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.

Tags: Articles, City of Trenton, Layoffs, Mack, NJ Police, Trenton Police
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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