New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog : New Jersey Public Safety Employee Lawyer & Attorney : Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman Law Firm : Workers Compensation, Discipline Representation for Police & Firefighters : New Jersey

As reported by nj.com, officials had considered disbanding or reducing the size of the full-time, Franklin Township Police Department in favor of contracting police service from a neighboring municipality, one of a string of changes being considered to help control taxes. “We’ve reached an agreement to keep our police department for this budget year,” Mayor Scott Bauman said at Franklin Township’s Committee meeting. But, he cautioned that concessions from the police guarantee the department’s survival “for this budget year only.”

The change threw a wrench into the township’s proposed $2.6 million 2011 budget, which officials had originally expected to approve. Because it will have to be substantially modified, it will be re-introduced at another public meeting that has been scheduled for May 12. Township Auditor William Colantano said it will have two or three pages of “major amendments.”

Officials were mum about what the budget changes will be, where money for additional spending will come from or whether the revised spending plan will include a property tax increase. Committeeman Robert McGeary said that the new agreement with police is not complete. “Paperwork and details will follow,” he said, but “an understanding is in place.” Patrolman Craig Santoro, who is representing the police union in its negotiations with officials, said the extent of union concessions “are not yet known.”

“The public has a right to know where the money is coming from,” said Charlie Mathews, a former Township Committeeman. George Burdick, another former committeeman, told officials, “formulating your budget is a very public process…you’re now withdrawing from that process.”

Committeewoman Susan Campbell said money and savings to retain police will come from a combination of places.   Other potential cost-savings measures being considered by the Township Committee include a plan to phase in a requirement that employees pay an increasing share of their health care costs, and reducing the open space tax. Last night, the committee voted to increase fees for construction applications and inspections.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, lawmakers moved toward eliminating the state’s controversial early-release program, which allows some inmates out of prison six months ahead of schedule. Governor Chris Christie and some lawmakers have blamed the program for two homicides allegedly committed by inmates released early.

Christie accelerated the program’s repeal with a conditional veto of related legislation intended to broaden the Parole Board’s discretion to review cases. The Senate approved the conditional veto, sending the measure to the Assembly.

“There are no more excuses left,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement. “The Assembly must act immediately to repeal this dangerous failure of a law.”  Senators overwhelmingly backed repealing the program, but not without some debate. Senator Nia Gill criticized Christie for what she called personal attacks on Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored the program. Senator Ronald Rice, the only lawmaker to vote against repeal, was also critical, saying, “It wasn’t an assemblyman or a senator who killed these people.”

Others said ending the program was overdue. “Two New Jerseyans lost their lives because of inaction in this chamber,” Senator Tom Kean said. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver did not say how her caucus would vote on the issue, but said in a statement that “clearly concerns have been raised that warrant re-examination” of the program.

Since the program began on January 3, 363 inmates have been released early, according to the Parole Board. Twenty-two have been arrested for new crimes. That includes Antoine Trent and Tyree Brown, who were accused of attacking a police officer in Union Township last week. Another former inmate, Quamere Redding, has been charged with attacking and robbing a 49-year-old woman earlier this month in Bridgeton. All three of them had been denied parole before being released early through the program, according to Parole Board Executive Director David Thomas.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, lawmakers moved toward eliminating the state’s controversial early-release program, which allows some inmates out of prison six months ahead of schedule. Governor Chris Christie and some lawmakers have blamed the program for two homicides allegedly committed by inmates released early.

Christie accelerated the program’s repeal with a conditional veto of related legislation intended to broaden the Parole Board’s discretion to review cases. The Senate approved the conditional veto, sending the measure to the Assembly.

“There are no more excuses left,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement. “The Assembly must act immediately to repeal this dangerous failure of a law.”  Senators overwhelmingly backed repealing the program, but not without some debate. Senator Nia Gill criticized Christie for what she called personal attacks on Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sponsored the program. Senator Ronald Rice, the only lawmaker to vote against repeal, was also critical, saying, “It wasn’t an assemblyman or a senator who killed these people.”

Others said ending the program was overdue. “Two New Jerseyans lost their lives because of inaction in this chamber,” Senator Tom Kean said. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver did not say how her caucus would vote on the issue, but said in a statement that “clearly concerns have been raised that warrant re-examination” of the program.

Since the program began on January 3, 363 inmates have been released early, according to the Parole Board. Twenty-two have been arrested for new crimes. That includes Antoine Trent and Tyree Brown, who were accused of attacking a police officer in Union Township last week. Another former inmate, Quamere Redding, has been charged with attacking and robbing a 49-year-old woman earlier this month in Bridgeton. All three of them had been denied parole before being released early through the program, according to Parole Board Executive Director David Thomas.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, the New Jersey Supreme Court prohibited law enforcement officers from destroying the notes they take while interviewing witnesses, victims and suspects, saying defense attorneys should be allowed to view them so they can challenge official police reports.

