township’ employee.

Goerner dismissed Martindell’s comments as “blather” and “political grandstanding.”

Goerner responded to Moore's letter, noting that while Township officials had brought concerns forward in the spirit of collaboration, the two Princeton’s are still independent and “Princeton Township Committee will take whatever actions it deems to be necessary to protect the welfare, lives and public safety of Princeton Township residents."

Liverman agrees, saying he supports appointing an acting chief because he thinks it is important for the department to have a “leader.”

“Our friends at the Borough think we’re doing something wrong and I don’t buy that argument at all, I think we’re doing something right,” Liverman said. “If you ask the rank and file within the police department, if they think this is a good idea, you will overwhelmingly get a yes.”