MORRIS COUNTY

Mayor: More foot patrols, fewer detectives in Dover

Peggy Wright
@PeggyWrightDR

DOVER – The mayor and board of aldermen have proposed changes to the organization of the 34-officer police department that would reduce the number of detectives from six to two and put more officers on the street.

The proposal was introduced Tuesday night as Ordinance 11-2015 and is slated for a public hearing on June 23.

Police Chief Harold "Butch" Valentine, who unsuccessfully challenged Mayor James P. Dodd for the mayoral seat in the June 2 Democratic primary election, was at the board of aldermen meeting Tuesday but was ill Wednesday and not immediately available for comment.

Dodd said the changes have been discussed on and off for a few years and are meant to improve the efficiency of the department and cut down on overtime received by officers who are paid extra as "officers in charge" on a shift when a sergeant or lieutenant is not available.

PBA Local 107 President James Pritchard declined comment on the proposed ordinance.

If the ordinance is adopted, the police department would still be headed by the chief. The town also is continuing to interview candidates for the position of civilian public safety director, which was created in 2012. Retired State Trooper Richard Rosell was hired for the job overseeing both the police and fire departments but resigned earlier this year to take a similar job in Florida.

Below the chief would be three lieutenants. There currently are two lieutenants. There would continue to be five sergeant positions but one of those posts — as a detective sergeant — would become strictly a sergeant's title.

The number of detectives is proposed to drop from six to two so that more officers — 23 — would be available for routine patrol and being on the street, Dodd said.

The mayor said he wants three lieutenants, one to conduct internal affairs investigations and the other two to work separate shifts supervising less senior officers. This restructuring, he said, should eliminate the overtime demand of rank-and-file officers earning "officer in charge" pay.

Dodd said he does not know whether complaints will arise from the decrease in detective positions and Pritchard, the PBA president, declined to address the issue. He said Valentine will be responsible for choosing which two officers to keep as detectives. When additional investigative manpower is needed, detectives from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office can be called in, Dodd said.

In general, detectives investigate crimes and do not make motor vehicle stops or perform routine patrols or answer non-critical calls. The positions are not entitled to a higher rate of pay but the jobs are coveted because detectives have greater work flexibility, dress in plain clothes, and aren't assigned the more humdrum tasks of routine policing.

"I want more police officers on the streets," Dodd said. He said that when he became mayor in 2006, there were as many patrolmen as the combined total of detectives and superior officers — or "brass" — and he found the 50-50 split unacceptable.

Apart from the proposed ordinance, Dodd said, the county's labor counsel has advised that the board of aldermen can adopt a policy that would require the police chief to assign a uniformed officer to be present on foot at certain times in the town's business district.

"Having an officer on the street in the business district would create a more secure environment," Dodd said.

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