Hillsborough police chief chairs one of six subcommittees
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
County leaders of a Somerset County task force say they are making progress in defining key issues toward a countywide police force.
Leaders of six subcommittees studying the potential of combining many or all of the forces of the county’s 21 municipalities reported Monday on the progress since the task force began its work in February.
Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano, Task Force Vice Chairman Dr. Richard Celeste and the chairmen of the six subcommittees participated. Dr. Celeste is director of the Somerset County Police Academy.
County officials are looking for the most cost-effective and efficient way to deliver all services, with police being the high profile one.
One of the most basic changes in the police force’s work over its first months is the potential division of the county from the original three to five precincts. Hillsborough would be in a coverage area with Manville, Millstone, Montgomery and Rocky Hill. Franklin was previously included in that group, but has been separated out to its own precinct.
In the early going, potential savings of $17.9 million in administrative and policing costs was identified, according to one estimate, said Mr. Soriano.
A single police chief, selected by the municipalities, would oversee the countywide force with a deputy chief or captain in charge of each individual precinct.
The study began with the premise that there would be no layoffs of police officers, using attrition to reach the desired number of officers, Mr. Soriano said.
Savings would be achieved by eliminating redundancies, hiring civilians for appropriate work and finding efficiencies in coverage, he said.
The reduction in uniformed personnel would result in a 1-to-4 ratio of supervisory officers to police officers instead of the current 1-to-2 seen in some municipalities, said Mr. Soriano.
Reductions in civilian personnel would include the transfer of about 30 dispatchers to the county’s 911 Communications Unit. The report also envisions the county providing shared services to the police operation in other areas, such as information technology and building and vehicle maintenance.
The task force of 11 chiefs, one police director, 12 police unionized representatives, 10 mayors and nine municipal administrators, as well as civilian legal and computer appointees, broke down to six subcommittees.
The change to a five-precinct plan came from the work of the subcommittee chaired by Hillsborough Police Chief Paul Kaminsky.
His group compiled a crime analysis of all county municipalities, then sorted and reviewed the data, he said. The group concluded five precincts would be better for police response and visibility, based on population, current municipal patrol practices and police activity, said Chief Kaminsky.
“In 120 days we certainly have accomplished a lot,” said the chief.
The committee will next research an uniformed schedule and deployment of precinct personnel.
A change to five precincts could allow for adaptive reuse of some facilities, concluded a committee chaired by Bedminster Mayor Robert Holtaway.
“A major concern in days of shrinking government is what to do with abandoned space and how to compensate towns who will have to contribute for new space, yet have unused space,” said a summary handed out Monday.
Other committees are focusing on integration of labor contracts, governing in a joint meeting structure, standardization of communication and records management and standardization of operating procedures.
Target date for completion of the task force’s work is the end of March 2012, said Mr. Soriano.