New hire will enable greater community policing
By:Kristy Klaus
The Police Department is back at full capacity following the Borough Council’s decision Monday to hire a new police officer.
The council hired Craig Jeremiah, a lifelong Manville resident, to begin work June 5. The department has been down an officer since the Feb. 9 death of Police Chief Michael Moschak.
“We went through a number of resumes and interviewed current candidates in the police academy alternate route program,” said Police Chief John Petrovic. “Education-wise and interview-wise he surfaced as the best candidate.”
Mr. Jeremiah is a patrolman in Hillsborough who graduated from the police academy two years ago as an alternate-route candidate. Such candidates pay their own way through the academy.
“Being a lifelong Manville resident made it a plus in the process,” said Chief Petrovic. “He knows the people and the town.”
Hiring Mr. Jeremiah will allow for more community policing, such as bike and walking patrols, said the chief.
“With community policing, the public gets a different relationship with an officer than just seeing him riding by all the time in a car,” said Chief Petrovic. “This allows people to meet and speak with an officer.”
Right now community policing only occurs about three or four hours a day, but with Mr. Jeremiah, the force will be able to rotate one man at a time for a month to do community policing eight hours a day.
Mr. Jeremiah’s hiring also allows the borough to continue to meet the requirements of a grant received in 1999 from the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
The grant allowed the borough to hire two officers at no additional cost to taxpayers, said Mayor Corradino.
In accordance with the grant the borough had to agree to maintain 23 police officers for the duration of the three-year grant period, said Mayor Corradino.
Failing to maintain that number could mean the borough would have to return the used portion of the grant, or the salaries and benefits of the two grant officers for the past year-and-a-half.
Chief Petrovic estimates this amount to be around $160,000.
“The officer is not an addition but a replacement,” said Mayor Corradino.
Councilwoman Senga Allen felt the council was in a catch-22. She said she thought they were being forced to hire the officer, because of the conditions of the grant.
“We can’t afford to give back the grant money,” said Mrs. Allen, “So because it will help the taxpayers I will vote yes.”
Councilman Thomas Weiss abstained in the decision saying he did not have adequate time to research the officer. Mrs. Allen agreed saying she did not feel the council had proper notice this was going to be an agenda item.
“This should not have been an agenda item,” said Mrs. Allen. “We all should have been advised of this and had time to make calls.”
Mayor Corradino said the decision to hire Mr. Jeremiah came from the Police Committee.
He said the council’s information packets were available Friday evening, and the group had the weekend to make any calls necessary.
“Everyone was aware of the vacancy in the Police Department,” said Mayor Corradino, “The Police Committee decided what had to be done and then brought it to the full council,” said Mayor Corradino.
Mr. Jeremiah this month received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Monmouth University, and has volunteered for local organizations, including Manville First Aid Squad, where he is an emergency medical technician.