Auxilary Police Officers Must Be Reinstated

A federal judge has ordered that Livingston Township and the Livingston Police Department reinstate 14 auxiliary police officers who were suspended during an ongoing dispute with Police Chief Craig Handschuch, according to a press release recently released.

During an emergency injunctive relief hearing in Newark, Federal District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise ruled that it is unconstitutional to force auxiliary police officers to resign from the Police Auxiliary Association in order to remain members of the Police Auxiliary Unit.

"This is great news for the citizens of Livingston" said Jeff Mirabile, the President of the Livingston Auxiliary Police Association, in the release. "We are a volunteer unit dedicated to our town, spending more than 3,000 hours a year helping the Livingston Police. We look forward to proudly serving Livingston once again."

Tom Jardim of Berman, Sauter, Record & Jardim P.C. and Catherine Elston of C. Elston & Associates have represented the suspended officers. Both successfully urged the federal district judge to impose the injunction on the Township of Livingston.

"The judge saw through most of the distractions and disagreements and instead focused on the constitutional issues" said Richard Meisner, an attorney with Berman, Sauter, Record and Jardim, in the release. "The judge reaffirmed quite clearly that it is a violation of the First Amendment to make these volunteers choose between remaining members of a private association or serving the police auxiliary.  The Judge seemed to go beyond the ruling on the temporary injunction and actually declared that the actions of the township and the chief violated the members' right to freedom of association."

For a copy of the Township's response to the decision, click on the PDF attached.