The decision, by a divided court, addresses the decades-old struggle in New Jersey courtrooms of defense attorneys looking for possible errors, omissions or inconsistencies that could help their clients. When asked for their notes, officers often say it’s their department’s policy to destroy them once the official report is written. The ruling is the latest of a number of decisions critical of cops’ note-taking procedures. But for the first time, the court imposes sanctions and includes notes about officers’ observations at a crime scene as part of the list of documents that cannot be destroyed.

“We need not take much time to state, once more, that law enforcement officers may not destroy contemporaneous notes of interviews and observations at the scene of a crime after producing their final reports,” temporary justice Edwin Stern wrote more the majority. “Logically, because an officer’s notes may be of aid to the defense, the time has come to join other states that require the imposition of ‘an appropriate sanction’ whenever an officer’s written notes are not preserved.”

The ruling said trial court judges will be able to instruct jurors that the destruction of notes by a police officer can be a factor in determining whether he or she is telling the truth.

The Supreme Court gave the state Attorney General’s Office 30 days to inform local law enforcement officers and county prosecutors about the requirement. Cranford Police Chief Eric Mason, president of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, said the requirement could be a state mandate that will cost local departments. “On its face, this type of practice will require additional administrative review internally at a time when police departments are being asked to do more with less with deep cuts in personnel,” Mason said.

Jon Shane, a professor of criminal justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, noted that New York City uses special notebooks that create duplicate copies of notes and require a supervisor’s signature as a protection against tampering. Shane also noted that, “What you’re talking about is accountability. That’s what the Supreme Court is imposing on policing.”   

The ruling grew out of an appeal by a man, identified in court papers as W.B., who was convicted of sexually assaulting his cousin, who later recanted her allegation. By a 4-3 margin, the Supreme Court upheld W.B.’s conviction.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, the Reverend Al Sharpton stepped into New Jersey’s budget battle, joining a chorus of union leaders criticizing Governor Chris Christie’s economic policies and urging New Jerseyans to push back against a nationwide campaign to weaken organized labor. At rallies in Newark, Trenton, and Vineland, Sharpton said the state would be violating its workers’ civil rights if it reneges on its pension commitments. He also chastised Christie for feuding with teachers, and warned that governors across the country are on a mission to balance their budgets at the expense of the working class.

“We can cut back people’s pensions. We can lay off workers. We can close hospitals, schools, psychiatric centers. We can deal with changing tenure for teachers-but don’t touch the rich,” Sharpton said at Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton. “They have become the sacred cow that can’t be touched…while workers become the slaughtered lamb.”

Two national union leaders joined Sharpton onstage and blamed Wall Street’s recklessness for the budget deficits afflicting Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey and other states where governors have squared off with unions. “That’s what this coordinated attack is. It’s saying to workers, ‘I know you didn’t create the problem, but you solve it,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “That’s what we’re fighting.”

Christie has called for an overhaul of the state’s pension and health benefits systems for public workers, but has yet to hammer out a deal with the Democrats in control of the Legislature. The two sides have until June 30 to settle on a budget deal for the coming fiscal year. In recent weeks, that debate has been a bitter back-and-forth, with the governor accusing the Legislature of inaction at this town hall events while Democrats fight back in their budget hearings. At the Trenton rally, two Assembly Democrats said Christie was bullying the working class to burnish his conservative credentials.

At the rally in Newark, Sharpton urged 150 anti-violence activists, clergy, and workers to unite against the governor’s efforts to undermine organized labor and implement damaging economic policies. “We have fought governors before and we will stand up to this one,” he said.

Unions have staged several rallies in Trenton this year echoing Sharpton’s message, including one headlined by the AFL-CIO national president in February that drew more than 3,000 people.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, three fatal shootings in the last two days pushed Newark’s homicide total to 29 this year, a 71 percent jump in killings compared with the same period in 2010, as violent crime surges following police layoffs. Between January 1 and April 17, Newark has seen marked increases in homicides, shootings, and thefts, while overall crime rose by 21 percent compared with the same time last year, according to Newark’s quarterly crime statistics obtained by the The Star-Ledger.

The report shows Newark has suffered steady increases in violent crime and property crime since the city laid off 167 police officers in November. Between January 1 and April 17, shootings increased from 56 to 72 and robberies jumped from 418 to 462. Auto thefts saw the sharpest rise, leaping by 39 percent, from 743 in 2010 to 1,035 during the same time this year, according to the report.

“I think it just comes down to the people on the street. The bad guys know we’re not out there, and it has an effect on how they operate,” said James Stewart, Jr., vice president of Newark’s Fraternal Order of Police. “That’s why the shootings have increased dramatically, that’s why the homicides are up.” Stewart said the layoffs have made criminals more brazen, saying the lack of police manpower makes gang members and drug dealers more likely to carry weapons and to use them in the open.

While crime has increased, police productivity has also continued to slide. The total number of arrests made by city police officers between January 1 and April 17 dipped by 22 percent compared with 2010, according to statistics, while the number of parking summonses and moving violations issued also dipped. The trend continued a decline that started last year. Arrests and summons totals dropped in the second half of 2010, with some of the largest decreases coinciding with bitter and hostile negotiations between the unions and the administration.

