Study of police body cameras approved by N.J. lawmakers

TRENTON — State lawmakers would study whether police throughout the state should wear body cameras to capture their interactions with the public, under a bill approved today by the Senate. The legislation ( S2649), passed 37-0, began as an effort to require all officers to wear the devices, but was scaled back after the bill’ sponsor,… Read the rest of this entry »

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Monmouth Law Enforcement Agencies Will Raise Distracted Driving Awareness In October

Monmouth County drivers who are texting or talking on their phones without a hands free device are more likely than ever to be pulled over in October—and more likely to be given a break for the infraction that carries a fine of $200-$400 for a first offense.  But the break won’t be just a friendly warning from the officer who pulls the driver over.

For the month of October, law enforcement officers across the county will be armed with distracted driver ticket books. Anyone found driving while distracted may be issued a summons warning providing them 15 days to log on the campaign website at unpluggedandalive.com where each ticketholder will be prompted to securely include their pertinent information and to watch a video detailing the horrific effects of distracted driving.

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Middletown Settles With Superior Officers, Saves 4 Police Officers. Mayor Hopeful That PBA Deal Will Avoid Layoffs

By Art Gallagher

The Middletown Township Committee came to an agreement with the Superior Officers Association that prevents the demotion of four officers, which saves the jobs of four patrolman.

The SOA agreed to pay the greater of 1.5% of their salaries or 25% of the premium of their current PPO health insurance plan or to switch to the Township’s HMO plan and contribute 1.5% of their salaries to those premiums.

The SOA will receive raises for 2011 of 1.5% in October, with no retroactive pay, and 2% per year for 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Mayor Tony Fiore said he is hopeful that the Township will settle with the PBA at their meeting tonight, and thereby save the jobs of 6 additional officers.   Fiore said that the PBA’s representative informed the committee that the union voted to accept the township’s proposal, the details of which are not yet public, over the weekend.  Pending  review today of the documents submitted by the PBA, it appears that police layoffs have been avoided in Middletown.

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Middletown Files Layoff Plan

Mayor Fiore Hopeful That Some Police Jobs Can Be Save Through Union Concessions And Tapping The Library’s $1.2 Million Surplus

MIDDLETOWN – The Township Committee has directed the Township Administrator to file a layoff plan with the State Civil Service Commission to address significant and continuing declines in municipal revenue and to conform with the 2% cap levy law.

“Recent budget analysis prepared by the Township’s Chief Financial Officer have made it readily apparent that the Township is left with no option but to immediately begin the process of initiating another round of significant layoffs,” said Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore.  “We are hopeful that some police jobs can be saved through reasonable concessions by the Township’s collective bargaining units and with assistance from the Middletown Library’s $1.2 million surplus.”

“Committeeman Kevin Settembrino, the Committee’s representative on the Middletown Library’s independent board, has specifically requested that it authorize payment of $898,000 of the Library’s $1.2 million surplus that will have no impact on the Library’s operations so that additional police layoffs can be averted,” continued Fiore.  “Nobody can be immune from cuts in this current economic climate, but we must first focus on essential core government services such as providing police protection and maintaining municipal roadways.”

Budget & Layoff Facts

 The layoff plan was filed with the State Civil Service Commission on Friday, February 11, 2011 with notice to the affected employees and unions, proposing the elimination of 26 total positions, as follows:

 Department of Parks & Recreation (13 positions), which eliminates every position but for the Director essentially eliminating the Department.  Most of these positions cannot be saved absent an extraordinary change in projected municipal revenues and major concessions.

• Police Department (10 positions) with demotions proposed too. The $898,000 requested from the Library’s $1.2 million surplus to avert further police layoffs represents the amount of the municipal budget that pays the debt service for the library renovation project, $565,000, plus the amount of contribution mandated by statute that will decrease due to changes in the Townships overall valuation resulting from the reassessment totaling $333,000 in 2012.

§ Building Office (1 position).

§ Department of Finance (1 position).

§ The Municipal Court (1 position).

 The projected effective date of the Layoff Plan is Friday, April 29, 2011.

• Despite more than $3 million of reductions in budget appropriations, revenues have decreased approximately $7.4 million, leaving an estimated budget shortfall of $4.4 million.
• The largest source of revenue loss continues to be from tax appeals that represent a total of approximately $4.9 million, which is one of the principal reasons why the Township is currently completing a Township-wide reassessment.
• The Township eliminated 40 positions last year through layoffs, retirements and resignations.

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