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As reported by nj.com, amid a rising tide of violence in Trenton, including a murder in the shadow of the Statehouse on Route 29, the State Attorney General sent officials yesterday to discuss helping Trenton’s layoff-depleted police department, Mercer County Prosecutor Joe Bocchini said today. The meeting between Bocchini, Trenton acting Police Director Dave Armitage, and officials from Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa’s office was hosted at Bocchini’s office and included the discussion of State Police help.   

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack laid off roughly one-third of the 300 member police department in September amid sweeping city budget cuts. Some police officers were rehired through grants, but the department ended the year with at least 80 less officers. “Unfortunately it goes back once again to manpower, the department is severely understaffed,” Bocchini said.

Bocchini said he believes Trenton needs at least 50 more police officers to make a dent in the violence. Armitage wrote a letter to the State Police Superintendent seeking assistance on Monday and State Senator Shirley Turner has previously offered to broker a meeting regarding State Police intervention. Turner and Attorney General Chiesa had a lengthy meeting on the topic last week, Bocchini said. 

The State Police fall under the Office of the Attorney General. Bocchini said no guarantees have been made and he cautioned that any plans were still in the discussion stage.

Trenton had three reported murders in January, following a December that saw six slayings in the city. The city’s homicide rate spiked to a four-year high for 2011. The Mercer Prosecutor’s office and Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler have already sent additional manpower to augment the Trenton police anti-crime unit.

Bocchini said yesterday’s meeting with Director of the Division of Criminal Justice Stephen Taylor was set up last week, prior to a drive-by shooting on Route 29 that left a 23-year old city man dead a few hundred yards from the Statehouse.

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As reported by nj.com, reclaiming the gear they laid down more than two weeks ago, 18 formerly laid-off Trenton police officers returned to work Monday morning. 

The somber ceremony of laying down boots outside police headquarters the day of the layoffs was replayed backwards inside the department’s training room, as returning cops happily donned badges, guns, Kevlar vests and neckties before hitting the streets again.

Picking out the items from their individualized boxes that were stored away on the day of the layoffs September 16, the oldest new officers in the department had their colleagues who remained without a job firmly on their minds. “I’m glad to have my job, but we still have 80-some guys still waiting,” Charles Lamin, a seven-year veteran. “It’s like going somewhere without your best friend.”

The number of returning officers is only a fraction of the 105 who were terminated earlier this month. In addition, the re-appointments may be temporary. The 18 officers’ salaries are being paid with a combination of an existing federal grant and the savings from nine retirements that took effect Saturday, police officials said. But the city learned last week it will not receive a second grant award, meaning that the funds for these officers will run out in four to six months.

Though controversy remains over a plan by Mayor Tony Mack to send more than 40 officers of the now-247 member force to foot patrol, cops will be walking the beat today, albeit in smaller numbers. The future of foot patrol in the department remains up in the air. Mack had ordered the anti-crime and drug-units disbanded and their detectives sent to foot patrol, but the plan, which would have taken effect Monday was cancelled after a sit-down with county Prosecutor Joe Bocchini Friday afternoon.

Mack, Bocchini, and police officials will revisit the two competing plans for the depleted force during a meeting today, officials said.

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As reported by nj.com, with a flood of retirements, the sluggish economy, and a governor intent on shrinking the size of government, the number of public workers in New Jersey has dropped to its lowest level in eight years, a Star-Ledger analysis shows. New Jersey shed about 29,100 state and local government jobs during Governor Chris Christie’s first 19 months in office, trailing only New York and California in the total number of public sector jobs lost, according to federal labor statistics.

The latest figures, released earlier this month, show the state has fewer public employees-from police and teachers to college administrators and state workers-on the payrolls than at any other point since September 2003. In fact, New Jersey’s sizable decline accounts for more than 8 percent of the 357,100 public sector jobs lost in states across the country since January 2010, the month Christie took office.

The loss of public sector jobs comes as New Jersey’s post-recession economy continues to struggle, translating into a 9.5 percent unemployment rate that is 13^th highest in the nation. In recent months, Christie has recast the unemployment rate-a critical yardstick for governors-saying it’s more a measure of his success than his failures. He said the stubbornly high jobless figure is an unavoidable consequence of his mission to shrink the size of government in New Jersey.

