Crime & Safety
Mayor Is Pleased With Wayne Police Chief's Work
'If I had to make that decision all over again, I'd pick james Clarke all over again,' Mayor Chris Vergano said.
WAYNE, NJ — Mayor Chris Vergano is pleased with the job Chief James Clarke is doing and the results the department is getting despite Clarke receiving a vote of no-confidence from the police union.
Vergano's approval comes weeks after two-thirds of the department's rank-and-file union members issued a vote of no-confidence in Clarke.
Vergano expressed approval of Clarke's work at a speech at the library last week.
Find out what's happening in Waynefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"I'm very happy with the way things are going," Vergano said. "I have the sole authority of choosing the chief of police. If I had to make that decision all over again, I'd pick James Clarke all over again."
Find out what's happening in Waynefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Clarke did not respond to attempts for comment.
Clarke has does a lot in the department's ongoing battle against getting heroin and and other opioids off the street.
The second-year chief has put more officers on the road now then at any point in the department's history.
Officers use license plate scanners that allow them to compare plates with those in a database. Officers are also deployed in two-person teams along high traffic areas like Route 23 and the Willowbrook Mall where a lot of heroin users are known to be.
Officers have been assigned to work with the FBI to help solve violent crimes while others have worked undercover with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Clarke was sworn in as chief Jan. 1, 2015. Since then, the Wayne Police Benevolent Association Local 136 has filed "numerous" grievances and several members have filed Civil Rights complaints and complaints in Superior Court, according to a statement released by the PBA, NorthJersey.com reported.
The PBA said in a statement the vote was taken due to Clarke's lack of leadership, communication and support, poor policy decisions and harsh disciplinary actions," the report stated.
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Photo of heroin in a bag. By Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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