PRINCETON: Three seek new police chief job

By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
   Three of five eligible employees have applied for the position of chief of the new Princeton Police Department.
   The applications come almost two weeks after Princeton’s police unions recommended that selection of a the new chief of police be an open process and that all officers with the rank of lieutenant and above be allowed to apply.
   Borough Police Chief David Dudeck is seen as the top candidate for the post because he is a sitting chief. In the borough there are two lieutenants and a captain in addition to the chief, but they did not apply for the post.
   Chief Dudeck was out of the office on Monday and unable to confirm his application submission, but Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert confirmed Chief Dudeck is a candidate.
   She said the Personnel Selection Committee met on June 25 to conduct interviews with candidates, but declined to give specifics. The governing bodies will discuss the candidates in closed session because it is a personnel issue.
   Ms. Lempert expects to report an update on the status of the chief search on Tuesday and said there “might be” a recommendation put forth.
   Township Lt. Robert Toole confirmed he applied for the position and had his initial interview on June 25. He declined to give further details.
   Lt. Toole has 25 years on the force, four years less than Chief Dudeck’s 29 years.
   The township police confirmed Acting Chief Christopher Morgan submitted an application for the post, which has been the topic of much discussion since the sudden retirement of former Township Chief Robert Buchanan earlier this year.
   Acting Chief Morgan, who has 12 years of service, was appointed to his temporary role last month. The acting chief position is temporary and expires at the end of the year. Eligible borough officers did not apply for the position.
   ”I did not apply. My reasons were very personal. I have worked side by side with Chief Dudeck for going on 18 years. He has my respect and loyalty as my chief,” said Capt. Nicholas Sutter.
   ”I also hold a tremendous amount of respect for my colleagues in Princeton Township and completely respect their decisions to enter the process.” He said. “They are in a completely different situation than I am. I wish all of the participants good luck and look forward to working with them in our new department.”
   The township mayor and deputy mayor are both disputing published reports of a private interview between township officials and Chief Dudeck.
   The reports are “incorrect as they referred to me ‘interviewing’ Chief Dudeck. I did nothing of the sort,” said Mayor Township Chad Goerner on Monday. “I reached out to (Chief) Dudeck after our last joint meeting when Councilman Wilkes made the motion to simply appoint him as chief after we all had agreed to the selection process. I wanted to make sure that Chief Dudeck was not embarrassed by (Councilman Kevin) Wilkes’ motion and to assure him that the selection process that the governing bodies put into place would be a fair process. In addition, we discussed general police consolidation and plans for integrating the two departments. It was not an interview in any way.”
   Mayor Goerner said he has spoken with Acting Chief Morgan about how things are going in the police department and what the challenges and opportunities are with the integration with the departments. No interview of any sort took place, said Mayor Goerner.
   On Monday, Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert said she reached out to Chief Dudeck and met with him to get to know him, and she also did with Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi. The sessions were to increase her knowledge of the borough.
   ”I thought it was important for me to know the important staff in the borough,” she said. “I’ve met him in passing a few times because we had been at the same events, but I’d never sat down and talked with him to get to know him.”
   Neither meeting with the borough personnel was an interview for either post. Both have yet to be filled.
   The selection committee will deal with the administrator position after the chief position is filled.
   The Personnel Selection Committee includes Township Committeewoman Sue Nemeth, Township Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert, Borough Mayor Yina Moore, Councilman Roger Martindell and Councilwoman Jo Butler.
   Earlier this month, the Transition Task Force delayed the naming of the new chief because the Personnel Selection Committee had yet to meet. The committee hopes to have a recommendation before the joint governing bodies meeting on June 26.