But economists and critics argue that Christie’s outlook ignorers how the loss of so many jobs, regardless of their origin, threatens the state’s broader economy. In January 2010, there were 590,200 employees on public payrolls in New Jersey. But that has dropped by more than 5 percent, the fifth highest percentage decline in the nation. In the same time period, the total number of jobs in New Jersey-accounting for gains in the private sector and losses in public jobs-rose by 20,300. That ranks New Jersey behind 38 other states in percentage of job growth. Christie’s critics say he may have been successful at shrinking government, but he has failed to expand the economy and provide new employment opportunities.

“In previous times, the decline in public sector jobs hit administration, but these last two years we are seeing a dramatic dip in police, fire, and EMS employees because the state aid was cut,” said William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. Police and firefighters across the state have reacted with anger, framing the issue as a matter of public safety. “Our members are being asked to do their job without the manpower necessary to get things done. And at any given time, we can go to work and not come home,” said Dominick Marino, president of the International Association of Firefighters of New Jersey.

The city of Trenton is preparing to layoff 108 officers, which union officials there say would put staffing at 1930s levels.

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As reported by nj.com, one of New Jersey’s largest police unions is returning to Atlantic City after nearly a year of protest. The New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association pulled events in January after the city laid off 60 police officers.

The New Jersey State PBA moved its main convention last March to the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut and held smaller meetings elsewhere. Since then, the city has been bringing officers back and last week filled the last of the positions cut by layoffs.

State PBA President Anthony Wieners says the group will have its awards dinner in November, a labor training seminar in February, and a mini-convention in March in Atlantic City. Monthly meetings will also return to Atlantic City.

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As reported by Bob Braun on nj.com, within months after more than 160 of its police officers were laid off, Newark erupted into a spasm of violence, including the killing of a policeman and one day when 13 people were shot, one fatally. But did the layoffs lead to the violence? And what does the future hold for a densely urbanized state where police face cuts in local, state, and federal funding?

The answer is: no one really knows. But the future looks scary. And complicated. “There is no data linking crime rates with police layoffs because this has never happened before,” says Dennis Kenney, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and editor of Police Quarterly. Kenney, with a doctorate at Rutgers, believes police services will be “greatly eroded and degraded” because of cuts in public spending. “Even though no one can now prove a correlation between crime and police layoffs, it’s hard to argue that anything else could occur.”

Richard Weinblatt, a former New Jersey resident and national consultant on police issues, says police escaped cuts in the past. No politician, he says, “wanted to be seen as soft on crime.” But now, even cops are not immune. “No one seems interested in public safety issues-it’s just the economy, an obsession with how people are going to survive.”

The level of public discourse can be incendiary. Consider the warnings from State Senate President Stephen Sweeney who said people would “die” because of cuts to services, including police, in Governor Chris Christie’s budget. Christie has called pay and benefits to police in New Jersey “obscene.” All that erodes support for police-and all agencies that rely on tax dollars.

According to Braun, Kenney and others are right. The historical data does not exist to show laying off police officers leads to increased crime. But, the logic is also inescapable. “It certainly would be beneficial to get the cops we lost back,” says Samuel DeMaio, Newark’s acting police director.

Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage managed to hire three of those laid off cops; he freed up funds by persuading senior officers to retire. But it was a trade-off he said, “You can learn only so much from the academy, learning the streets means working with veterans.”

Moreover, he’s not optimistic. Caps on spending, loss of state aid will catch up to the city. “We need visible police presence-the guns, the drugs, and the gangs are not going away.”

To read Braun's full article, click on the nj.com link above.

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As reported by nj.com, unions representing Jersey City municipal employees have filed an appeal with the state Civil Service Commission, challenging some 100 layoffs the administration has carried out so far this year.

The city changed titles of politically-connected employees to avoid laying them off, kept temporary employees on staff for longer than it is supposed to, and generally made it impossible for state officials to determine whether the city’s layoff plan was the result of good-faith efforts, the appeal alleges. The city has laid off nearly 100 workers this year and is scheduled to lay off an additional 16 workers in the next few weeks.

