If the Borough of East Newark gets its way, the position of Chief of Police will soon be a distant memory, to be replaced by a civilian Director of Public Safety spot instead.
The borough council will vote on an ordinance on its second reading when it meets at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 14.
The new civilian position would be an at-will post, meaning the mayor and borough council would have hiring and firing authority, and “for no definite or established length of time, and subject to termination at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all, consistent with law and Borough of East Newark’s ordinances, regulations and policies.”
In simpler terms, whomever is hired could be fired even without a just reason.
The person to fill the position will “demonstrate to the mayor and Borough Council that he or she is qualified for the position by virtue of training or experience. By way of example and not limitation, such person may have prior law enforcement experience and/or supervisory and administrative experience in either the public or private sector.”
Again, in simpler terms, this clearly means said hiree may not necessarily have ever served as a law-enforcement officer.
Here’s a list of job duties for whomever is hired. The civilian police director will:
n Exercise full control over the police department seeing, among other things, to the proper enforcement of any rules and/or regulations adopted by the mayor and Borough Council, which shall be deemed the appropriate authority under law.
n Report, from time to time, to the mayor and Borough Council such matters related to the police department as may require their attention.
n Interview candidates for appointment to and/or promotion in the police department and making recommendations for such appointment and/or promotion to the mayor and Borough Council, which shall determine and make all appointments and promotions.
n Bring charges, when appropriate, against any member of the police department and, pending a hearing on those charges before an appropriate authority, suspend the charged member, with or without pay, if the director deems such a suspension necessary to the good order and discipline of the police department.
n Develop programs of continuing education for the members of the police department to ensure the highest level of training for the members of the department.
n Establish and maintain communications with schools and public and private associations to help such schools and associations understand and cooperate in the public safety effort of the community.
n Establish performance criteria for the members of the police department and periodically evaluate the members under the established criteria.
n Work with the chief financial officer of the Borough of East Newark to establish the annual operating budget for the police department.
n Review land-use applications, when requested to do so by the borough planning/zoning boards, to ascertain the potential impact of any proposed land use project on the safety of Borough of East Newark residents and/or property.
n Perform such other duties as may be reasonably requested by the mayor and Borough Council.
Additionally, it is still to be determined whether the position would be full- or part-time. The position’s salary is also to be determined and will be set by the borough’s salary ordinance.
Any previous references to “Chief of Police” in town code will be updated to say “Director of Public Safety.”
An email sent to Mayor Dina Grilo was not returned.
We’ll have more on this in the coming weeks.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.