Yes, There are Cultural Differences Between Princeton's Police Departments, Chief Says

 
David Dudeck is taking several approaches to merging the Princeton Borough and Princeton Township police departments. 

Getting to know each other is key, said Dudeck, who is currently the Borough Police Chief, but has been tapped as the chief for the consolidated Princeton Police Department.

Although the departments will operate separately until Jan. 1, officers have already begun ride-alongs with each other. 

Dudeck is also meeting individually with every member of the new department, getting to know each employee, giving them an opportunity to know him and discussing each employee’s goals for professional development.

In September, Dudeck plans to facilitate small group meetings among members of the combined staff to discuss about cultural differences or sensitive issues or anything else that may need to be aired out among employees. 

“The very first thing to make this work is to really meld the officers together and get them to really know one another, to really understand the different cultural differences or sensitive issues that everybody whispers about, but getting them to actually talk about them,” Dudeck said.

It’s true, there are differences between the Borough and the Township police departments and people don’t have to whisper about them, he said.

“It’s OK to be different," he said. "Different people make up the world. And whatever we want to call them, I think the differences are caused by the way we’re brought up as officers. Princeton Township, their priorities and policing start with their local governments and what they tell the chief is important to them may be different than what the Borough’s government has been telling their chief and how their guys have been brought up. “

For example, enforcing pedestrian crossing at crosswalks has always been a priority in the Borough, he said, but may not have been so important in the Township.

“There’s no right and no wrong,” Dudeck said. “Let’s get the differences out and understand them and then let’s make a decision what’s going to be the best for the future department.”

As Dudeck has been getting input from employees, he’s also been learning a lot about the Township police department.

“I continue to learn that their citizens really have a great relationship with their officers,” he said. "They want their officers in their neighborhood, they want their officers talking to the children playing basketball or baseball or whatever. They want to see officers run a radar initiative if they’re having a problem with speeders in their neighborhood.”

That’s what Dudeck wants in a combined department.

“I don’t want officers to hide in their patrol cars,” he said. “I don’t want them to roll their windows up and drive down the street and they never say hello to you or you never see their face. I want the same coverage if not better in every area of Princeton, whether it is the Borough or the Township.

“People say, ‘Oh you’re the Borough chief, you’ll put more time in the Borough or that’s where you’ll have more calls.’ No, my job is to make sure that each resident gets the same if not better police coverage than they’re getting now.”