City officials have “been doing so many egregious things for years,” according to Chuck Carroll, president of the Jersey City Public Employee Inc. Local 246, one of three unions that filed the appeal. “They are like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” Carroll said of city officials.

The appeal doesn’t seem likely to save the jobs of any recently laid-off employees, according to a source that did not want to be identified.   The city defended the layoffs. “While difficult, the layoffs were necessary due to loss of revenue and were properly implemented for reasons of economy and efficiency and approved by the Civil Service Commission, pursuant to state statute,” said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Morrill said she couldn’t comment further since the matter is now in litigation. But a city official who asked not to be named made it clear what the city thinks of Carroll’s allegations. “They’re false,” the official said. “They’re (unions members) upset, they’re angry, but they’re not pointing to any specific examples because there are none.” Carroll said he has plenty of examples he has submitted with the appeal.

According to Civil Service Commission spokesman Peter Lyden, the appeal will be sent to the Office of Administrative Law, where it will go before an OAL judge. After a hearing, the judge will forward a recommendation to the CSC, which will then make a final decision on the appeal. Since July 2010, 748 appeals similar to Jersey City’s have been filed with the CSC, Lyden said.

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As reported by nj.com, crime in Camden is on the rise following deep cuts to the police force earlier this year. An analysis of crime data by The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill finds violent crime was up 13 percent from January 1 through June 20 compared with the same period a year ago.

The rates were also higher than in the first half of 2008 and 2009. Assaults with guns have been particularly high, up 60 percent from last year. The newspaper also found nonviolent crime up by 21 percent so far in 2011.

Experts caution not to blame just the layoffs, which shed nearly half the city’s police force amid a budget crisis in January. Since then, some officers have been hired back.

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As reported by nj.com, five police officers laid off in January were sworn in at Orange City Hall council chambers. The city rehired the officers using money from a federal grant originally meant for new hires, Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. said.

The officers raised their right hands, then received their badges in a ceremony attended by dozens of city employees and officials. The five men, rejoining the department of almost 100 officers, will start immediately, the mayor said. “It’s a good feeling to be back to work,” Officer David Fanfan, 26, said.

State-aid cuts and a $3 million budget gap forced the layoffs, Orange Police Director John Rappaport said. Orange cut 11 officers in January as part of its 50 proposed layoffs, which included 12 firefighters and other city workers. The officers were brought back using a federal grant called the Community Oriented Policing Services grant that awarded the city $964,000 to hire five officers for three years.

In March, the city was able to rehire 12 laid-off firefighters and add 12 new hires by using $1.2 million in federal grants and negotiating givebacks.

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As reported by nj.com, a plan to layoff more than 100 uniformed City of Trenton police officers is back on the table, Mayor Tony Mack said. Mack confirmed the layoff plan at the end of a town hall meeting with the Chambersburg Civic Association.

“Unfortunately, for us, we will have to layoff 111 police officers,” Mack said, responding to a question from a resident about the possibility of terminations. “We’re in a very, very difficult situation.” Last year, Mack shelved a similar plan to axe 111 officers, but officials said this layoff plan is separate from last year’s plan. 

Layoff plans have to be certified by the state’s Civil Service Commission and submitted to the state’s Department of Community Affairs. According to Eric Berry, the city’s business administrator, the new layoff plan will also include personnel cuts in other city departments. However, he said that, until the new plan is approved by the state, he could not disclose how many people might be affected.

As he said when police layoffs were considered last year, Mack told the crowd the cuts would not affect patrol levels. “We have some of our police officers who are in offices. They physically work in an office,” he said. ‘Those police officers will no longer work in offices, they’ll be on the street patrolling. So the plan that we have in place…will not reduce police presence on the street.”

Mack also added that the city was looking into applying for a grant that could save some police jobs. “Camden got a grant to bring some of their police officers back, so we will apply for that same grant,” he said.  

Camden was able to hire back 19 officers after receiving a $4.3 million federal Community Oriented Policing Services grant. The city laid off 163 officers last year. Other officers were able to come back to the department after the city found other sources of revenue.

Trenton is still ironing out problems from layoffs in 2010. The state Civil Service agency issued a corrective action plan to the city earlier this year to address irregularities in how those terminations were carried out. Under Civil Service rules, some workers have “bumping rights” based on such factors as licensing and seniority, and certain employees must be laid off before others. Berry said those problems should be fixed by May 24, at which point the new layoff plan can be certified.

