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[quote="anon-s6p5"]Let's assume that is correct. 1) not all officers take OT or road jobs. 2) Road jobs are paid by the contractors, utility companies, etc... not the tax payer. 3) most important the reason for OT is because officers are required for public safety. What would you prefer be safe or save a few dollars? Lastly, the median home is over 600k Cranbury averages just over 1 kid a home and the median income I read is over 150k. To me, that means we can afford to ensure public safety. So if we are short staffed on a shift and need to pay for OT then do it. I'd rather pay OT then need an officer and not have one available.[/quote]
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anon-s6p5
Posted: Thu, Jun 15 2017, 4:26 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
I just read the latest meeting notes for the TC-
http://www.cranburytownship.org/TC-Documents/2017/TC-minutes-052217.pdf
You have to love small town living. I am not critical of the individuals, I just love the comments made as they show small town living of how we avoid the issues of the cities and much larger problems.
Under Public Comment
The residents complained about speeding and traffic.
Mr. Taylor stated he has heard numerous times from Cranbury residents that they are not concerned about receiving a speeding ticket. He encouraged residents to set an example by following the speed limits.
Resident 1- Ms. .... agreed and stated residents need to “lead the charge” by following and not exceeding the speed limit. She stated she was running late and was driving a little fast when she saw a Police car, and while she did not want or get a ticket, she stated it made her slow down and accept she may arrive late to her destination.
Resident 2- she stated there is a sense of urgency for action to be taken now, stating she wants Cranbury to be known
as a town not to speed in.....
She admitted she does not always go the speed limit and maybe she should be ticketed too, though she knows where kids walk and which corners have overgrown trees.
Again, not being critical of the residents and they very much have points on speeding and traffic enforcement being a priority, I commend them as well for attending a meeting and honesty.
I just love the small town honesty and exchanges with a TC who are friends and neighbors not just some politician and voter. None of the TC even questioned the comments. They just went on business as usual.
It gets better, knowing the Police Chief is sitting in and listening. I wonder what his thought was hearing residents admit they speed. I base that the chief was there on the exchange below after residents spoke.
Mr. Taylor asked Chief Varga if the Township has any more of the “Slow Down in Our Town” lawn signs, that were used about four (4) years ago. Chief Varga reported the County is not making more signs;
however, he will check to see if the Township has any in storage. He stated the signs would be installed at different locations for two (2) week periods and stated drivers become immune to them.
Again, just showing the above because this is what makes Cranbury great where people go before the TC, raise an issue, are honest and based on all the signs showing up seem to actually have made a change.
Enough already-r92q
Posted: Wed, Jun 7 2017, 10:14 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
Enough already ! I can't believe you guys are arguing over police officer salaries when the topic of this string is how we can find a heartless person that hurt someone in our community . Let's be a positive community and brainstorm ways we can help the victims of the hit-and-run and support the police officers who are working hard to protect us.
anon-sp56
Posted: Wed, Jun 7 2017, 9:20 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
Ok, fact check. I checked the 2016 financial statement from township website and found out policy extra duty cost at page 13. The receipts amount is $182,585 and the disbursements amount is $177,027.50. Let's take the higher number $182,585 for calculation. In the salaries database, we have 17 officers but one officer joined in June of 2016, so say we have 16.5 officers in 2016, and the total base salary amount is $1,656,757. The total OT pay is about 11% of total base salaries, and on average, each of 16.5 officers receives 11,066 OT pay. Is the percentage or average number *substantial" or "considerably" higher? I don't think so.
anon;oqs6-q2q3 wrote:
The above post only is the "BASE " salary without the exorbitant overtime perks which are very substantial. Sometimes equal to 50% or more of the "Base" salary. Anyone who files the appropriate OPRA request will find out that the actual salaries are considerably higher.
anon-s6p5
Posted: Tue, Jun 6 2017, 8:56 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
Let's assume that is correct.
1) not all officers take OT or road jobs.
2) Road jobs are paid by the contractors, utility companies, etc... not the tax payer.
3) most important the reason for OT is because officers are required for public safety. What would you prefer be safe or save a few dollars?
Lastly, the median home is over 600k Cranbury averages just over 1 kid a home and the median income I read is over 150k. To me, that means we can afford to ensure public safety. So if we are short staffed on a shift and need to pay for OT then do it. I'd rather pay OT then need an officer and not have one available.
anon;oqs6-q2q3
Posted: Tue, Jun 6 2017, 8:18 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
The above post only is the "BASE " salary without the exorbitant overtime perks which are very substantial. Sometimes equal to 50% or more of the "Base" salary. Anyone who files the appropriate OPRA request will find out that the actual salaries are considerably higher.
anon-s6p5
Posted: Tue, Jun 6 2017, 5:22 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
Because this board never needs facts people can throw out any number.
anon-sp56
Posted: Tue, Jun 6 2017, 4:37 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
where does the number 150,000 come from? According to the Asbury Park Press' public employee salaries DB, the highest pay officer is the Chief Rickey Varga, who makes about 132K. an officer with 4~5 years of service gets 75K, and another with 8 years of service gets 81K. The other officers who have >=10 years of service get 100K. Given NJ is one of the highest cost living states, I would say these numbers are fair.
