As municipalities and counties look at ways to cut expenses,
PBA Locals must be prepared to address consolidation
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Freaking 2-percent cap. Hasn’t it done enough damage to law
enforcement officers in New Jersey? The salary increase pro-
gression in some municipalities is up to what, like, 39 steps?
Health insurance benefits have, of course, been among the car-
nage. And jobs, too.
“Law enforcement is the most expensive line item in any
municipal budget,” recognizes Jack Ciattarelli, Assemblyman
representing the 16th Legislative District that includes parts of
Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer and Middlesex counties.
Municipalities and counties continue to succumb to the
2-percent cap and seek to balance their budgets on the shoul-
ders of law enforcement. The manifestation is perpetuating the
practice of consolidation. Some towns and counties euphem-
ize it as “shared services,” but the fact of the matter is that it’s
happened in Lake Como, Buena, Swedesboro and has been put
down in Union County. It has left PBA members out of work, or
threatened to, and it is threatening to spread to towns through-
out New Jersey like a wildfire.
Consolidation came by sneak attack in Lake Como in 2016
leaving 22-year veteran officer Ron Whille, a Local 50 member,
out of a job and few, if any, prospects to catch on with another
department. How many more officers will join Ron Whille, and
how can PBA Locals keep consolidation from squeezing out
one of their own? Or more?
“With the 2-percent cap it’s not easy, but there’s a way to con-
solidate – if it’s consolidating, not eliminating,” insists NJ State
PBA President Pat Colligan, who wants all Locals to turn up
their vigilance on whether consolidation talk could be swelling
in their towns, neighboring towns or county.
“I’ll agree that a police department is no small expense, but
we can look back on the past 10 years at towns that have con-
solidated. The data shows they are not happy with the coverage.
They are not happy with the response times,” Colligan contin-
ues. “I get it. There’s nothing sexy about a jail, because it doesn’t
generate revenue. But there is a duty to provide public safety.
It’s like, I don’t like to buy toilet paper, but I know I need it.”
Consolidation has become such a concern for the NJ State
PBA primarily because there will be more members like Ron
Whille, officers with 20-plus years on the job who would find
it extremely difficult to find a place in another agency that of-
“Anybody who thinks consolidation is
the magic wand is not doing their due
diligence as an elected official.”
NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan
fers the salary and seniority they work their whole careers to
achieve. It’s also a concern because too many towns look at
consolidation or shared services as a way to generate savings
that don’t really add up, which is what Union County Correc-
tions Local 199 eventually proved to freeholders in 2014 to stave
off such a movement.
“Anybody who thinks consolidation is the magic wand is not
doing their due diligence as an elected official,” Colligan cau-
tions.
The elected officials who do the diligence have found ways to
make it palatable. When talk of consolidation in the Gloucester
County towns he represents turned serious in July, State Sena-
tor Steve Sweeney reached out to the State PBA to help gener-
ate a plan that would not result in members losing jobs. When
consolidation seemed to be a pliable path in Somerset County,
Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli commissioned a study involving
elected officials, police department executives, PBA members,
council members, freeholders and other stakeholders that re-
vealed reasons to pass on the approach.
In addition to the 2-percent cap, other factors have led mu-
nicipalities to consider consolidation, including the cost of
equipment and the high cost of turnover within a police de-
partment. Colligan’s chief concern, however, is that Locals not
be afraid of it, but rather be aware that it might be coming and
know what to do about it because there is a right way to make
it work.
“People move to communities because they feel safe and
because they have good schools,” Senator Sweeney affirmed.
“Funding government is getting expensive, but at the end of the
day you don’t want to sacrifice service, because a strong police
department can be the identity for a town.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
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