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As reported by nj.com, most of the jobs scheduled to be eliminated by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office will be saved, according to a report on philly.com.

Two unions have agreed to seven furlough days, while three other unions will vote next week, the report said. Earlier this year, layoff notices were sent out to sixty-six (66) employees, a third of Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk’s staff. The layoffs were delayed because the 2011 budget was not finalized.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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As reported by nj.com, the Somerset County freeholders do not plan to increase taxes next year, but may downsize the sheriff’s office if union concessions are not made. The freeholders presented a proposed budget last week, a spending plan that is less than one percent smaller than last year’s $211 million budget. “It’s not a huge cut, but it’s a cut,” said Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski.

A key issue that could affect the budget is the contract situation with the two unions representing employees in the sheriff’s office, which are now in arbitration.  Zaborowski said layoffs do not appear to be on the horizon, but he warned they could be possible. “Hopefully, we can avoid that,” he said.

Last year, the county budget called for the layoff of 10 sheriff’s officers after the unions rejected a pay freeze. The 45 sheriff’s officers are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police and the 107 corrections officers are represented by the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, Local 177. The county and unions have been negotiating since the contracts expired, in 2007 for the sheriff’s officers and last year for corrections.

So far, 16 of the 19 unions representing county employees have agreed to waive salary increases in 2010 or 2011, according to county officials. Zaborowski said staff attrition over the past few years, the county has tried to avoid hiring new employees since 2008, has been a major contributor to next year’s slightly leaner budget. In the proposed budget, the county eliminated another 27 positions, meaning 149 positions have been dropped since 2008. Budgeting for the department is almost flat: In the current year, $6,011,500 was appropriated for the sheriff’s department, and $6,017,400 is budgeted for next year.

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As reported by nj.com, Camden Mayor Dana Reed says her crime-ridden city will rehire 50 police officers and 15 firefighters two months after deep layoffs to public safety departments. Reed announced that she will use $2.5 million paid to the City by the South Jersey Port Corp, plus federal grants, to bring back the officers through the summer.

The quasi-state agency announced it would make the payment late last year after skipping a larger payment it owed the cash-strapped city government. Reed said she would use it to stave off layoffs. However, she said she would not do so unless unions for public workers made concessions first. She reversed course, rehiring workers without concessions. Crime has been up since January, when nearly half the police force was laid off.

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As reported by nj.com on February 7, 2011, lawmakers in the New Jersey Senate will hear from police and firefighters about how layoffs are impacting public safety.

The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee has invited several speakers to address a recent spike in violent crime. The hearing scheduled for February 7, 2011 will examine how the ongoing fiscal crisis is effecting the ability of cities and towns to maintain public safety. Municipalities around the State have laid off police officers and firefighters to help balance their budgets.

Governor Chris Christie recently met with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Camden Mayor Dana Redd, and Trenton Mayor Tony Mack to discuss the issue. The Governor says he is looking to maintain a balance between his responsibility to taxpayers and public safety.

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As reported by nj.com on February 7, 2011, Newark police have made nearly half as many arrests, issued fewer summonses and conducted fewer inquiries in the second half of 2010 than in the same period the previous year, a decline some law enforcement officials say was tied to hostile layoff negotiations.

A public and protracted fight between the administration of Mayor Cory Booker and union leaders over the layoffs of more than 160 officers severely damaged morale, likely leading to a precipitous drop in production, officials said. “Morale is definitely at an all-time low and I don’t know what it’s going to take to bring it back,” said Derrick Hatcher, president of Newark’s Fraternal Order of Police. “Years ago, you used to love coming into work. Now some guys dread coming to work.”

Booker insists morale has not affected crime fighting, and said it is impossible to link arrest totals with crime rates. “Correlation is not causation,” Booker said. “You can cut the statistics any way you want, but the fact of the matter is there is so much evidence that shows arrest rates don’t necessarily correlate with crime.”