Stewart says the lack of manpower leaves patrol officers on the defensive, responding to calls for help rather than actively trying to make arrests or issue summonses. “Not that we had free time, but now you’re just going job, to job, to job,” he said.

The violent opening to 2011 is in stark contrast to last year, when the department enjoyed one of its most successful stretches in recent memory. Crime dropped 13 percent during the first three months of 2010 and Newark police crippled one of the city’s oldest drug havens in a massive raid at Academy Spires apartments.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s price tag for public-worker retirement health benefits is higher than any state in the nation, according to a study to be released by the Pew Center on the States. New Jersey has promised $66.7 billion in medical benefits to future and current retirees, but has not set aside a single penny to pay for it, according to the study, which looked at 2009 financial data from all states.

New Jersey’s unfunded liability, the gap between what is owed and what has been saved, is higher than the nation’s most populated states of California ($66.5 billion), New York ($56.2 billion), and Texas ($53.8 billion). In fact, New Jersey’s unfunded liability accounts for 11 percent of the combined $604 billion accrued by all 50 states, the study shows.

With no money set aside, New Jersey is operating without a safety net and its annual medical costs will continue to rise even more as baby boomers retire. “The question is whether these costs are sustainable,” said Kil Huh, director of research at the Pew Center. “The more you pay, the less you’ll have for other services, such as education and health.” In order to better control retiree health costs, states should treat them like pensions, tucking away money each year to pay for future costs, said Huh. The money can then be invested and will eventually lower annual costs. As of 2009, 19 states have set aside no funds for future medical costs, while the others have mostly tucked away a small fraction of what they owe retirees, according to the study.     

Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney are working on changes to the public employee medical system that would push some of the costs to current workers and future retirees in the form of increased contributions. However, neither have proposed establishing a pension-style fund.

With enough in the bank to cover 66 percent of what’s owed in benefits, New Jersey’s pension system is also among the most poorly funded in the nation, according to the study. Based on the percentage funding, New Jersey has the 12^th poorest pension plan in the country. Many states, including New Jersey, have skipped or reduced pension contributions so they could divert money to other areas. Overall, states were supposed to contribute $115 billion to their pensions, but only kicked up $73 billion in 2009.

The study looked at the effect of the Great Recession on retirement benefits and covers the latest data available from the 50 states on pension, health care, and other benefits promised to current and future retirees. The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money they have set aside grew to at least $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2009, resulting in a 26 percent increase in one year.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nytimes.com, in the last three years, hundreds of cities, towns and school districts in New Jersey have saved tens of millions of dollars on health insurance by dumping their private carriers and switching to a little-known benefits program run by the state. But now one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers is promoting legislation that could effectively cripple the program. The lawmaker, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, has placed a provision in a health care insurance bill that would prohibit the program from accepting new members.

Sweeney is a close ally and childhood friend of George Norcross 3^rd, perhaps the most influential Democratic boss in New Jersey. Mr. Norcross owns one of the largest brokers of health insurance to government entities in the state, and his company has been losing customers to the program Sweeney wants to rein in. Sweeney acknowledged in an interview that he had spoken with Norcross about the provision, but denies the legislation was introduced at his behest.

Sweeney said the state benefits program was losing hundreds of millions of dollars and required costly state subsidies. A ban on new members would “allow time for stabilization and to judge the plan’s sustainability,” he said. However, state records and interviews call into question Sweeney’s claim that the state program is foundering.

The health coverage bill introduced by Sweeney has gotten attention largely because it would require public sector workers to pay much more for insurance. But, the ban on new admissions to the state program, local officials warn, could administer a poison pill to one of the most effective tools that cities, towns, and school districts in New Jersey can use to pool resources and achieve significant savings in health insurance costs. If the provision is approved, governments not currently in the program would then have to seek insurance through companies like Norcross’ Conner Strong.

The state benefits program covers three groups: one for about 146,000 state workers, another for about 180,000 teachers and other school workers, and a third for about 67,000 local government workers. The program offers relatively generous benefits at low costs, and must accept any municipality or school system in New Jersey that applies, no matter how sick its work force. Privately run insurance pools sometimes accepts only those that have had lower medical expenses. Each municipality or district that joins the state program pays the same rate, so healthier work forces subsidize sicker ones.

To read the article in full, click here.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, Democratic leaders met with union officials and sources say the topic was overhauling health benefits. Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver met with the heads of the biggest public employee unions: Communications Workers of America, America Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the New Jersey Education Association.

Standing outside the meeting, Barbara Keshishian, president of the NJEA, declined to comment, saying the meeting was private. Leaders of the other unions have not responded to a request for comment, but three union and legislative sources said they discussed proposals by Governor Chris Christie and Sweeney to change health benefits for state employees. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting.

The Governor is pushing for state workers to pay 30 percent of the cost of the premium. Currently, state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary for health insurance. Sweeney is pushing his own plan that would base contributions on both the cost of the premium and salary. Different from Christie’s proposal, Sweeney is recommending a sliding scale that would have low-income workers paying less than high-paid employees.

