At the June 25 Council meeting an ordinance to amend the West Windsor’s police structure in the “police division” section of the township code was introduced. Council President Kamal Khanna said the proposed change is for the department to move from having 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. An ordinance imposing new restrictions on massage businesses that can operate in West Windsor (WW-P News, June 22) will also be introduced at that meeting, Business Administrator Robert Hary said.
After the presentation on the massage parlor ordinance on June 11, Police Chief Joe Pica spoke to Council and Mayor Hsueh about a possible change of structure in the township’s police department because an administrative sergeant retired from the police force on May 1.
Pica says in an effort to avoid liability, the department needs to create (and budget for) another sergeant position to its ranks — without hiring an additional officer to the force. The move would likely be a title change and pay raise for one of West Windsor’s most senior police 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. “Under our town system, when these junior guys are in charge they’re paid a stipend as part of the township’s collective bargaining agreement with the PBA (policemen’s benevolent association).
Pica added that the West Windsor Police now has a young force due to retirements, and with the current setup younger officers with only two or three years on the job are left in charge of others.
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 to be in charge, 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 and difficult positions at 2 or 3 a.m. — I think you have the potential for some errors,” Pica said.
“I’m really not comfortable with that and I feel that we are opening ourselves up to some kind of civil litigation if in fact something goes wrong,” he said.
According to Pica the department researched different ways of filling the void, but most plans 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.”
In order for the police department to make an official change in its structure, Council must legitimize it. Councilman Bryan Maher offered some support for the chief’s recommendation, but he asked Pica to “show him the math.”
Aware of the financial scrutiny that the police department — like all other West Windsor operations — will face from a budget-conscious Council, Pica promised to deliver his detailed 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.
