file photo Boyd Loving
Referendum on Bergen County police merger blocked
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
BY JAMES QUIRK
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Voters won’t get a chance to weigh in on whether the Bergen County Police should be merged with the Sheriff’s Office, after a Superior Court judge on Friday invalidated a move by the county freeholders to place a non-binding referendum on the November ballot.
However, Judge Menelaos Toskos did rule that the freeholders can proceed with an ordinance, that if passed, would dissolve the county police and transfer their function to the sheriff’s office. Toskos said the court cannot be asked to intervene before the process runs it course — the proposed ordinance must go through a second reading with a public hearing and then must be delivered to the county executive who can sign the measure into law or veto it.
Though Friday’s ruling amounted to a somewhat split decision, in a statement Friday night, Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan called it a “victory for taxpayers and public safety.”