Bridgewater Council Divided Over Police Department Expansion

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Bridgewater Council is divided at the moment on how much to increase the Township Police Department's force. There is a common agreement that an increase is necessary, but by how much is the question?

During the Feb. 4 council meeting, the first reading of an ordinance to increase the police department by two officers was introduced and passed. At Thursday, Feb. 20 meeting, Council Members Christine Henderson-Rose and Allen Kurdyla wanted to amend the ordinance to instead increase the department by six officers following Police Chief Al Nicaretta’s recommendation.

Currently, Bridgewater has 77 officers on its force to serve the roughly 45,000 residents in the township. According to State Police numbers, several similar towns with roughly the same population as Bridgewater have more officers, including Sayreville in Middlesex County who has 96 officers and Parsippany-Troy Hills in Morris County has 124 officers.

The amended ordinance was rejected by a 3-2 vote with Council President Matt Moench and Council members Filipe Pedroso and Howard Norgalis voting no. However, the original ordinance to hire two more officers was passed and finalized with a 3-2 vote with Henderson-Rose and Kurdyla voting no and Moench, Pedroso and Norgalis voting yes.

"Ensuring our community and residents are safe is a top priority for any local government, and right now three members of Council have chosen not to listen to the professional opinion of the head of the Township’s Law Enforcement agency," stated Henderson-Rose. "Based on his three decades of law enforcement experience, our police chief has made it abundantly clear that our Police Department is understaffed and stretched thin; and the severe lack of manpower is putting our community at-risk. That bothers me greatly, and I can’t figure out for the life of me why it doesn’t bother some of my colleagues."

Moench pointed to the impact on taxpayers when hiring such a large amount of officers at once. He said hiring one officer would cost an estimated $100,000, which includes salary, health benefits, training and equipment such as the possible needs for additional police vehicles.

"The total proposal by the mayor is to hire 12 police officers over a two-year time frame and the cost of hiring that many police officers is about $1.6 to $1.8 million," Moench said. "The administration has provided no information of how the budget will handle this and how it impacts the taxpayers."

Mayor Dan Hayes claimed Moench is "playing politics with public safety." Hayes and Moench are both running against each other for Mayor of Bridgewater in the primary in June.

"Council President Moench’s comments at a previous meeting that 'the public does not expect Council to defer' to the Police Chief when it comes to law enforcement decisions is nonsense. With all due respect to Mr. Moench, he is a lawyer and lobbyist with zero law enforcement experience," Hayes said. "Chief Nicaretta says we need 12 new officers over the next few years and six of them immediately – especially given that nine officers are eligible for retirement in 2020. It is incumbent upon council to give the chief the tools he needs to keep our neighborhoods, schools and residents safe."

Countering Hayes, Pedroso believes the mayor is the one playing politics.

"Ironically the mayor is the one really making this into a political issue," Pedroso said. "There is nothing I value more or take more seriously than the safety of our residents and our police officers. Period. Nothing more."

Pedroso noted how the past two police chiefs did not state a need for more police officers and even last year there was no known need.

"How do you go from not needing a single police officer last year to needing 12 this year? In an election year," Pedroso said. "One has to wonder if he is making it a political issue. And why didn't he plan to hire these officers over the past seven years he was in office."

At the previous Feb. 4 meeting, the council voted to conduct a study by an outside party of the police force to determine its needs. The study will most likely take about three to four months to complete.

Moench added that he does recognize that the police force hasn't been increased in size in many years and "we do take the recommendations from the Chief seriously." However, Moench wants to start the process with hiring two officers now and then get the results back from a study of the force to "better understand the needs of the township now and going forward."

Pedroso also agreed waiting for the results of the study would be the best option for the town.

"One of the tasks we have on the council is spending people's money in the right way," Pedroso said. "When the Mayor comes to us and wants to hire 12 police officers it is the council's obligation to look into the necessity and whether it is needed or not."

"The Chief’s well-researched presentation made it clear that our Police Department has remained the same size since 2005, while our population has grown, as has the number of people who work in the township every day. This isn’t advanced math," added Kurdyla. "Asking the same number of officers to be responsible for protecting significantly more people in a town of our geographic size is irresponsible. If something catastrophic happens in town, and we don’t have enough police to handle it effectively, residents are going to justifiably angry."

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.