Layoffs Loom for Police

City officials are in the final stages of formulating a layoff plan for the police department based on the findings of a state audit released in February. The audit found the department to be top-heavy, overstaffed, and under-worked.

Business Administrator Arch Liston said the administration is working with the City Council and sources believe a plan will be released before the end of July.

The audit, which was performed by a former Maplewood police chief, recommended that the city cut nearly one-third of its police force and eliminate the position of Public Safety director, among other things.

City council's Public Safety Committee has been involved in the discussions, and Chairman Ravi Bhalla said the plan will likely include a "greater reduction in the higher ranks," more so than at the patrol level.

"[The audit is] being reviewed and steps are being taken," Bhalla said.

The administration ultimately controls the staffing of the force, although city council can establish maximum level for each position, Liston said. The new business administrator, who was formerly a police chief in Mount Holly, also expects that any layoff plan would be concurrent with a legislative change to the Table of Organization that sets staffing levels for the police department.

The state audit recommended personnel be reduced from 158 officers to between 112 and 102, depending on how the cuts are administered. At the time of the report, the police force employed 104 patrol personnel and 54 supervising officers, or two officers for every supervisor.

A combination of layoffs, demotions, and retirements are expected, especially in the upper ranks. 

According to two sources in the high ranks, at least four lieutenants and two captains have filed for or are considering filing for retirement this year, mostly due to eligibility, but also motivated by state pension reforms unfriendly to long-serving officers. A fifth lieutenant, for his alleged involvement in several sordid incidents. Last year, an overabundance of six police captains was reduced to four after one, Robert Lisa, took the acting chief of police position, then retired and the other, Anthony Falco, was appointed permanent chief.

Public Safety Director Angel Alicea said the city is exploring audit recommendations for the use of civilian personnel to fill some of the vacated positions, and will most likely employ Class II officers—which are unarmed part-time security officers—in the case of special events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"There [is] some value to that report," Alicea said. "Our paramount concern is to make sure the city is protected. We're not going to bring our police department to the bare minimum. We have a responsibility to the community."

Alicea said the existing ratio of one officer for every two patrolmen is overkill. Even though the state's audit recommends a one-to-four ratio, he thinks there is middle ground that may be best suited for Hoboken's particular needs.

The audit made other serious recommendations, like increasing the work hours of officers to 40 hours per week and decreasing the amount of miscellaneous holidays. These changes can only be made in a new labor agreement, which Liston said the city is working on.

The report also recommended improvements to police facilities, fleet management, and technological infrastructure.

Alicea said those issues are being addressed, albeit without much action as of yet. The administration has received public bids to renovate police headquarters and improve front desk security, but Alicea said the bids came in over the city's budget. The bids request will be reworked and reissued in the coming weeks.

As far as Alicea's position, the city could eliminate it altogther, Liston said, or just not fill the job as has been done in the past. But no one in City Hall has taken a stance on the necessity of it yet. Mayor Dawn Zimmer has not publicly reacted to the audit's findings. 

At tonight's City Council meeting, the governing body will be asked to re-establish the authority of the public safety director and the deputy public safety director, a position that is vacant. At a moment when some residents are questioning the need for a director at all, the city is reaffirming the position, and furthermore the authority of a deputy, if need be. Councilman Michael Russo said today, "It doesn't make any sense at all."

The city struggled to make substantial budget cuts last year, a fact that was mostly blamed on the inability to find savings in the area of Public Safety. Zimmer requested the police audit from the state for several months before being given the document, but by February it was too late to effect the budget. Now the city has shortened its budget year (it will be moving to a calendar, rather than a fiscal year) and needs to act fast before finding itself in the exact same situation as last year.

The city recently awarded a contract to Matrix Consulting Group to conduct a similar audit of the fire department. The firm has not started work yet, Liston said, but is expected to complete the report in 90 to 120 days once they begin.