By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The Township Council is examining the possibility of replacing the position of police chief with a civilian, part-time public safety director.
An ordinance, introduced Feb. 11, would eliminate the position of chief, which was gone unoccupied for about a year, according to Mayor Denis McDaniel. He said the change would give the council more control over the department.
“The chief by New Jersey statute has many controls and considerations and provisos,” he said. “As a member of the governing body, I never felt that we had a lot of input into the general philosophy of policing, and I think that itself is inappropriate when that department receives more of our expenditures than any other department by far.”
The council does not plan to interfere with direct actions like arrests, he said, but rather with administrative matters.
“It’s simply an administrative maneuver to improve overall operation of the department,” he said.
There’s also a financial incentive. Though the council has no one in mind for the position and Mayor McDaniel did not know when one might be appointed, he said the public safety director’s salary would cost about half that of a police chief’s.
Sgt. Eric Trout has been the officer in charge of the eight-officer department since former chief Kenneth Gerber retired at the end of February 2008. Mayor McDaniel said the change is not related to Sgt. Trout’s performance.
“We’re very proud of the job Sgt. Trout has done, and we’re very proud of our police force,” he said. “The officer in charge was never intended to be a long-term operation, it was intended to be a temporary situation. So it’s just gotten to be too long.”
The public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for the Township Council’s meeting, Wednesday, March 11.
The township never appointed a chief after Chief Gerber retired because of the possibility of a merger with North Hanover’s police department, Mayor McDaniel explained. In the spring, Springfield partnered with North Hanover in a police consolidation study, most of which was paid for by the state.
Holman & Frenia P.C., an accounting and consulting firm with offices in Toms River and Medford, is performing the study.
But the results have taken longer than the township expected, “so it was just time to have more clear leadership,” Mayor McDaniel said.
The study should take about two more months to complete, he added. While he said a merger could offer the township significant savings, he said he is aware of some residents’ concerns about local coverage and control of the force.
“There are pros and cons,” he said, “and we’re going to look at the study and try to balance them.”
A similar ordinance recently made waves in New Hanover, where the township approved an ordinance making its public safety director, a position that is now unoccupied, the administrative head of the police department.
New Hanover Police Chief Gary Timmons gathered 78 signatures on a petition asking the mayor and committee not to pass the ordinance, saying the law would replace him and give the Township Committee undue power.
Township Solicitor Anthony Drollas said the ordinance, which passed unanimously Feb. 12, only serves to clarify the lines of authority and did not change the position or power of the police chief.

