Tag: Bergen County Police

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Bergen Police Merger good to go

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Bergen Police Merger good to go

Freeholders give final approval to combining Bergen County Police and Sheriff’s Office

February 25, 2015, 9:32 PM    Last updated: Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 9:53 PM
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN
staff writer |
The Record

The Bergen County freeholders took what was called a “historic” final step Wednesday toward creating one unified county law-enforcement agency by combining the County Police into the Sheriff’s Office.

By identical 6-to-1 votes, the freeholders gave final approval to two ordinances that will place the 98-year-old County Police Department’s 95 officers under the command of Sheriff Michael Saudino.

Freeholder Maura DeNicola, who has questioned the estimated savings of the consolidation plan, cast the lone dissenting votes.

DeNicola said she realized the plan was moving ahead and she wanted it to happen as efficiently as possible.

“But I’ve always felt that this takes us in the wrong direction in Bergen County in terms of trying to save money and make policing more efficient,” DeNicola said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/freeholders-give-final-approval-to-combining-bergen-county-police-and-sheriff-s-office-1.1277828

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Bergen County freeholders introduce measures needed to meld County Police into sheriff’s force

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Bergen County freeholders introduce measures needed to meld County Police into sheriff’s force

FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 8:03 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 8:03 PM
BY JEAN RIMBACH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

A plan to consolidate police services provided by Bergen County moved another step closer to fruition Wednesday with the county freeholders giving their initial approval to measures that rename the nearly 100-year-old County Police and put strict limits on the number of patrol officers and higher-ups it can have going forward.

The swift action shows that combining the county police with the county Sheriff’s Office remains on the fast track for the Freeholder Board and the administration of County Executive James Tedesco.

“It’s a good day for Bergen County, for the taxpayers of Bergen County and for law enforcement,” said Tedesco, who attended the meeting.

The two ordinances introduced Wednesday say the county force, when absorbed by the Sheriff’s Office, will be known as the Bureau of Police Services, take away the position of chief of police and slice its overall numbers by roughly half, to 49 officers.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-freeholders-introduce-measures-needed-to-meld-county-police-into-sheriff-s-force-1.1264419

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Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli details plan for merging County Police and Sheriff’s Office

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Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli details plan for merging County Police and Sheriff’s Office

JANUARY 14, 2015, 9:08 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015, 9:14 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told the freeholders Wednesday that a plan to fold the County Police into the Sheriff’s Office will not only save money but will also make county law enforcement more efficient.

In a presentation at the board’s work session, Molinelli predicted that response times to calls for service will go down because of the way patrol vehicles will be deployed by the new combined department.

The new force will patrol the county by sectors, Molinelli said. That will be an improvement over the current setup where County Police patrol mostly county roads and facilities, he said.

“That’s not a negative on the County Police, they are an outstanding department,” Molinelli said.

But combining the two departments will create other efficiencies that will improve public safety.

When a small municipal department arrests someone in the middle of the night, he said, that town’s patrol officers often have to transport that person to the County Jail in Hackensack.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-prosecutor-john-molinelli-details-plan-for-merging-county-police-and-sheriff-s-office-1.1193360

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Tedesco moves to merge Bergen County Police with Sheriff’s Office

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Tedesco moves to merge Bergen County Police with Sheriff’s Office

January 1, 2015, 12:43 PM    Last updated: Thursday, January 1, 2015, 2:11 PM
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN
staff writer |
The Record

In one of his first acts after being sworn in early Thursday, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco signed an agreement that lays the groundwork to combine the County Police into the Sheriff’s Office.

The agreement — subject to approval by the freeholders — would fold the 103-member County Police force as a bureau within the Sheriff’s office.

It also sets an eventual goal of reducing the County Police through attrition and without layoffs to a core group of 49 sworn officers under the Sheriff’s command.

The 31-page memo, co-signed by Sheriff Michael Saudino and County Prosecutor John Molinelli, marks a significant turning point after more than five years of conflicting studies and intense political debate over how to consolidate county law enforcement.

“I believe this is the right thing to do for the people of Bergen County,” Tedesco said moments after signing the document at a ceremony in the freeholder caucus room.