The Communications Workers of America, the state’s largest union, released its own plan, which would have workers pay a portion of the premium and a portion of their salary. The CWA plan would have most employees paying 14 percent of the cost of the premium. The CWA, with the backing of several other unions, has argued that the health benefits should be subject to collective bargaining, presently taking place to hammer out a new contract when the current one expires on June 30.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, when they were laid off by the Newark Police Department last year, Juan Velarde and Stephanie Diaz thought they could make do, at least for a while, with unemployment checks and the $3,900 they were owed in back pay from the city. The couple celebrated the birth of their first child on December 30, and their back pay, under the officer’s contract with the city, was due in just two days. Nearly four months later, the check still has not come.

Of the 162 officers laid off last year, not one has received a final check for unused vacation or compensatory time, said Jimmy Stewart, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police. Retired Newark police officers are also waiting for their checks from the city, according to the Superior Officers Association, which filed a labor grievance alleging Newark is late on an $870,000 tab it owes eight retirees.

Newark does not dispute that it owes the officers money, but a city spokeswoman said officials are waiting on approval from the police department to make the payments. The $870,000 owed to the retired officers “requires further review” by police and city officials to ensure the amounts are accurate. SOA President Captain John Chrystal scoffed at the city’s suggestion the department is still reviewing payouts for retirees. “Everybody from the commanding officers to the police director has signed off on this,” he said. “So how much do you have to review? What’s the holdup?”   

The city’s contract with the FOP required payouts for unused vacation and compensatory time to be sent by January 1, a month after layoffs were enacted, Stewart said. The 162 officers were dismissed as part of the city’s public works purge to close an $83 million deficit last year. Several of the laid-off officers have rallied against the city for failing to meet the January 1 deadline.

“I’ve been calling for the last month and they always forward my call somewhere else,” said Velarde. “We pretty much need this money. I got a newborn and I’m only getting $500 a week for unemployment.” Velarde said he is owed $900 from Newark, and his girlfriend, who was also laid off, is owed $3,000.

The SOA filed a labor grievance on behalf of eight supervisory officers who retired between October 2010 and February, claiming Department of Labor regulations require Newark to compensate retirees for their unused time off on the day they leave the department. The eight retirees have also filed disorderly persons charges against Darlene Tate, director of Newark’s office of management and budget, who they claim is responsible for the late payouts. Under the state criminal code, if an employer fails to pay compensation or benefits within 30 days after the payout is due the “employee of the corporation who is responsible for the violation commits a disorderly persons offense.”

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie estimates his plan to overhaul the state’s public employee health benefits system will save more than $870 million a year by 2014 by shifting significant percentage of the costs to employees and future retirees, according to the Treasury Department.

In the most detailed explanation of the proposal to date, Treasury spokesman Andrew Pratt said the governor wants to gradually increase state employee health benefit contributions over three years, requiring them to pay 10 percent of premiums this July and climbing to 30 percent by July 2014. New workers would immediately pay 30 percent. Currently, state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary for medical benefits. Most Democratic lawmakers and budget observers believed Christie wanted employees to start paying 30 percent of their premiums immediately and assumed that was how he justified savings of $370 million in his proposed state budget.

In response to requests from The Star-Ledger, the administration says the final tally is more than $870 million and the proposal would involve much more than increased contributions, such as tiered plans, increased co-pays and lengthening the eligibility requirements for post-employment health care. The savings represent about one-third of the $2.5 billion the state expects to pay in employee medical costs this year, Pratt said. They would also dwarf initial estimates of a proposal by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who wants contributions to be based on salary.

Democratic lawmakers who were already skeptical about the $370 million in savings in the proposed budget expressed more disbelief about the latest figures, with the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee calling them “ridiculous.” The Christie plan would not change payouts for current retirees and workers with at least 25 years on the job when the measure takes effect would not be required to pay more when they retire. But, all others would have to pay 30 percent after they retire and workers would not be eligible for post-retirement health coverage unless they work for 30 years, up from 25 years.

With no Republican bill and a lack of Democratic support for Sweeney’s proposal, Christie’s budgeted $370 million in health benefit savings is on shaky ground. It is one of several uncertainties in the governor’s budget. The State Supreme Court is considering whether Christie needs to restore up to $1.6 billion in education cuts and the administration has yet to explain how it plans to achieve $300 million in Medicaid savings through a federal waiver, which faces layers of approvals. “There could be a lot of problems,” said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald. “I hate to see him strike out on all three of these.”

To read the article in full, click here.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, on a Monday morning in late March, counselors filed into the Piscataway police department on an urgent mission. The day before, a veteran officer distraught over the breakup of his second marriage had been killed during a shootout with colleagues in what some authorities called a clear case of “suicide by cop.” The counselors were there to give grieving officers a chance to talk through their emotions. They also wanted them to know that in times of crisis, there are alternatives to suicide, a growing problem one psychologist calls an “epidemic” among law enforcement officers in New Jersey and across the nation.

