An ordinance that would have on second reading, if adopted, eliminated the position of East Newark Police Chief and replace it with a civilian Director of Public Safety was tabled after one member of the Borough Council voiced fierce opposition to the change at a meeting Aug. 14. And that councilman, who happens to be a retired East Newark Police Chief himself, with 28+ years of law-enforcement experience, wants the ordinance to be amended to leave the position of chief to remain on the books.
Councilman Kenneth M. Sheehan Sr. immediately expressed his opposition to the ordinance at the meeting — the meeting drew a capacity crowd, a rarity in East Newark — when it was brought to the table for discussion.
“I am against this ordinance, removing the chief of the police out of the table of organization from this borough,” Sheehan said at the top of his remarks. “…With all due respect, this was voted on in the July meeting (for introduction). I am saying, very strongly, that we keep the rank of chief of police in the TO and we just don’t attach a salary to it.
“…I believe we leave the rank of chief of police in there because this is a young department being rebuilt with the approval of this mayor and council … there’s a lot to look to in the future and a lot of ability in this borough for a chief of police down the line and I strongly as my council counterparts to withdraw this ordinance, leave the rank of chief in the TO with no salary attached — move forward.
“…If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
Once Sheehan concluded his remarks, Councilman Christopher Reis openly asked why it was necessary, in the first place, if at all, to remove the chief’s rank.
“Can’t we keep the vacancy and have it available rather than create a new position from scratch?” Reis said. “So is there any harm in this? I do think Councilman Sheehan has a point in that we might not have someone in house today who’s ready to be chief tomorrow, but why not keep that position open on the books in case we do, at some point? I think that’s what we want to get to … if there’s no reason we have to remove the rank, from the ordinance, and can add this new role to the ordinance … I would much rather and favor that approach.”
All of this became necessary after the retirement of former Chief Anthony Monteiro, who left after 20+ years of honorable service to the East Newark PD. Unfortunately at the time, the borough’s only sergeant was out on medical leave and ultimately, another sergeant was made in Robert Tomasko, who currently serves as the ranking officer-in-charge.
In making the suggestion, Sheehan specifically recommended his colleagues permanently hire Al Bringa to the position of public safety director. Bringa, a retired West New York lieutenant, has been serving in the capacity temporarily through Roberts and Associates, a company affiliated with Robert Dowd, himself a retired chief of the North Bergen Police Department, an New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority commissioner and the former borough clerk for a short time in East Newark. Sheehan knows both Bringa and Dowd well and speaks glowingly of both. In fact, knew them through his work as a member of the Hudson County Association of Chiefs of Police.
Ultimately the ordinance was tabled until the council next meets on Sept. 11, 2024, at which time Sheehan hopes it will be amended to leave the chief spot in. Grilo also suggested perhaps adding the position of deputy chief to the TO, while not immediately filling the position.
Some side notes
Sheehan was unable to attend the borough’s July council meeting because he is recovering from surgery and was not in the physical condition to attend it. Further, he made it clear he was blindsided by the proposed ordinance and was not immediately aware it was up for adoption.
Mayor Dina M. Grilo, meanwhile, took exception to this.
“We’ve had that conversation,” she fired back.
“Never to remove the chief rank,” Sheehan retorted.
Grilo continued.
“The interim director is doing an amazing job,” the mayor said. “…We felt that this would make sense. We can’t have a director of public safety as well as a chief of police because that’s just not done … but the police department has blossomed to the potential we always knew it had. ”
Sheehan disagreed. And, some of Grilo’s remarks are easily refutable.
The nearby Jersey City and Newark police departments both employ chief and civilian director ranks — and the New York City Police Department has numerous chief as well as the position of commissioner.
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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.