Tedesco, a former Democratic freeholder, campaigned hard for the consolidation, arguing that it will save taxpayers between $90 million to $200 million over the next 25 years.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/tedesco-moves-to-merge-bergen-county-police-with-sheriff-s-office-1.1184663

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Tedesco ready for quick changes in Bergen County

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file photo Boyd Loving

Tedesco ready for quick changes in Bergen County

DECEMBER 29, 2014, 9:57 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014, 5:35 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

From the moment James Tedesco raises his hand in the early hours of Thursday morning to take the oath of office as Bergen County executive, the Paramus Democrat will confront a series of decisions that could go a long way toward defining his administration over the next four years.

Many of the big issues that were debated during Tedesco’s campaign — consolidation of county law enforcement, the future of Bergen Regional Medical Center and the 2015 county budget — will present a quick sequence of choices in the first 100 days of his administration.

Other issues, including construction of an access road to a new public works facility in Paramus and his pledge to sit in on freeholder meetings, will help set the tone of his tenure. He has promised a more cooperative style that will be open to negotiated compromise.

Here is a quick look at what to watch for in the months ahead:

Law enforcement: consolidation or bust?

The hottest-button issue in county government over the last five years is due for a reckoning.

Tedesco — who pushed hard for combining the Bergen County Police force with the Sheriff’s Office — has made this effort one of the top priorities of his first 100 days.

For the last several months, a law enforcement task force appointed by the Democratic freeholder majority has been studying how to carry out what Democrats call “a realignment” of the two departments into one mega-agency.

Those efforts picked up steam after Tedesco’s upset victory on Nov. 4 over one-term Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan.

Donovan opposed combining the departments, disputing the Democrats’ claim that it would save taxpayers $90 million to $200 million over the next 25 years through attrition, not layoffs.

So the stage is set for Tedesco to begin implementing that plan. One thing to watch for, however, is the reaction of the union representing county police officers. Officers for PBA Local 49 say that “realignment” is just another word for “merger.”

If so, they contend, a “poison pill” in their existing contract will kick in, requiring that their members be paid raises totaling about $1 million per year. The freeholders say their plan is not a merger, but rather a realignment that keeps the county police force intact while moving it under the command of the sheriff.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/analysis-tedesco-ready-for-quick-changes-in-bergen-county-1.1183009

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Teenage boy in custody, 1 still at-large after high-speed pursuit in Bergen County

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Teenage boy in custody, 1 still at-large after high-speed pursuit in Bergen County

November 20, 2014, 8:50 AM    Last updated: Thursday, November 20, 2014, 9:28 AM
By STEFANIE DAZIO
Staff Writer |
The Record

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — A teenage boy canvassing a Hampshire Road home early this morning, possibly to steal a Porsche parked in its open garage, sparked a foot chase through the woods and a high-speed car pursuit along the Garden State Parkway, authorities said.

The chases ended with one stolen car recovered and the teenager’s arrest, but another car was stolen and a second man escaped, Washington Township police Chief Glenn Hooper said.

The boy, believed to be 15 or 16 years old, is in police custody and charges are pending, Hooper said. He did not have identification on him and is not cooperating with authorities.

The incident began around 2:15 a.m. when a police officer saw the teenager walking around the home, Hooper said. The boy noticed the police car and started walking away, then ran down a side street.

Another man jumped out of a Mercedes Benz — which police later determined had been stolen out of the township a month ago — and they both ran into the woods. Officers from Paramus, Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Hillsdale and Upper Saddle River and a Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit joined the search, but didn’t find anyone and called it off before 5 a.m.

While they were in the woods, Washington Township police received a call about a Jaguar stolen out of a driveway on Jackson Avenue, Hooper said. The key fob had been left in the car.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/teenage-boy-in-custody-1-still-at-large-after-high-speed-pursuit-in-bergen-county-1.1137904

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Bergen County Police Will Conduct K-9 Drill and Locker Search at Ridgewood High School

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Bergen County Police Will Conduct K-9 Drill and Locker Search at Ridgewood High School
October 31,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Bergen County Police Department plan to conduct a K-9 drill at Ridgewood High School sometime during the fall, according to school officials.The drill will be conducted on a random day  and lockers will be arbitrary searched .