The March 27 death of Sergeant David Powell, 46, marked at least the fifth time this year an active or retired officer had taken his life in New Jersey, putting the state on pace to eclipse last year’s grim tally of 13 suicides, according to records kept by Cherie Castellano, the founder and director of a state-sponsored counseling service known as Cop2Cop.

New Jersey had just two known law enforcement suicides in 2002, the first year Castellano began keeping records. While the number has fluctuated since then, it’s been steadily climbing for the past seven years despite growing awareness and a flurry of programs to combat the problem.

Nationally, more than 400 active and retired officers commit suicide each year, said Robert Douglas, executive director of the National Police Suicide Foundation. No single force can be linked to the increase, according to those who study the issue. Rather, it’s a combination of factors that includes the ready availability of firearms, the stresses inherent in police work, difficulty explaining those stresses to loved ones and an inability to “transition from the street to the home,” said Douglas, a retired Baltimore police officer.

Eugene Stefanelli, the psychologist who refers to police suicides as an epidemic, has been working with the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association to address the issue. Substance abuse, he agrees, plays a role in the increased risk of suicide. But Stefanelli also cited morale problems fostered by what he said was a lenient judicial system that returns criminals to the streets, a reduced respect for officers in general and “administrative pressures” within departments.

To Castellano, the founder of Cops2Cops, a helpline staffed by former officers and managed by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, even the economy cannot be discounted as a contributing factor. Police departments across New Jersey have slashed jobs and benefits in recent years. State officials have taken some steps to address the growing number of suicides, making suicide-prevention programs available for officers and, beginning last year, mandating the training for cadets at New Jersey’s academies.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, last year, the State of New Jersey paid some state workers a clothing allowance who did not need to wear a uniform to work, a report by the state comptroller found. “The state spends millions of dollars every year to cover the cost of uniforms for state employees who don’t actually wear uniforms,” State Comptroller Matthew Boxer said in a news release. “It’s absurd.”

The report zeroed in on a payment that state workers receive as part of contracts negotiated with the unions that represent them. According to the report, the clothing stipends have been included in contracts for more than a decade. The report detailed the breakdown of the $22 million paid to 27,000 employees for clothing stipends in the previous fiscal year. Of that total, $8 million went to corrections officers, $6 million to employees in the health field, and $2.6 million to security, maintenance, and similar job holders.

The report found that the remaining $4.8 million went to employees with office or desk jobs. Of those employees, who each received $700 a year, a survey was conducted and determined 48 percent do not wear special clothes to work. The survey found that 82 percent were not required to wear special clothes to work.

The size of the stipend, larger than any other state, was also targeted in the report. Boxer is recommending reviewing the stipends and only providing them to those employees who need special uniforms for work. “Figuring out who exactly is entitled to these payments should not be so complicated,” Boxer said in a news release.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, despite a new round of public safety budget cuts, it could be a good year for the State Police. There will be new troopers, new cars and new civilian support staff in the upcoming budget year, Attorney General Paula Dow said.

Dow told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee that the State Police is a “core funding priority” for Governor Chris Christie. “The class is expected to begin this August and provide us with approximately 100 new state troopers by graduation early next year,” she said. The class is expected to cost $3 million.

The State Police’s ranks are being depleted by a spike in retirements. Even with the new class, the total number of troopers is projected to drop from 2,819 this summer to 2,799 in June of next year. Another 50 civilians will be hired to handle administrative tasks, allowing higher-paid troopers to focus on police work, Dow said.

The State is also buying 325 new vehicles. Marked cars cost $51,000 while unmarked cars go for $30,000, according to Lee Moore, spokesman for the attorney general. About 850 State Police cars, 37 percent of the total fleet, have reached the 125,000 mile threshold and require replacement. Between the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year, 725 of those cars will be replaced.

Aging vehicles have been a concern for the Christie administration. The governor’s transition team reported that “certain elements of the State Police vehicle fleet have deteriorated to the point where safety is an issue.” 

The Department of Law and Public Safety, which oversees the State Police, is facing a $5 million budget cut. However, other areas of the organization will likely see new staff members. The state’s Division of Law, which has lost 100 lawyers because of a six-year hiring freeze, is expected to hire another 33 attorneys. The Office of Forensic Sciences, which operates the state crime lab, is slated to take on 29 new people, including scientists and evidence handlers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, last year, cities and towns across New Jersey were forced to lay off thousands of employees to cope with budget woes, while momentum for benefit reform in Trenton pushed a record number of public workers into retirement. In theory, the exodus of employees was supposed to make municipalities leaner and provide some financial relief. Instead, some of New Jersey’s most cash-strapped cities had to pay millions to departing employees for their unused sick and vacation time, even as they struggled to provide basic services. The largest checks to departing workers exceeded $200,000.

