ANALYSIS
By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Township residents already struggling under the burden of high taxes could be stuck with a minimum bill of over $113,000 for three police officers who were on paid administrative leave due to questionable behavior.
Total salaries paid out during the three-month investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office amount to $83,025 while each of the three men involved was placed on administrative leave. Estimated costs to replace the officers could reach $10,000 or more each, according to township officials.
”It’s a significant cost that transpired and you have the outcome based on an investigation we don’t know the details of outside of a press release,” said Mayor Chad Goerner. “Our concern is that we want to make sure the remaining officers have our support and we’re really proud of the way they handled themselves under this situation.”
Former Police Chief Mark Emann entered a plea of not guilty to an accusation charging him with third-degree theft by deception on Jan. 12 before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council, according to a release from the prosecutor’s office. The accusation charges that Mr. Emann, 52, committed theft by purposely obtaining two weapons, valued at $2,400, by deception, said a release from the prosecutor.
In making restitution, Mr. Emann will return one weapon that the Police Department has a use for and pay for the other weapon that was a custom-made firearm that the department cannot utilize.
The other two officers involved were charged on administrative levels, not criminally. All three have resigned from the force.
Administrative procedure sanction means the officers violated an internal procedure.
”It means they violated their own protocol,” said Bernie Miller, former mayor, committeeman and member of the staffing subcommittee that is looking into replacing the officers and restructuring the department. “There’s been no specification to that, no one has cited chapter and verse.”
Taxpayers paid fourth-quarter salaries of $41,169 for Mr. Emann, the former police chief. Lt. Michael Henderson and Cpl. Arthur Villaruz received $23,660 and $18,196, respectively, in October and November. The men were paid at their full salary rates as required by law, said Jim Pascale, township business administrator.
The former police chief was ordered to pay $2,400 in restitution to the township, according to the prosecutor’s office. The accusation involved the trade of an antique weapon owned by the department for a rifle and revolver for the chief in his personal capacity, in addition to several rifles and other equipment for the Police Department on June 1, 2007.
The $2,400 is the value of both guns, one of which was an antique, said Casey DeBlasio of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Emann could end up paying less if he returns one of the firearms to the department. “He has to return the equivalent of what he took,” she said.
Ms. DeBlasio was unable to answer further questions about the investigation and said Doris M. Galuchie, deputy first assistant prosecutor, was in charge of the investigation and would be unavailable until next week.
”If you try and balance the scales of justice and you put $2,400 on one side and $100,000 on the other is, there is no way to balance,” said Mr. Miller. “There’s no way to balance the two sides of that equation. One way to look at the $2,400 and $100,000 is cause and effect. The $2,400 restitution is a result of the prosecutor’s office. The charges are a result of that. When the prosecutor’s office brought charges, our only option was to put them on paid leave, we could not put them on unpaid leave, that’s standard practice.”
Township officials also stress the air of mystery that surrounded the investigation and administrative actions and subsequent retirements.
”We also do not know what transpired during the investigation, this was a plea,” said Mayor Goerner. “It’s difficult for us to say what balances, and when you look at the facts and figures presented to us, it’s easy to have the question about balance.”
Mr. Emann was compensated a total of $164,676 in 2010; Mr. Henderson and Mr. Villaruz were paid $130,130 and $100,078.00, respectively. Medical and dental coverage for the Emann family was $30,456 for the full year. Coverage for Mr. Villaruz’ family through Nov. 30 was $25,344 and Mr. Henderson’s single coverage cost $8,673.
In an arrangement with the prosecutor, Mr. Emann entered a pre-trial intervention program that requires a 12-month period of supervision, 40 hours of community service and restitution to Princeton Township, said the prosecutor’s office. He can never hold a government job again.
”We have to keep in mind that we still had to pay these three officers, and we’re under a 2 percent cap now, so it could impact service levels. If you had the situation this year, you couldn’t hire to replace them because of the cap,” said Mayor Goerner. “Now we have the opportunity to hire and replace; it’s been frustrating for the officers, the Township Committee and the public. No one knew anything.”
All three men were already eligible for retirement. Mr. Emann had 32 years of service; Mr. Henderson had 25 years of service and Mr. Villaruz had 26 years of service. Mr. Emann will be eligible to collect his retirement package when he completes his pre-trial intervention program.
”It’s an unfortunate financial impact on the municipality and as a result we lost the services of three well-trained officers that need to be replaced,” said Mr. Miller.
According to the prosecutor, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Villaruz resigned from the Police Department on Dec. 1, 2010, in lieu of further disciplinary action and/or criminal prosecution. Mr. Emann resigned on Dec. 31.
All three were Police and Fireman’s Pension (PFRS) members and will retire with PFRS pensions according to pension terms. State pension officials will make such determinations, said Mr. Pascale.
Throughout the investigation, Capt. Robert Buchanan performed most of their administrative functions in their absence or delegated some of these duties to other overtime-exempt officers, said Mr. Pascale. Duties of the suspended detective were assigned to other overtime-exempt detectives.
There are normally 30 officers in the Police Department, but currently there are 27 while officials consider restaffing options.
The township provided full services while the officers were under investigation, he said.
”I think the remaining officers that were there stepped up. That’s a testament to the township and I’m really proud of them. It had an impact on our department,” said Mayor Goerner. “It also had a morale impact, and we want to maintain and strengthen morale because of what happened.”
Costs to hire and train someone to fill a police position vary. “If we hire from the ‘alternate route’ program, where police candidates already paid for their academy training, then the township costs are just testing costs,” said Mr. Pascale. “Say $10,000 as a ballpark number. Please note there will also be a significant dollar savings since new recruits will start at a fraction (approximately $50,000 per officer) of what the retired officers were making.”
A starting patrolman has a base salary in the low $40,000’s, said Mayor Goerner.
”The cost is not just those salaries, it’s perception in the community and hiring costs,” said Mayor Goerner. The department is carefully considering how it will be structured and how it wants to fill the vacancies. The township will be hiring new officers to fill vacancies, however they fall in the ranks.

