Huffington Magazine Issue 26 | Page 40

OUT OF TOWN COPS weight. Chief among the governor’s concerns was the structure of the policing contract, says Ian Leonard, a member of the Board of Freeholders. “The governor’s saying this is too expensive,” Leonard says. “And when someone else is writing the checks to you, you know, he or she — as my mother used to say — who holds the pen holds the power.” To drive the plan forward, its HUFFINGTON 12.09.12 backers have gone on the offensive, depicting the existing police contract as laden with extravagant perks negotiated by the union in better days and out of step with the current hard times. They say they have identified between $14 million to $16 million in savings to be had by cutting out wasteful “fringe” pay from $60 million in annual police spending in the city. “Previous administrations, they gave the store away,” Capelli says. Keashen, the Camden County spokesman, provided HuffPost An officer makes the rounds, checking for any illegal activity in one the city’s many deserted residences.