anon-4p5n
Posted: Fri, Jun 2 2017, 10:09 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
Cranbury Police are one of the lowest paid departments in Middlesex, Momouth, or Mercer Counties. Police pay has nothing to do with the perceived "toughness" of the town. For the most part these officers look to serve the town and don't come across as greedy. In almost every other town National Night Out is paid for by the municipality. In Cranbury it is paid for by the officers themselves thru the FOP(Police Union.)The officers themselves wanted to do something to give back to the town. It has become a cherished small town tradition. There are always officers downtown. Teddys or school crossing. Plainsboro Road, Maplewood, North and South Main. As for the "cherished $65.00 an hour construction jobs" the fact is that many times road construction is safer with visible police officers. The township charges for this service above the officer pay rate(which is also on the lower end of the spectrum) so the town actually makes money. Would you prefer that the State Police or other municipal pd's(all of which pay their officers or troopers more than $65.00 an hour) come do these jobs?
anon-102q
Posted: Mon, May 29 2017, 11:33 am EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
"The police in Cranbury are very low profile. They are closely associated [cozy] with the administration and the Committee members. They really are interested in getting those home run $65. and hour traffic extra duty jobs where they can sit in the car and play on their phones. Making $150,000. per year as a policeman?The pay scale here is a disgrace for the service we receive. One must consider there are approx. 1000 applicants for one police position[see South Brunswik recent applicants]They are always there for the raises.I along with many other folks are very disappointed with the "service for pay equation" in this town. Its about time we see them earning their keep and not sucking $$$ from the taxpayers"
I am just curious. What kind of service would you like to see? I believe Cranbury is on the low end salary wise for police in Middlesex County.
publius-q30r
Posted: Mon, May 29 2017, 10:50 am EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
yeah. 150k a year is nuts for some police. It depends on the town.
My old home town, has a policeman whom I went to school with and he makes 150k a year. His dad was a cop as well..........so maybe he had connections. I can see if you're in a tough town with bad problems, but his town is kind of quiet. not much happens there. Cranbury is quiet too, but the police do seem to be pretty busy patrolling.
anon;0qs7-054q
Posted: Sun, May 28 2017, 6:35 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
The police in Cranbury are very low profile. They are closely associated [cozy] with the administration and the Committee members. They really are interested in getting those home run $65. and hour traffic extra duty jobs where they can sit in the car and play on their phones. Making $150,000. per year as a policeman?The pay scale here is a disgrace for the service we receive. One must consider there are approx. 1000 applicants for one police position[see South Brunswik recent applicants]They are always there for the raises.I along with many other folks are very disappointed with the "service for pay equation" in this town. Its about time we see them earning their keep and not sucking $$$ from the taxpayers with mediocre service!
anon-s6p5
Posted: Sun, May 28 2017, 5:44 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
anon-370q wrote:
I agree we have a small force and they can't be everywhere. That said, they don't have to be on Main Street all the time. The flow of of the problem is very predictable. When 130 gets backed up at rush hour, people divert to Main Street. So if they had a regular presence on Main Street for a couple key hours even a couple times a week the road would develop a reputation as a speed-enforced zone and most (not all) people would modify their behavior. Also, the police used to park a car on Main Street even when they couldn't be there just to look like they were ticketing and they haven't done that in a long time.
Prior to this week and excluding cruisers parked in front of Teddy's or for the school crossings, I can't recall the last time I saw them actively enforcing speed on Main Street.
The police have been out since end of April. I always wave as I go past and can tell that it is a lot more the past 5-6 weeks.
anon-370q
Posted: Sun, May 28 2017, 4:36 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
I agree we have a small force and they can't be everywhere. That said, they don't have to be on Main Street all the time. The flow of of the problem is very predictable. When 130 gets backed up at rush hour, people divert to Main Street. So if they had a regular presence on Main Street for a couple key hours even a couple times a week the road would develop a reputation as a speed-enforced zone and most (not all) people would modify their behavior. Also, the police used to park a car on Main Street even when they couldn't be there just to look like they were ticketing and they haven't done that in a long time.
Prior to this week and excluding cruisers parked in front of Teddy's or for the school crossings, I can't recall the last time I saw them actively enforcing speed on Main Street.
anon-s6p5
Posted: Fri, May 26 2017, 9:29 am EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
very good points.
The police have been out a lot recently. For the past month the police have been very visible.
I fully agree that they need to find this person and lock them up. Some thoughts:
1) The police can't be everywhere and bad things happen. People get cancer, a hammock blows off a roof top in NYC, a tree branch falls killing a child in a park. We need to be diligent and teach our kids to as well, because there are idiots like this driver out there.
2) This person hit a girl and killed a dog not stopping. No matter what the town does signs, speed bumps, etc..it will not stop people like this. Most likely a ticket won't even stop this person. They don't care.
3) In the pedestrian hits we've had which thankfully is very low compared to other towns it has been distracted driving not speeding (with this case still unknown). I agree speeding is an issue, but distracted driving is worse.
If you look at those who do speed a large number are Cranbury residents. If Cranbury residents when driving go the speed limit then it will slow people down. We need to hold ourselves accountable.
Also, the town has a link to submit traffic concerns. Use the link and report where you see speeding and issues. The police will come out. Or call 395-0031 and report traffic issues.
anon-001s
Posted: Fri, May 26 2017, 8:57 am EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
This is so horrible. I pray they find this person who did not stop and they arrest him. The traffic and speeding through this town is getting worse day by day. With all the houses being built all over Monroe and surrounding areas people are using Cranbury to cut through. People are constantly speeding through our town. I get scared when my kids take a walk through town because I can hear the cars racing down our street. We really need more police doing radar and stopping these people. I do not want to see this happening to someone else.
sbnewsman1
Posted: Wed, May 24 2017, 10:34 pm EDT
Post subject: Re: May 10 Hit And Run Update
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-brunswick-cranbury/articles/cranbury-mayor-distracted-driving-possible-facto