For some cities and towns, the total payouts were so big that they had to take out loans to make them. The examination of records, as well as interviews with union and local officials, show cities are encountering a perfect storm: The Christie administration’s push for public workers to pay more for pensions and health care prompted many to retire early just as the bad economy and state aid cuts forced layoffs. Cities and towns with no money to spare were then hit with having to make big payouts for accumulated time that was promised years ago.    

The Star-Ledger reviewed eight municipalities that either borrowed to make their payments under a new law that allows this, or experienced high-profile layoffs last year: Newark, Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Trenton, South Brunswick, East Orange and Hackensack. In total, these municipalities paid more than $39 million last year to more than 700 employees who cashed in their unused sick and vacation time, about $54,000 per employee. At the same time, they laid off about 460 employees, mostly police and firefighters, records show. The State does not have records for every town, but officials say they believe this pattern was repeated across New Jersey.

Jim Ryan, spokesman for the State Police Benevolent Association, said cities that previously benefited when employees skipped vacations to work contributed to the problem because they failed to first calculate the cost of the payouts in the rush to lay off police and push veterans to retire. The result, he says, is that departments are dangerously depleted. “The majority of our members are on the front lines and don’t benefit,” said Ryan. “It’s the administrators getting the big paychecks and leaving our members behind in depleted departments and without proper backup.”

Across New Jersey, 20,237 public employees retired last year, an almost 65 percent increase from the 12,270 who retired in 2009 and the highest number in a decade. Union leaders say fear of public-employee benefit reforms was a major reason workers headed for the exits.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, standing beside law enforcement leaders from across the state, announced the Department of Justice awarded New Jersey $5.7 million in grants that will be divided among 17 police departments to purchase various technologies ranging from gun shot detectors to closed-circuit cameras. 

“While surveillance equipment and other technologies can never be a substitute for the police officers out on the street, our experience confirms that this equipment can certainly help them, in really critical ways, in fighting crime and apprehending criminals,” she said.

Cities will receive either $250,000 or $500,000 in funding, depending on their population and violent crime statistics. Newark, Camden, Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson, and Elizabeth, which all have a population of at least 75,000 and high violent crime rates, will receive $500,000. Eleven smaller cities that also struggle with violence, including Plainfield and Atlantic City, will receive $250,000.

Police officials said advanced law enforcement technology has helped identify high-crime areas and can play critical roles in investigations. Newark Police began using a surveillance network in 2007, according to Police Director Garry McCarthy, and the cameras helped lead to the arrest and conviction of a murder suspect that same year. Evidence obtained from cameras and other surveillance methods have also developed “a record” of helping prosecutors earn convictions, said Carolyn Murray, Essex County’s acting prosecutor.

Departments can also use the grant funding to hire civilian personnel to monitor surveillance cameras and upgrade their dispatch centers to operate on a county wide or regional level. Regionalization of police forces became a hot topic in New Jersey after a slew of police layoffs in 2010. Earlier this year, Governor Chris Christie met with mayors from Newark, Trenton, and Camden to explore the idea, and Somerset County may merge its 19 municipal police departments by the end of 2013, a move Dow said she supports.

“Certainly I think we should take this further in law enforcement, and I do support studying it and examining it,” she said. “Frankly, I think we’re behind the times.”

Dow said she decided not to use the funding to rehire laid off police officers because the grant could not sustain jobs over time and could result in a second round of layoffs.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by app.com, the Freehold Township Police Department has new sign at its front window: “Due to staffing issues, this window may be closed throughout the day. If this is an emergency, use the red telephone.” It’s literally a sign of the times, as police departments throughout New Jersey continue to cope with the ongoing consequences of a deep recession and budget cuts.

The problem is that officers who retire are not being replaced, often because municipalities do not have the money to hire more police. So, for police chiefs or department directors, the challenge is maintaining adequate levels of protection. But, the financial belt-tightening has visibly translated into divisions being merged, administrative bureaus being closed and officers being reassigned from desk jobs back to patrolling the streets. In some instances, specialized police units are being depleted in order to ensure that enough officers are on the streets and available to respond to emergencies.

What is clear is that the ranks of New Jersey police are growing thinner. The State overall has seen a loss of 3,400 officers since January 1, 2010, according to State Policemen’s Benevolent Association representative James Ryan. Much of that is due to attrition, he said. Officers who qualify for retirement choose to leave, rather than deal with the ongoing conflict in Trenton over pensions and benefits for public employees.

Depending on the size of a particular municipality, the impact of the retirements can translate into a sizable chunk of the police force going away. In Freehold Township, for instance, seven officers have retired during the past 14 months. That amounts to 10 percent of the force and none of them will be replaced according to Administrator Peter Valessi. The numbers vary around the state, but they all tell a similar story.

In Woodbridge, 24 officers, or nearly 10 percent of the force, retired in 2010. In Red Bank, three officers retired and three special officers who serve one year terms were not rehired, decreasing uniformed police in that department by 13 percent. In Freehold township, departmental changes have increased the responsibilities of patrol officers, who now respond to motor vehicle accidents, answer all types of calls, and run radar stops on roads, said local PBA president William Gallo.

