file photo Boyd Loving
Ridgewood debates size of police force
Thursday February 6, 2014, 9:35 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council this week continued discussion of a possible code amendment that would increase the number of patrolmen permitted on the police force.
No action was taken following Wednesday night’s meeting, which came on the heels of Tuesday’s confirmation from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that it will be investigating the police chief’s recent attempts to hire two men, surpassing the mandated limit.
“We are reviewing [the chief’s decision] not as a criminal matter but solely as a complaint against a chief which, under Attorney General Guidelines, can only be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office,” Prosecutor John Molinelli said in a statement.
Police Chief John Ward asked for an inquest by the prosecutor’s office last Thursday — the morning after he appeared before the Village Council to support a retroactive amendment to the code, augmenting the number of officers to 32.
Currently, the department can only have 30 patrol officers.
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