NEWS

Report: Morris Sheriff needs 4 more officers, less admin staff

Peggy Wright
@PeggyWrightDR

A consultant who studied staffing levels in the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Law Enforcement has recommended that two administrative posts -- including the chief of staff job -- be eliminated and assistance to State Police on summertime patrols of Lake Hopatcong cease.

Susan Hunter, the chief of staff for Sheriff Edward V. Rochford since Jan. 6, 2014, denounced the report as without merit and done by a firm that doesn’t “have a single days experience working in law enforcement as opposed to the sheriff’s 50 years in law enforcement and his command staff collectively having well over 100 years experience in law enforcement.”

The report suggests that eliminating the two non-sworn positions, hiring four additional sworn officers and reallocating some duties would result in Rochford’s ability to have officers available to provide security to judges in all divisions when they are on the bench. Officers have historically been present in courtrooms where judges assigned to the criminal and family divisions sit but officers were not always assigned to civil division courtrooms.

The county freeholders last summer advertised for bids and hired the Concorde Group Inc. of Newtown, Pa., to conduct a $34,965 analysis of how resources are being allocated in the Bureau of Law Enforcement and recommend changes, if any. The bureau has three statutorily-mandated functions: providing security at the Morris County courthouse, executing warrants, and process serving, which includes execution of writs, summonses and wage garnishments. Concorde’s report did not address staffing levels at the county jail, which operates as the sheriff’s Bureau of Corrections.

Sworn Law Enforcement Bureau officers and civilian employees also are assigned to multiple optional, or non-mandatory services, which include a K-9 unit, office accreditation, cold case investigation, Project Lifesaver, a crime lab, bomb squad, and Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team.

The study was authorized by the freeholders in response to Rochford’s assertion this past summer that Superior Court Assignment Judge Thomas Weisenbeck had ordered him to hire more officers so a sworn officer could be present in every courtroom when a judge was on the bench. According to Weisenbeck’s letter on the issue, he did not order more hirings but asked the sheriff to allocate resources so that officers were available to provide security in civil courtrooms.

After the sheriff’s 2014 budget was approved as part of the total county budget, Rochford over the summer unexpectedly told county Administrator John Bonanni and the freeholders that he needed to hire nine to 11 new officers because of the mandate and have them trained at the county Public Safety and Training Academy. The county agreed to pay for the officers but informed Rochford that the funding for them was not guaranteed in the 2015 budget.

“The Concorde report is as we thought it would be...a report initiated by a personal agenda on behalf of certain freeholders,” Hunter said in an email. She serves as office spokesperson, is paid $60,000 annually, and was instrumental in planning the office’s 275th anniversary gala, held at the Birchwood Manor in Hanover in December.

Her position is recommended for elimination, along with a system’s analyst post.

The Concorde report is expected to be discussed at some point at a freeholder board meeting. The document is not critical of the office but recommends that some changes occur to improve efficiency.

Currently, the law enforcement bureau is budgeted for 91 sworn officers and 34 non-sworn employees, or a total of 125 people. Concorde recommends a total of 127 people, or 95 sworn officers and 32 non-sworn employees. The report also recommends two time shifts in the bureau to decrease overtime payouts.

“Acceptable staffing requires sheriff’s officers, however officers do not need to be assigned to a particular judge, nor does the same officer have to be present if courtroom hours are extended beyond a sheriff’s officer’s shift,” the report said.

The report states that the sheriff’s law enforcement bureau management structure has expanded from one undersheriff and one chief to two undersheriffs, one chief, and one chief of staff. The report states the structure is more expansive than seen in other sheriff’s offices and the state Civil Service Commission has sheriff’s offices’ job descriptions for undersheriff and chief but not for a chief of staff, also referred to in the report as a private clerk for the sheriff.

The report strongly recommends a stop to sheriff’s officers being used to supplement State Police Marine Bureau patrols on Lake Hopatcong in the summer.

“Currently there are six statutorily mandated officers and two non-mandated officers filling these roles throughout the summer months when requests for vacation leaves are high,” the report said.

In response to criticism of its credentials, Concorde President Howard Gordon, in a memo to the freeholders, noted that it has participated in multiple law enforcement studies in Pennsylvania. They include projects involving the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Route 222 Project Task Force, creating a bench warrant department within a sheriff’s office in Pennsylvania, and designing a gun permit system for a sheriff’s office.

“Our report presents verifiable information. It is not intended to impugn or offend any employee, division within the office and/or the court,” Gordon wrote.

Hunter said that Rochford has independently made arrangements for the U.S. Marshal’s Service to conduct a staffing analysis and that report is expected to be completed this week. She also opposed the office ceasing its assistance to State Police for Lake Hopatcong patrols.

“To take away the Marine Patrol would be a huge disservice to those towns and all who enjoy the lake. It also doesn’t make any sense as this is the season that our courts are lighter due to judges taking vacations, so we are efficiently using the manpower and augmenting the State Police with the lake patrol, at no extra cost to the taxpayers.”

“As far as the courthouse, the Assignment Judge mandated the need to cover six more civil courtrooms, two hearing officers’ courts, and child placement reviews, when in the past these courtrooms were not posts but response if needed. Also, there is another courtroom being completed within the next few months which will have to be covered. All these additional posts were forced on us by the state of New Jersey and the county has to fund it,” Hunter said.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com