Consolidation 101: The future of the police

The Princeton area is patrolled by three different police forces: the Borough Police Department, the Township Police Department and the University’s Department of Public Safety. With the impending consolidation, the first two will merge into a new Princeton Police Department. Meanwhile, the University’s DPS is looking at ways to avoid duplication of efforts in areas in which it shares coverage with the local police.

The two town police departments are already quite similar. Both have around 30 sworn officers each, receive roughly the same number of calls, utilize the same amount of resources and coordinate with DPS in areas where they have co-jurisdiction, according to a June 2011 report prepared by the Princeton Consolidation Commission.

“The differences between them are relatively minor,” the report read. According to the report, the Borough police are better equipped for the more urban center of the town, while the Township has more experience in suburban areas. The new Princeton will include both areas and will require the expertise of both departments.

The same report suggested the reduction of total sworn police officers from 60 — the number in 2011 — to 56, then to 54 and finally to 51 during the first three years following consolidation.

Following the report, a Transition Task Force was created to implement the consolidation of the two towns. A Public Safety Subcommittee within the TTF is responsible for restructuring the police departments.

“The Public Safety Subcommittee is working [on] the size and structure of the combined police department for the new town. It is also working on emergency management,” said Mark Freda, chairman of the Subcommittee.

But the consolidation of the police departments has been controversial due to the proposed reductions in force. Consolidation is expected to save a total of $3.1 million per year, and between $1.4 and $2.1 million of those savings will come from the police departments alone, according to the report.

Yet the TTF and its subcommittees have been reevaluating the conclusions of the Consolidation Commission report since the TTF began meeting this year.

In mid-March, Township police chief Christopher Morgan and Borough police chief David Dudeck made a presentation before the TTF in which they explained their opposition to the plan expressed in the Consolidation Commission’s report to reduce the size of the police force. Morgan told the TTF that the Commission had never asked for feedback from the police departments and suggested keeping staffing at the current levels.

The report explained that the staff reduction in the police department would be achieved “through the ongoing process of deployment optimization and attrition over a two- to three-year period.”

Since then, the Public Safety Subcommittee has discussed revising the size of the reduction in force presented in the report.

“We will probably start [2013] with around 56 police officers and see where we go,” said Dick Woodbridge ’65, a member of the Subcommittee and the Republican candidate for mayor of the consolidated Princeton. “I think that is a reasonable compromise.”

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There are currently 56 combined sworn officers in the two police departments.

Morgan said in an email statement that “consolidation continues to move forward in a positive direction.”

“Beginning Jan. 1, 2013, I’m confident that we will find that we can manage our police resources ... effectively and efficiently because of consolidation,” he said.

According to Freda, the Public Safety Subcommittee will probably issue its recommendation within the next two weeks. He added that the group will most likely recommend that the department remain at 56 officers, but the staffing numbers in the years after consolidation have not yet been determined.

However, the decision of the Subcommittee will only be an initial recommendation.

“The PSSC recommends to the TTF, and the full task force recommends to the new mayor and the governing bodies,” Freda explained. In the end, the new mayor will issue an ordinance that will have the final word on the size and structure of the combined police departments.

The University is also represented on the Subcommittee. Executive Director of DPS Paul Ominsky and Associate Vice President for Safety and Administrative Planning Treby Williams ’84 both attend the regular meetings.

Ominsky explained in an email that DPS is working on a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the new police department to determine future jurisdiction and responsibilities.

“One of the benefits of an MOU is to avoid duplication of efforts,” he said. Currently, for example, both DPS and Borough police respond to ambulance calls at the University.

DPS has co-jurisdiction over its property with the Borough and Township police. DPS does not technically have jurisdiction over the eating clubs, since they are not on University property, but DPS does still respond to calls from Prospect Avenue.

This is the second in a four-part series about the consolidation of the Borough and the Township.