Between July and December of 2010, police made 7,577 arrests, according to records. Newark recorded 14,920 arrests during the same period in 2009 and 15,332 the year before. The public and often contentious talks between the administration and the police union coincided with steep declines in monthly arrests. The largest monthly dip, 42.8 percent, came in November, when layoff negotiations hit a fever pitch. The second largest monthly drop, nearly 20 percent, occurred in July, when Booker first said layoffs would be inevitable without union concessions.

In December, the month after the layoffs were imposed, police recorded just 837 arrests, the lowest monthly total in three years. There were 2,443 arrests in December 2009 and 2,167 in December 2008. Newark saw at 7 percent increase in crime last year and the department recorded 6,717 fewer arrests than in 2009.  

Informed of the arrest numbers, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said in a statement that he would “not tolerate any police officer in Essex County turning a blind-eye on people who should be arrested for criminal offenses.” In addition to fewer arrests, the number of summonses issued fell by 28 percent last year compared to 2009, and the number of field inquiries conducted, interactions between officers and citizens for a public safety purpose, fell 12 percent.

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As reported by nj.com on January 27, 2011, the Jersey City Police Union has voted to approve the police contract for its officers. The vote tally for the approval was 341 for and 164 against according to city officials. There are 690 members of the union and, as such, 185 members did not cast a vote.

The Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association approved a new deal in a vote that took place from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on January 26, 201. The ratification averted the scheduled layoff of 82 officers. Had the layoffs went through, it would have cut the size of the police force by 10 percent from its current 830 members.   

The agreement still needs to be approved by the City Council, which is expected. Mayor Jeremiah Healy said, “We also want to thank the union leadership for their efforts in these long and sometimes difficult negotiations and we also want to thank the men and women of the Jersey City Police Department for not only supporting this agreement, but for the important work they do every day to keep our city safe.”

The terms of the agreement and the vote tally were not immediately available. Sources have told The Jersey Journal that the police union officials agreed to a one-week pay lag for the officers, which will save the city nearly $4 million this year. The officers would receive the one-week pay when they retire. In return for the concession, the officers gained two comp days this year, will receive an extra day’s pay when they retire, and the city agreed not to take away the officers’ $1300 a year uniform allowance.

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As reported in the Star Ledger on November 10, 2010, hundreds of Newark city police officers, firefighters, and civilian employees, barring a last-minute reprieve, will be laid off on Friday, November 12, 2010 after a judge dismissed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the city’s cost-cutting measures.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello told lawyers for the unions filing suit that she did not have the authority to issue a temporary stay to prevent 167 city police officers, 24 firefighters, and several hundred civilian employees from losing their jobs. While the Judge appeared sympathetic to the plaintiff’s claim that layoffs might adversely affect public safety and that the city had not engaged in meaningful negotiations, she said only the state Civil Service Commission can hear such a request.

Judge Costello also voiced frustration that the Commission, which had earlier approved the city’s layoff plan, is now one member short of the minimum needed to hold another hearing. “While the case law is completely clear, it’s hollow if the CSC is not meeting,” she said of the Commission, which is a defendant in the lawsuit along with Newark Mayor Cory Booker. The Appellate Division, however, can rule on the request for a temporary stay, Judge Costello said, and can issue a decision itself or return the case to her with that authority.

Facing an $83 million deficit, the Newark City Council approved the mayor’s budget last month, which includes a total of 866 layoffs and a 16 percent property tax hike. The Commission had earlier approved the city’s layoff plan and deemed an earlier appeal “not ripe” until the layoffs occur.

It is expected the unions will be filing a similar request for a temporary injunction with the Appellate Division. Therefore, please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain any updates that become available.

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As reported in the Trentonian on October 13, 2010, the Ewing Township Police Department has slashed the number of tickets for motor vehicle violations in the past three months in response to the Township’s decision to lay off six patrol officers due to budget constraints.

According to Police Chief Robert Coulton, summons issued for moving and parking violations dropped from 633 written in June down to 340 in July, 293 in August and 290 in September. Coulton said younger officers, serving between one and five years, are traditionally the most productive in the ticket department, and the recent sharp drop in summonses, which means lost revenue for the township, is clearly a reaction to the township layoff notice issued months ago, targeting six junior patrol officers.

The police layoffs, however, have been put on ice following a request by PBA Local 111 to freeze final checks for unused vacation and sick time and start negotiations aimed at reinstating the six officers. No date has been set for the talks to begin, however.