“Everyone has to do a little more now,” Gallo said, “whether that’s answering more calls, taking care of accidents or radar. We are making do.” Ryan, the state PBA representative, said that trend is becoming more widespread, as officers in special operations, including the anti-drug DARE programs, school resource officers and detective divisions, are moved to patrol duty. “We are worried, and I’m not trying to be a fearmongerer here, about a rise in crime” he said.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, after days of playing defense, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. apologized for the controversy surrounding his pension, which has drawn condemnation from public employee unions and the governor. DiVincenzo “retired” last year as county executive and started collecting his pension while continuing to hold office and earn his full paycheck. “To Essex County residents and to all the employees here, I want to apologize for what happened this weekend,” he said. He added, “I’m sorry that I put us in this position.” 

DiVincenzo did not say it was improper to collect his pension, according to his spokesman, Anthony Puglisi. “He’s not apologizing because he did anything wrong,” he said. “What he said was, this has been a distraction, and he apologized to the employees for taking their attention away from the job ahead.”

The apology, made during a groundbreaking ceremony in West Orange, came after increasing criticism since news of his pension broke. DiVincenzo has worked closely with Governor Chris Christie to reduce public employee benefits, and unions quickly criticized the county executive as a hypocrite.

“This exposes him as a fraud and just another politician who lies to the public,” State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Anthony Wieners said. This week, Christie chastised DiVincenzo, a political ally, during a Statehouse press conference. “I made this really clear. I think it’s wrong,” the governor said. “And it’s not just for him. It’s wrong for all the other people who are doing it.”

DiVincenzo filed his retirement papers in August, three months before winning his third term as county executive. That added a $68,862 annual pension to his full salary, which was $153,207 last year.

State law allows public employees to retire while still holding elected office as long as they previously held a different public job. DiVincenzo held public jobs in Essex County for nearly three decades, working as a parks supervisor, teacher, athletics coordinator and freeholder before becoming executive in 2003.

Christie and lawmakers from both parties have advocated repealing the law, although the Democrat-controlled Legislature has yet to act on Republican-sponsored bills addressing the issue. Both the governor and DiVincenzo said the pension controversy would not affect their working relationship. “I’ve got to work with him. You think I have the luxury of stopping to work with public officials who do something I don’t agree with?” Christie said. “I’d be sitting in there by myself.”

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie panned an alternative proposal by the State’s largest public employee union to overhaul health care benefits. “Their offer stinks,” Christie said at a press conference in Trenton. “It doesn’t save any money.”

Christie wants all state employees to pay for 30 percent of the cost of health insurance plans, an increase from the current structure that has state employees pay 1.5 percent of their salary.

The Communications Workers of America, which represents about 35,000 full-time state employees, made a counter proposal that would determine what workers pay based both on their salary and the cost of the insurance plan. The CWA estimates the average worker would pay about 14 percent of the insurance plan cost and would save taxpayers about $200 million by 2013.

The CWA publically released their counter proposal, which has received the backing of other public employee unions, after union officials say they were told Christie’s administration would not include health care benefits in collective bargaining. Christie has repeatedly said he will seek his change to health benefits through legislation. The unions have pushed for the changes to be part of this year’s collective bargaining over contracts that expire on June 30.

At the press conference, Christie said he is not unwilling to talk about health benefits with the unions at some point down the road, but that he still intends to obtain changes through legislation.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the CWA, contended their proposal would save the state millions of dollars. “It’s time for “Governor I Love Collective Bargaining” to quit posturing and start getting serious,” Rosenstein said. “CWA has put forward a comprehensive health care reform proposal that will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and if the governor and his bargaining team would sit down with us and negotiate, we could move forward to constructive solutions. It’s long past time for epithets and name-calling, and time to treat the collective bargaining process with the seriousness it deserves.”

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s top fiscal officer says the State will make a half-billion dollar payment to the pension fund when the law requires. Governor Chris Christie has proposed paying the $506 million early, but only if the Legislature agrees to raise the retirement age and require workers to pay more toward their pensions. 

Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told a Senate budget panel the administration intends to make the payment required in the 2012 fiscal year even if reforms are not enacted. He says the payment will be made by June 30 if changes are approved.

The pension system is $54 billion underfunded. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney both have proposed changes. Sweeney’s plan would not raise the retirement age and bases employee contributions on the health of the system.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by pressofatlanticcity.com, Atlantic City’s 30 laid-off firefighters will return to work on April 4, 2011. There will be an orientation, which will begin the process to get them back in uniform, and filling positions that currently require either overtime or closing companies, Fire Chief Dennis Brooks said.

The rehires will be paid for by a $9.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant provides money to paid and volunteer fire departments to help keep them at safe personnel levels. It provides money only to those who man equipment.

Atlantic City was awarded the grant two months ago, and the City Council unanimously approved it on March 9. Now, they have until May 5 to get everything into place so that none of the money is lost, Brooks said. 

