In the wake of four complaints filed against the Ocean Township Police Department, members of the force are asking the mayor and council to enact change in the department.
At the March 19 council meeting, PBA Local 57 President Bruce Friend criticized the current police department administration, saying that the department is in “disarray.”
“We ask that you take a close look at how this administration treats its employees,” Friend told Mayor William Larkin and the council at the meeting.
“We beg you to step in and restore this police department to the model it was in years past,” he said.
The PBA filed four unfair labor practice (ULP) complaints against the department in 2005.
In the ULPs, the PBA claims the police department overlooked PBA members for promotion, as well as “unfairly” eliminated officer’s abilities to swap shifts and discontinued a voluntary midnight shift.
The four ULPs are currently before the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Committee in Trenton. Hearings on the complaints had not been scheduled as of deadline Tuesday.
“We ask that [the mayor and council] further examine the events that have brought us here today and decide for yourselves if this costly litigation [ULP hearings] is the result of disgruntled employees or that of an arrogant administration with little oversight,” Friend said at the meeting.
“There is going to be a lot of repercussions if you guys do not address these issues,” Friend added.
Larkin called for a meeting to be held Monday to discuss the concerns raised by Friend and the union.
The meeting is closed to the public and will be attended by members of the Ocean Township Police administration and representatives of PBA Local 57, according to Larkin.
Larkin further agreed that he and the council will look into the claims against the department made by the union.
“We are going to deal with the issues that Bruce has and come up with some responses,” Larkin said. “I don’t know what the outcome of that meeting will be, but we are dealing with the issues.”
The PBA filed two ULPs, claiming that two officers were passed up for promotions by Police Chief Antonio Amodio because of their affiliation with the union.
The union also filed two more ULPs charging that a shift-changing policy and a midnight shift were “unfairly” terminated in the department by Amodio.
The union is requesting that the two police officers receive promotions within the department, according to Friend.
The union is also seeking the reinstatement of the shift-switching policy between officers and the reinstatement of a midnight shift, according to Friend.
“Morale among the members is at an all-time low,” Friend said. “There is evidence of problems within our organization. Production is down 20 to 30 percent.
“Few officers bother to participate in any promotional process. Our officers are embarrassed to say they work here, and few, if any, have attended these meetings to receive recognition for 25 to 30 years of service at retirement.
“Perhaps the greatest evidence of discord is the fact that we stand before you today,” Friend said.
In addition to the ULPs, the department is also in the midst of negotiating a new labor contract.
Township police have been working under the terms of a contract that expired in January.
“I’m going to tell you that this problem will go away hopefully in a couple of months,”MayorWilliam Larkin said, adding, “as soon as we settle the contract.
“I’m just saying that we are going to deal with the issues and come up with some answers,” Larkin said.