Notice of the Township Committee special budget meeting on January 21, 2012

[?major crime]

What consitutes a "major crime"? APP lists Cranbury as having 49 in 2010. This can't be accurate.

[Crime stats]

Cranbury has a lot of crime. There are always cargo thefts at the warehouses, there are assaults in town and at the hotels, break ins, etc...Just read the meeting notes and you'll see the monthly police report for crime stats. That is better than the APP or any website.

[Cranbury Country Club]

Crime is low and Cranbury is a country club job for our Police. Talk to New Brunswick police who have in one day the crime we get in a year and the New Brunswick polce make less Money. You could cut the Cranbury police force in half and we would see no difference in our crime rate.

[Towns]

I know police in Hamilton who would never work here because of the warehouses and backup situation. if there are 2 officers in duty anda warehouse alarm triggers one officer could be there in 2 minutes and another who may be up by Plainsboro may take 5-10 minutes. So for a period of time that officer is alone. In NB or Hamilton there are 2 officers in a car and more at the ready.

If you think Cranbury is a country club you don't read the TC noted where the crime stats are reported.

All the talk if cuts. Show me facts of how the department would operate and still protect town. If you cut the force in half you basically have one person shifts. So our OT would be huge as you still have legal mandates to follow.

[New brunswick]

The average salary for an officer in New Brunswick is 93k. A simple google search show articles stating this information. In Cranbury the top officer will cap at 95k by the end of the contract.

[New brunswick]

Here is the article on Cranbury salaries.

http://eastwindsor.patch.com/articles/cranbury-township-committee-approved-police-contract

[Easy]

[Towns]

That is your opinion. I know officers in our town who came from busy departments and love it here as they interact with the community.

I know officers in Hamilton who even though busy look at overall safety and not having to be alone if something happens. It all depends on one's view point. If you're in Hamilton you will have immediate backup of more officers. We have in Cranbury had officers assaulted and hurt. So if you are alone responding there is a degree of more risk especially if there is only one other person backing you up. though the number of such calls is much lower.

I never said Cranbury had more crime or that the crime was more dangerous. I only said what I know from friends who are on the Hamilton force have said about working for a small town. Certainly there are officers in those same towns with different views and would want Cranbury.

[guest13]

I feel like there is hyperbole on both sides of this topic. On the one hand the person who anonymously quips that this is the police equivalent of a holiday assignment and that they are paid "top dollar" just comes off as a bitter jerk. The facts of state police pay versus Cranbury clearly show that they are not paid "top dollar" relative to their peers.

On the other hand some poster keeps taking what I know to be specific one-off incidents and referencing them as plural and making them sound commonplace. It is not common the officers are assaulted here. It is not common that there is violence at the local hotels. These things happen but they are rare. And a vast majority of the theft cases in the industrial zone are after-the-fact reports or investigations -- often paperwork basically -- and it is extremely uncommon for a robbery to be interrupted by police in progress.

Can we have a reasonable discussion without everyone exaggerating?

[Crime stats]

Maybe it would be good for the TC to have the Chief make a town presentation. The former Chief did one and I know a lot of people who attended were surprised at the crime.

I spoke with Mr. Taylor about call volume. It appears we have over 8k police calls now compared to 6k in 2000. Now all are not serious or even an issue in fact most I would say are not criminal. However, that is a lot of time spent responding to issues.

[Police Pay]

Thank you app web site for this


CIPRIANO MICHAEL L Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

DECHIARA GIUSEPPE N Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $92,293

DILLANE FRANKLIN A Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $98,900

DWORZANSKI RYAN P Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $92,293

GALLA TODD C Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $92,293

GIACCONE ROBERT Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

LINDENFELD PAUL H Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

MAYER DOUGLAS J Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $69,372

MORLEY JEFFREY M Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $99,500

OWENS MICHAEL J Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $104,508

PFREMMER GREGORY G Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,692

SCHNEIDER MATTHEW D Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

SIMKIN WILLIAM Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

VARGA RICKEY A Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $114,278

WALLING-GANT KAITLIN Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $69,372

WETZEL RAYMOND Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $91,292

ZIEGLER PETER K Middlesex CRANBURY TOWNSHIP $96,096

12 officers over 90k
2 officer over 100k

I am sure this is before Over Time.

[All Cranbury Payroll]

http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees11/results.php?pageNum_Recordset1=5&totalRows_Recordset1=60&lastn=&firstn=&location=CRANBURY+TOWNSHIP&countyname=%25&fundname=%25&Submit=Search

[Salaries]

I have no idea if that is correct or not. However, OT is a function of staffing. If you have shifts covered and no one calls out or one person calls out and you can still operate with remaining staff no OT is incurred. OT only comes into play when there needs to be additional officers on duty.

Three years ago the office where I work had enough admin staff that we never had OT for admins. Since then we grew with Five new senior employees and more admin sharing has occurred. I did not hire new admins because the OT cost to cover the additional work was less expensive. You can't reduce staff and OT unless you have over staffed to start with. Even then as you refuce staff something has to give. You either hire replacements or increase OT.

[Money]

Median household income Cranbury: $130,462
Median household income NJ: $68,342

So the people who live here can make money, but not the ones working to protect it.

[guested]

What is the average teacher salary in Cranbury? I see no reason the average teacher pay shouldn't be comparable to the average police department pay. There are trade-offs to both. One has the potential for danger. The other requires the employees to invest in their own advanced education, degrees and certification. One gets overtime pay, the other doesn't but gets a 2 month summer break. On balance it is impossible to say one is more important than the other.

[Police Salaries]

Salaries from Monroe Township
all agencies* fundname groupname
BANOS  GRIFFIN  M Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $102,092  1  $102,092  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
BELL  ROBERT  A Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $116,060  1  $116,060  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
BENNETT  ROBERT  D Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $102,092  1  $102,092  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
BIENNAS  MICHAEL  J Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $118,116  1  $118,116  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
BURNS  BRIAN  P Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $102,092  1  $102,092  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
CARUSO  JUSTIN  C Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $72,272  1  $72,272  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
CHERVENYAK  JOSEPH  A Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $107,676  1  $107,676  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
COHN  JASON  R Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $103,024  1  $103,024  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
COLLINS  DONALD  Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $118,116  1  $118,116  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer 
DZIOMBA  BRIAN  M Middlesex  MONROE TOWNSHIP (MIDDLESEX)  $96,564  1  $96,564  Police and Firemens Retirement System  Police Officer