Residents, Police Chiefs Question Town Manager on New Public Safety Dept

Township Manager William Broughton took questions from the public at a meeting Tuesday night in an effort to explain the new public safety department.

The new department was approved last week by the Township Council in 4-3 vote after two weeks of intense debate and a contentious public meeting.  Creating the public safety department will eliminate the jobs of police and fire chief, and combine the two departments into divisions managed by a civilian public safety director.  Current police Chief Robert Wilson has been tapped as the town's first public safety director after he retires as a sworn chief.

Wilson will have no police powers as director and handle administrative elements of the town's paid emergency services. As a civilian employee, Wilson would collect his pension and unused time-off while taking in a $110,000 salary as director.

Broughton, and council members who supported the move, have said it would save the township more than $260,000 per year in salary and health benefits, improve efficiency and bring increased accountability to a lawsuit-prone police department.

Opponents, including many local police officers and the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, have said the plan would politicize police decisions, hurt officer morale and expose the township to lawsuits. 

Tuesday's meeting was largely a calmer rehash of the debate over the last few weeks.  Residents quizzed Broughton and William Rupp, a township attorney, on the merits and math of the public safety plan.

Having sworn police and fire chiefs costs the town $391,239 in salary and benefits, Broughton said. A civilian director, however, would cost $127,239, including health and dental benefits that Wilson would receive even if he were not a township employee.  Broughton said the cost savings of not filing positions within the police department's ranks would be minimal compared to eliminating the chief's job.

Local police officers have said handpicking a civilian director sends a message that rank-and-file officers were not good enough for the town's top public safety post. Representatives of the state chiefs association also attended the meeting.

Broughton again defended the plan Tuesday night as a cost saving measure that would improve oversight of public safety agencies, not a patronage job for a longtime friend.

"Yes, there would be some limited opportunity," Broughton said of complaints from officers.

He noted, however, that only a small number of police officers become chiefs and more are promoted to sergeant and lieutenant ranks.

Police Lt. Michael Ferrante said the civilian director would do nothing to increase accountability and cited past lawsuits where he said civilian leadership had failed to stamp out misconduct.  Ferrante said the system wasn't the problem, but rather the leadership that was in place.

"The key is to prevent that bad behavior," Broughton said.

Many residents who asked questions remained unconvinced or unsure of the benefits of the new position. The crowd of residents, police officers and firefighters thinned out to around 15 people at the end of the meeting.

Wilson will start a six month stint as deputy township manager on Nov. 1 to comply with state pension rules prohibiting him from overseeing police immediately after his retirement.  He will earn $110,000 as deputy manager, a position that is now vacant but has been filled in the past.

The council could move to dissolve the public safety director position at any point, voiding Wilson's contract.  Broughton said he didn't know if the town would continue having a public safety director after Wilson's tenure.

"I'm making decisions for now," Broughton said.