Englewood police officers are at odds with the town over staffing levels and salaries.Posted on 05/03/2007 9:31:25 PM PDT by Coleus
| Englewood police officers are at odds with the town over staffing levels and salaries. |
Salaries and staffing are at the core of a contentious negotiation between Englewood and its police unions, a microcosm of the problems facing many North Jersey municipalities. Police say staffing is inadequate, and more crime could be stopped if there were more officers. But that's not an option, city officials say, in a department where the median salary is $104,000. The disagreements reveal how sensitive the topic of police pay has become in North Jersey, where property taxes are among the highest in the nation. Police in Bergen County are the best paid in the state, and New Jersey police are the best paid in the country, according to federal labor statistics. Englewood's department ranks 46th statewide in average pay. The clash in Englewood comes at a critical time: The council has introduced a $53 million budget, and city officials are negotiating with the police unions for the 82-member department.
| What's next A public hearing on the budget will be held on May 15. Staffing levels The Record compared Englewood police staffing with two other Bergen County towns with similar crime levels. Police employed for every 1,000 residents: Town Police officers Englewood 3.1 Roadblock to hiring Englewood officials say police pay precludes expanding the force. Big bucks 72% of the officers are paid more than $100,000 not counting overtime (annually). Median salary Excluding overtime, the median salary for Englewood police is $104,756. The department ranks 46th statewide in average pay and 34th among Bergen County towns. Quick rise A newly hired patrol officer in Englewood starts at only $32,237, but within five years she is at $96,054. The base pay for a rank-and-file patrolman in New York City tops out at $60,000 after 5½ years. Comparison On police salaries, Hackensack and Englewood are pretty even, with median pay of $105,000 and $104,000, respectively. Garfield's median pay is slightly less, at $100,000. 85% of Englewood police officers are paid more than $100,000 (including overtime) Overtime averages $17,888 per officer. Last year, the city shelled out more than $1.3 million in overtime alone, or 15 percent of total police compensation. |
Former City Manager Cheryl Fuller, whose last day was Friday, cut the police roster from 86 to 82 positions in this year's budget. Fuller declined to comment. The cut made no sense, said acting Deputy Chief Arthur O'Keefe, since crime increased almost 4 percent in Englewood last year. "We race officers from call to call," he said. O'Keefe said Englewood needs more officers because of its heavy commuter traffic, illegal immigrant population, and drug and gang problems that need to be stopped now, before they become entrenched. Englewood has about 80 working officers for 26,000 people. Chief David Bowman and Sgt. Emma Jackson are suspended without pay and awaiting trial on charges of falsifying or tampering with public records.
Eighty-five percent of the officers are paid more than $100,000 annually, a Record analysis has found. That's partially attributable to overtime, which averages $17,888 per officer. Last year, the city shelled out more than $1.3 million in overtime alone, or 15 percent of total police compensation. Still, council members say it's cheaper to pay overtime than to hire more officers, because you're not adding more health benefits and pension costs to the bottom line. A policing expert, however, said overtime is not a good long-term solution to workloads. "Overtime means the police officer works too many hours, and the quality of policing is not good," said Maki Haberfeld, the department chairwoman in law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I want officers who are rested and have time for recreation and are not staying 15 hours every day."
Excluding overtime, the median salary for Englewood police is $104,756. A newly hired patrol officer in Englewood starts at only $32,237, but within five years that officer is at $96,054. The base pay for a rank-and-file patrolman in New York City tops out at $60,000 after 5½ years. "I don't understand the pay scale in the suburban communities," said Betty Grossman, a real estate agent. "All the towns as far as I can see are overpaying, and I don't see how we can afford it." A beginning Englewood patrol officer is also entitled to the following days off: 20 vacation days, 13 holidays, 15 sick days and one personal day. A revolving schedule means that officers have a three-day weekend every three weeks, for a total of 17 additional days off per year.
Ranking officers can earn up to 28 vacation days annually. O'Keefe said Englewood taxpayers are actually getting a "bargain" when it comes to police coverage. While the $11.2 million police budget is one-fifth of the city's budget, that's small compared with the school budget, which is $64 million, O'Keefe points out. Englewood has not formally studied its staffing needs since the 1970s. Policemen's Benevolent Association President Fred Pulice estimates the department now needs about 104 officers to engage in "proactive" rather than "defensive" policing. With more manpower, the department could start a street-crimes unit, field undercover officers, and cut back on overtime in the detective bureau.
"The workload is what it is," said Pulice. "And everyone keeps looking for the magic answer. There is no magic answer." The Record compared Englewood staffing with two other Bergen County towns with similar crime levels: Hackensack and Garfield. Englewood employs 3.1 cops for every 1,000 people, compared with 2.5 cops for every 1,000 people in Hackensack and 1.9 in Garfield. Paywise, Hackensack and Englewood are pretty even, with median pay of $105,000 and $104,000, respectively. Garfield's median pay is slightly less, at $100,000.
But Pulice said police-to-population ratios can't be compared so easily. "Englewood is a busier town," he said. Because of the city's diverse income levels and different neighborhoods, cops must respond to everything from drug sales to quality-of-life complaints, Pulice said. Haberfeld agreed that there is no accepted per capita standard for police staffing, since communities vary so much by crime levels, demographics, tourism and business activity. Councilman Gordon Johnson, a former Englewood police officer, said the city can't do much about current pay scales because they're determined by contract. But he would support hiring more officers, he said.
"We need a proactive police department in Englewood, like officers in the school system and [officers] gathering intelligence on gang activity." "But as far as an exact number, that's up to the taxpayer, and how much they're willing to pay," said Johnson, also a state assemblyman. O'Keefe said the department has managed to increase efficiency despite tight staffing. In the course of one year, officers increased the number of traffic tickets given out by 75 percent and increased the adult arrest rate by 20 percent. O'Keefe also pulled three officers from the regular beat to form a community policing unit. The unit does gang awareness and outreach in housing projects and schools.
Now, I don't know where this reporter went to school, but to me, one fifth is 20%. That works out to a total budget of $50 million, but in the following section of THE VERY SAME SENTENCE, this same town spends 64 million dollars JUST ON THE SCHOOLS!
So far, we're at $75.2 million in the budget, and we haven't even touched on city hall, public works, infrastructure or debt paydown.
Methinks this "journalist" is hoping that the public is even stupider than he/she is.
NYPD patrol officer BASE PAY tops out at 60k after 5 years. a 5 year veteran can expect to make closer to 80k if they pull overtime and private moonlighting.
Alpine, NJ, directly across from Manhattan, has an avg. total compensation approaching 200k for it’s police officers. One of the plushest and safest LEO jobs in the country, being Alpine is one of the 20 wealthiest towns in the country, and has almost no crime.
Wow, just wow.
I'd go back into the harness for that kind of bread .....Naw, it would interfere with mah FReep'n
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