BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
Jackson is not a safe place to live. That assertion was the basis of a job action taken by members of PBA Local No. 168 before Monday night’s Township Committee meeting at the municipal building.
The union broke months of silence to protest what its members termed dangerous conditions in the Jackson Police Department that they contend are compromising residents’ safety.
Holding placards and distributing fliers that explained their reasons for staging the job action, groups of officers milled beneath street lights. Inside the building, the committee was holding its final meeting before Election Day.
As cars entered the parking lot, the officers handed drivers information. One flier listed five reasons for their protest:
• No supervisors on the road 50 percent of the time.
• No plan to address the shortage of police officers the growing township needs.
• Lack of priority given to replacement of the police radio system.
• Lack of equipment and patrol cars.
• Lack of supplementary equipment and service such as on-board patrol car computers and a K-9 unit.
Democrats on the Township Committee have said they have gone out for bids on a combination police radio and Computer Aided Dispatch system, but PBA President Christopher Parise countered by saying that it will still be several years before the system is finally installed.
Officers also distributed copies of an undated interview with Public Safety Director Samuel DePasquale, which was published by a newspaper called The Progress. In the article, DePasquale, who was appointed to his current job nine years ago, described his position as a sham.
“That’s a euphemism for more committee control,” DePasquale, as public safety director, was quoted as saying in the article. “You need a chief to run the department … that’s what they should have here.”
DePasquale also said in the article that he had less authority as public safety director than a police chief would have. He cited the signing of pistol permits as one such example. DePasquale added that the position of police chief was also a cost-savings job since state statute requires that a public safety director have under him a major, two captains and four lieutenants.
During Monday’s meeting, the committee approved a resolution that will give the PBA a 3.9 percent salary increase in each year of a four-year contract retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003. The township and the union went into arbitration after reaching a stalemate in collective bargaining talks.
Despite the contract resolution, Parise said that other issues of dissatisfaction remained unaddressed and were not grievances for which the PBA could ask the Public Employment Relations Commission for a ruling. He said more than 90 percent of PBA members had taken a vote of no confidence in both DePasquale and Operations Capt. Christopher Dunton.
DePasquale was a captain in the Jackson Police Department prior to his appointment as public safety director. He has been on a leave of absence from his position as a captain in the department since then.
Former business administrator John Kennedy said last month that DePasquale’s leave of absence was renewed every six months. Kennedy said he lengthened that time frame to every 12 months earlier this year. He also said that if DePasquale were removed from his current position, he would still be eligible to return to the force.
Parise, who was elected to the position of PBA president four months ago, discussed with the Tri-Town News why the officers were breaking their silence since announcing the vote of no confidence in DePasquale and Dunton at an April 26 committee meeting.
“A police chief is a law enforcement officer” while a public safety director is a political appointee, said Parise. “[DePasquale is not an advocate] looking out for [officers’ best interests]. I’m not saying that a [police chief would] be any better than a public safety director, only that the problems in the police department are not being resolved. That’s my goal. [We want] to make [Jackson] a safer place for the township people.”
Parise said PBA representatives met twice with Committeeman Michael Broderick, who is the liaison to the police department, and Mayor Sean Giblin.
“We gave every effort we could to resolving the matter,” said Parise. “We met twice with the committee and they’ve done absolutely nothing with the information. These meetings took place about six months ago and Mr. Broderick only brought these issues to the [full] committee [recently].”
However, inside the municipal building, Giblin told resident Steve Monko that the PBA job action may have been staged one week before the election for a specific reason, but denied it might be politically motivated.
“Is the public safety jeopardized?” he asked rhetorically. “No. [But] I’m not saying this is a [byproduct] of the election season.”
Giblin said the committee suspended further talks with the union after it was discovered that union representatives had secretly taped a meeting and then refused to provide a copy of the tape.
“We listened to their concerns,” said Giblin. “More than $1 million over the next two years will go to their salary [increase]. That’s four cents” per $100 of assessed property value.
Monko asked why the committee had gone to arbitration, for which Giblin said the township paid $4,300, half the cost of the arbitrator, if 4 percent had already been budgeted for an increase.
According to attorney David J. DeFillippo, who represented the PBA, the union had initially requested a 5 percent annual increase. The arbitrator made a decision giving the union 3.9 percent each year of a four-year contract.
Broderick said he was told that the flier being distributed did not represent the entire PBA membership. He also said the PBA’s demand that DePasquale and Dunton be dismissed was not prudent or responsible.
“This is a good job, and I speak from nine years of experience” as a police officer, said Broderick. “We will resolve every one of their problems, [though] maybe not to their liking.”
Mark Seda, the Republican candidate for Township Committee, then addressed the members of the governing body.
“It seems like nothing’s resolved,” he said.
Broderick asked Seda if his brother was among the officers staging the job action outside. Seda’s brother is a member of the Jackson Police Department.
“Yes,” said Seda, who then said to Committeeman Michael Kafton, a Democrat, “Is your brother out there, Mr. Kafton?”
Kafton did not respond. His brother is also a member of the Jackson Police Department.
Giblin said $4,300 was spent in an attempt to rescind the PBA’s benefit of unlimited sick time.
“I tried to protect the public by getting back some of that cost,” the mayor said.
“They make [on average] $85,000 [a year] to ride around in a car,” Broderick said.
“That’s what you think they do?” asked Seda.
Giblin maintained that the committee was doing everything it could to address PBA issues, but said he was also entrusted to manage taxpayers’ money.
“These police officers are some of the finest in New Jersey,” said Giblin. “We try to bring the cost [of their contract] under control, but never would we jeopardize public safety.”