The structure of the West Windsor Police Department would change slightly if a recent ordinance introduced by Council is adopted. The ordinance, introduced at the June 25 Council meeting, would amend the police division section of the township code. Council President Kamal Khanna said the proposed change would see the department go from seven sergeants and 35 police officers to eight sergeants and 34 officers. A public hearing will be held at the Monday, July 9, Council meeting.
Adressing Council on Monday, June 11 , Police Chief Joe Pica spoke about the need for change as an administrative sergeant retired from the force on May 1.
Pica says in an effort to limit liability, the department needs to create (and budget for) another sergeant position — without hiring an additional officer to the force. The move is essentially a title change and pay raise for one of West Windsor’s senior officers.
“On the midnight shift, we have a sergeant in charge, and they are very capable of providing leadership. But as with any job, they take vacations, have sick time, go for training and are given special assignments. That leaves the night shift without a sergeant present,” Pica said.
The chief says this would eventually save the township money although the sergeant ranks would carry a $11,000 raise. West Windsor now has a young police force due to retirements. With the current setup, officers with only two or three years on the job are left in charge of others and paid a stipend.
“When you pay a 15-year veteran a stipend, you’re okay with that. But when you’re paying a stipend to a guy who’s on the job three years, a) he doesn’t really want to be in charge; b) he’s not ready to be in charge; c) you’re putting him in a situation where he’d need to make challenging decisions at 2 or 3 a.m. I think you have the potential for errors,” Pica said.
“I’m not comfortable with that, and I feel we are opening ourselves up to some kind of civil litigation if, in fact, something goes wrong,” he said.
Pica said the department researched different ways of filling the void, but most ideas would cost more money than he felt the township should spend. His suggestion to Council was to move the administrative sergeant duty to the patrol unit and have another sergeant spot cover “the other half.”
Councilman Bryan Maher offered some support for the chief’s recommendation, but he asked Pica to “show him the math.”
Pica promised to deliver salary and wage calculations for official review. At the June 11 Council meeting, he quoted the money spent in overtime costs last year on the night shift, just to cover shortages — $15,000 — as well as out-of-class assignments — $12,000.
“Between the two, it cost us $27,000 to plug in the gaps on the night shift. With the $11,000 of just one officer we could save $16,000 a year. And it’s an opportunity to fix a problem that I feel needs to be addressed right away,” Pica said.