Atlantic City cut 30 firefighters and 40 police officers last year in an effort to trim millions of dollars from the budget. The grant will pay for the returning firefighters’ salaries for two years, along with allowing the city to hire 21 additional firefighters to fill jobs lost to attrition. The money also covers 10 promotions to fire captain.

Exactly how the new firefighters will be hired remains uncertain. There is a list to hire from for the new firefighters, which needs to be approved by the Department of Community Affairs because it is a civil service job. Brooks said he believes that approval has been received, but will know for sure in the immediate future. However, he did not know the status in getting the new fire captains, many who have been filling the position in an “acting” capacity.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by nj.com, the state’s largest police union called on Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. to resign in the wake of revelations that he is receiving a salary and pension for the same job.

“This is unbelievable, the man is out yelling about reform and he takes a loophole to retire at a higher salary, a classic example of do as I say not as I do,” State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Anthony Wieners said in a statement. “This exposes him as a fraud and just another politician who lies to the public.”

DiVincenzo quietly put in his retirement papers in August, allowing him to start drawing a $5,738 monthly pension payment. But, a loophole allows him to continue serving in the same position, earning $153,207 last year. State law allows elected officials in the public employee and police pension systems to “retire” but keep working.

DiVincenzo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment this morning. In an interview Wednesday, DiVincenzo said he has done nothing wrong by collecting his pension after 29 years of public service. “It’s something I earned,” he said. “Why shouldn’t I be able to collect my pension?”

DiVencenzo, a Democrat, has clashed with law enforcement unions as he works with Republican Governor Chris Christie to rollback pension and health care benefits for public employees. A Christie spokesman declined to comment on DiVincenzo’s pension, but said the governor supports removing the loophole.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by the New York Times, On Thursday, March 31, 2011, the State of Ohio passed a law that is more restrictive on the collective bargaining rights of Public Safety Officers than the law that was passed in Wisconsin several weeks ago.  

While both laws severely limit public employees’ ability to bargain collectively — they both prohibit any bargaining over health coverage and pensions — the Ohio law largely eliminates bargaining for the police and firefighters whereas Wisconsin’s law leaves those two groups’ bargaining rights untouched. Ohio’s law also gives city councils and school boards a free hand to unilaterally impose their side’s final contract offer when management and a union fail to reach a settlement.  Implementation of a final offer by management is permitted in private sector collective bargaining but was previously not permitted in the public sector.

Notwithstanding the differences in legislation, the push by those states’ Republican governors and Republican-dominated legislatures points to a pendulum swing away from what many unions and Democrats see as a fundamental right for public employees: the right to bargain over wages and benefits.

While New Jersey's Governor, Chris Christie, has stated that he does not have any intentions on abolishing Public Safety Officers' rights to collectively bargain, he has already taken steps to eliminate premium cost sharing of health care benefits as a subject that is mandatorily negotiable.  Furthermore, he has also stated that he is looking forward to engaging in "adversarial" negotiations with public employee labor unions as contracts are now expiring.

To read the entire New York Times article regarding the Ohio law, click here.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As reported by Yahoo News, having declared that Wisconsin’s divisive union law is not really a law yet, a judge was set to return to one of the underlying questions dogging the measure, whether Republicans violated the state’s open meetings law during the frenzied run-up to passage.

Republican Governor Scott Walker’s administration reluctantly suspended efforts to enact the law after Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi unexpectedly declared the measure had not been properly published. The move marked another round in a messy legal fight over the law, which requires most public workers to pay more for their benefits and strips away most of their collective bargaining rights.

Democrats and unions have filed three lawsuits challenging the law. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne’s action has taken center stage so far. He alleges Republicans did not provide the proper public notice when it convened a special committee to amend the plan before its passage.

The judge is scheduled to take more testimony on the open meetings allegations. It’s unclear when Sumi may rule, but any decision almost certainly will trigger a storm of appeals that could stretch to the state Supreme Court.

State Justice Department attorneys contend the Senate’s internal rules trump the open meetings law. Sumi’s authority is limited to constitutional questions; an open meetings violation does not rise to that level, they say. Plus, they argue, Ozanne cannot sue Republican legislators because state lawmakers are immune from civil actions while the Legislature is in session.

The collective bargaining law has been a flashpoint of contention since Walker introduced it in mid-February. Under the law, most public sector workers must contribute more to their pensions and health care, changes that amount to an 8 percent pay cut. The measure also prohibits them from collectively bargaining on all work conditions except wage increases up to the rate of inflation. Walker has said the law is needed to help the state balance a $137 million deficit and give local governments enough flexibility with their employees to withstand deep cuts in state aid coming in the next two-year budget. Democrats see the law as an attempt to weaken unions, which are among the party’s strongest campaign supporters. Tens of thousands of people turned up at the state Capitol for protests that went on for three weeks, and Senate Democrats fled to Illinois to block a vote in that chamber.

To get around that roadblock, Republicans called a special committee meeting on March 9 and stripped the fiscal elements out of the bill, enabling the Senate to vote without the Democrats. The Assembly passed the bill the next day, and Walker signed it into law on March 11.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link