Running down the number of tickets handed out this year, Coulton said Ewing police issued 684 in January, 500 in February, 734 in March, 644 in April, 504 in May, and then dropped off significantly. How much this has cost the Township in fines could not be determined. Coulton’s breakdown came at the request of Mayor Jack Ball, who issued the layoff order which took effect September 17 for the six officers and other township workers in various departments, laying the blame for these job cuts on Ewing’s loss of $2.5 million in state aid for Fiscal 2011, which began July 1.

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As reported in the Trentonian on March 12, 2010, Governor Chris Christie is looking privatize State jobs. Yesterday, Governor Christie created a task force to look at ways to privatize State jobs to save money as he tries to find a plug for a projected $11 billion budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year.

Christie signed an executive order creating the five-person group to look at “every aspect of the way government does business.” He said privatization could narrow the scope of public services provided by the State’s nearly 75,000 workers and increase efficiency. Christie also stated that he would have ordered the audit even if New Jersey was not in dire economic need. Privatizing jobs would inevitably mean layoffs for State workers, but Christie said he had not asked the task force to come back with a specific level of savings.     

The creation of the task force comes just days after the new Republican Governor said he was wrong to think he could alter a deal Governor Corzine made with State workers that allowed them to keep pay raises and take furloughs in exchange for a no-layoff pledge. Democrats estimate that for every 1,000 workers laid off, the State would realize $30 million to $40 million in savings. However, according to Bob Master, spokesman for the Communications Workers of America District 1, privatization is a “failed tactic from the past that’s based on an ideological hostility to government.” Specifically, he indicated, “you get a real deterioration of services and you don’t save any money.” 

Governor Christie’s potential privatization could have an enormous impact upon New Jersey Public Safety Officers. As such, please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain updates regarding privatization and the workers it will affect.

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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with the Treasurer for the State of New Jersey, David Rousseau, the Director for the Governor's Office of Employee Relations and Union officials that I represent.  The purposes of the meeting was to listen to the Treasurer's doom and gloom speech regarding the State budget, how broke the state is, and how difficult it is to balance the State budget as mandated by the New Jersey State Constitution.  With that being said, it can not be denied that we are in an extraordinary economic climate that has not been experienced in our life times. 

One of the plans to cut the budget that was proposed by Governor Corzine and his staff is to issue mandatory involuntary furloughs to all State Law Enforcement Officers.  Of course this idea when presented to union officials was met with disdain and discontent.  First, under New Jersey State law, there is no such thing as an "involuntary furlough".  Furloughs as defined by the New Jersey Department of Personnel are voluntarily absences initiated by public employees at the request of the government.  When the government makes a unilateral decision to absent an employee from work against his or her will, even if it is for a day or two, it is a "layoff".  When layoffs are initiated by State, County, or Municipalities, again, these governmental bodies must follow the rules and regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Personnel.  Thus, special re-employment lists must be created, and all of the seniority and bumping rights contained in collective bargaining agreements must be followed.

I am writing this entry for two reasons.  First, to educate our readers and union officials about the fallacy of "involuntary furloughs"; and second to call all public safety officers throughout the state of New Jersey to action.  Laying off public safety officers, whether they be state, county or municipal, in an effort to save a few dollars to balance a budget is a horrific idea.  Think about it.  When there are less police officers on the streets due to layoffs, are the criminals going to take a vacation?  Are the buildings in New Jersey going to stop burning?  How about the security of our prisons.  Are the convicted murders, rapists and gang members housed in institutions through out the state going to be more cooperative because there are less corrections officers walking the tier?

It is a shame that some politicians do not commit to public safety the same way that all of the professional police officers, firefighters and corrections officers do on a daily basis.  Thus, please call you Assembly Members and State Senators.  Make them aware that public safety officers through out the state will not stand for the public safety of our loved ones to be diminished because of the fiscal crisis that we are in due to the politically poor planning and lack of foresight.  Now is time that all public safety officers must come together in solidarity to protect your employment rights, your health and safety, and the health and safety of those citizens that you protect and serve on a daily basis.

As always--Thank you for all of the protection and piece of mind that you provide on a daily basis. 

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