Chatham Township Hiring Armed Officer For Schools

CHATHAM, NJ - The new year will bring an armed officer to the School District of the Chathams as a shared services agreement between the school district and the governing body of Chatham Township has paved the way for the new hire.

Chatham Township Police Chief Thomas Miller told Patch if the Board of Education approved the shared services agreement in its Monday meeting he would begin the search for the SLEO III officer Tuesday.

Good as his word, after the approval Miller posted a solicitation for resumes.

Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEOs) Class III are generally armed and are retired officers. The SLEO III Officers would be funded through the Board of Education budget but would be members of the police departments.

Qualifications for the position are as follows:

• Must be a retired law enforcement officer less than 65 years of age, who served as a duly qualified, fully-trained, full-time officer in any municipality or county of this State or as a member of the New Jersey State Police and was separated from that prior service in good standing, within 3 years of appointment to this position.
• Must be physically capable of performing the functions of the position, determined in accordance with the Police Training Commission.
• Must possess a New Jersey Police Training Commission Basic Police Officer Certification or New Jersey State Police Academy Certification.
• Must possess a valid New Jersey Driver License.
• Must successfully pass a background investigation to include a medical exam, drug screen and psychological exam.

Starting salary for the Class Ill Special Police Officer is $35 per hour and the position is part time.

The shared services agreement allows the school district to pay for the officer through Chatham Township.

"I believe that adding a police presence to our six schools, with a combined enrollment of more than 4,100 students, will provide an additional layer of safety and security for our students and staff," Superintendent Michael LaSusa told Patch back in October.

At that time, LaSusa said Chatham had fallen behind nearby districts like Denville, New Providence, West Morris Central and Hanover Park who have already moved forward with the hiring of Class III officers.

After the approval Monday, LaSusa told Patch that the hiring of these officers is important.

"We believe the addition of regular and daily police personnel into the school district is an important step toward better ensuring the safety and security of our staff and students," he said.

Also in the mix is a similar setup being worked out with Chatham Borough, which would provide a second officer under similar conditions. From there, a duty structure would need to be ironed out.

One proposed duty structure would have the Chatham Township SLEO stationed at the high school while the Chatham Borough officer would patrol Washington Avenue and Milton Avenue schools but would be stationed at the middle school.

LaSusa said details for bringing second officer into the district through Chatham Borough are still being ironed out.

"We are also working actively with the Borough to bring an officer on board in early 2019," LaSusa said.

(Photo courtesy of YouTube)

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