FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Three patrol officers in the Freehold Township Police Department have been promoted to sergeant.
During a Township Committee meeting on Nov. 22, John Catron, Jack Mandala and Jimmy Santiago were promoted from patrol officer to the rank of sergeant. Each man was administered the oath of office to his new position in the police department.
The Township Committee members subsequently passed a resolution amending the salaries for municipal employees in accordance with Freehold Township’s 2022 salary ordinance.
According to the resolution, there are seven police sergeants in the Freehold Township Police Department, including one detective sergeant. The salaries for the police sergeants range from $141,187 to $157,612 in 2022.
Committee members introduced an ordinance that will, if adopted, establish the salaries of municipal employees in 2023. Under that ordinance, the salary range for police sergeants will be a minimum of $148,000 and a maximum of $180,000. A public hearing and a possible vote on the adoption of the ordinance was scheduled for Dec. 20.
There are 65 full-time police officers in Freehold Township in 2022.
In other business, the committee members appointed Jeffrey Titus as a Class III officer with the Freehold Township Police Department on the recommendation of Police Chief George Baumann.
According to a resolution, Class III officers are authorized to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of full-time police officers while providing security at Freehold Township schools during the hours the schools are normally in session or when they are occupied by students or teachers.
While on duty in his jurisdiction, a Class III officer may respond to offenses or emergencies off school grounds if they occur in the officer’s presence while traveling to a school, but an officer may not otherwise be dispatched or dedicated to any assignment off a school property owned by the township.
Freehold Township has nine public schools: the Early Childhood Learning Center, C. Richard Applegate Elementary School, Joseph J. Catena Elementary School, Laura Donovan Elementary School, Marshall W. Errickson Elementary School, West Freehold Elementary School, Clifton T. Barkalow Middle School and Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, which comprise the Freehold Township K-8 School District; and Freehold Township High School, which is part of the Freehold Regional High School District.