“The K-9 exercise will occur this fall on a school day randomly selected by the Ridgewood Police Department as one of the required monthly lockdown drill scenarios. Students will be secure in their classrooms at the time of the drill and class interruption will be minimal. Instruction will not be negatively impacted, nor will students come in contact with the canines or police.

The intent of the K-9 search drill is to enhance security protocols, but the exercise will also address concerns regarding possible disruptions to the educational process that may be occurring clandestinely.  While it is a drill, any positive findings will be handled directly and appropriately by the Ridgewood High School administration, in accordance with New Jersey statute, Board of Education policy and police regulations.  ”

According to the Bergen County Police website ,the Bergen County Police Department Canine Unit was established in 1975 with two Police Officers and two German Shepherd Dogs. The initial K9 teams were trained by the Philadelphia Police Department to aid investigations using their keen sense of smell for tracking and building searches.  In the 30 plus years that the unit has been in existence it has evolved into a full time, full service K9 unit serving the law enforcement agencies of the region and the residents of Bergen County with comprehensive K9 functions. These functions include:

The Unit is currently comprised of dual purpose K-9 teams cross-trained in Narcotics detection, Explosive detection and Accelerant detection for arson investigation. Since its inception, the K9 Unit has responded to over 25,000 calls for service from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Since the K-9 Unit was established, it has been responsible for the seizure large quantities of controlled substances, the apprehension of numerous criminal actors, locating missing persons, locating evidence and proceeds from crimes scenes, and the seizure of large amounts of currency used in criminal activity.

In an email to parents, school officials said all schools are now required to conduct one fire drill and one school security drill per month.

 

 

 Esurance

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Bergen County freeholders discuss guidelines for military vehicles

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Bergen County freeholders discuss guidelines for military vehicles

The debate over the militarization of law enforcement in Bergen County reverberated at Wednesday’s Freeholder Board meeting, where a full-throated discussion took place over the wisdom of the Sheriff’s Office accepting two military surplus armored vehicles. (Ensslin/The Bergen Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-freeholders-discuss-guidelines-for-military-vehicles-1.1076873

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Bergen County Police would be due hefty pay raise in consolidation with Sheriff’s Office, union says

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Bergen County Police would be due hefty pay raise in consolidation with Sheriff’s Office, union says

MAY 16, 2014, 6:41 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014, 10:58 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

A rose is a rose is a rose, author Gertrude Stein once wrote.

But is a realignment a merger or a consolidation?

That’s the question left dangling after a four-year contract that the Bergen County freeholders approved unanimously this week with the union that represents officers in the Bergen County Police Department.

And it’s a $1-million-a-year question.

The board’s Democratic freeholders contend that their plan to put the 89-member county police force under the command of the sheriff is a realignment, not a merger. The ordinance, approved by the freeholders in October, uses the word transfer, not merger.

Thus they hope to avoid a so-called poison-pill clause insisted upon by the union that would scuttle the deal if the department is merged, consolidated or disbanded into the Sheriff’s Office.

Under that interpretation, the new labor contract would be undone and the final overlapping year of the old contract would kick in.

Three years ago, at the request of Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan, the union agreed to defer pay increases until 2014, the final year of the old contract.

This year, the union made concessions on wages in exchange for job security. It inserted the poison pill to protect against a merger.

If the transfer is not called off or voided by a court, and the union succeeds in invoking the poison pill, then instead of getting a 1.5 percent annual pay hike under the renegotiated contract, the officers would get a 10 percent raise starting this year under the terms of the old agreement. And they would have to negotiate a new one for future years.

The difference is about $1 million in annual salaries.

The freeholders voted for the realignment only after receiving written assurance from the county’s labor lawyer that nothing in the new contract limits which department can supervise the County Police.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-police-would-be-due-hefty-pay-raise-in-consolidation-with-sheriff-s-office-union-says-1.1018056#sthash.yZidHCIC.dpuf