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Resident urges tougher speeding enforcement and criticizes police leadership after June crash; council schedules police-leadership discussion
Summary
A Roseland resident told the council the police department has not mounted sustained speeding enforcement after a June crash and questioned leadership and staffing; council members said they will check training and convene a meeting on police leadership Sept. 25.
A Roseland resident urged the borough to step up speeding enforcement and to resolve what she described as leadership gaps in the police department following a serious June crash.
"We have two guns worth several thousand dollar sitting on the shelf in police headquarters... In the month of July, for example, they could have been signed out 124 times. Does anyone want to guess how many times they were actually signed out? 15 times in 31 days," said Janet Truman of 38 Leonard, who raised the sign-out log for LIDAR speed guns and said enforcement has been inadequate since the crash.
Truman said the department has declined in command structure over several years, noting that the borough "is the only department in Essex County with neither a captain nor a chief," and urged the council to create a captain position and provide more supervision.
Mayor Spango and other council members responded that they take her concerns seriously. The mayor said he will check whether all officers are trained on the LIDAR devices and will seek a breakdown of the recent summonses and moving violations. He also noted that council has scheduled a meeting to discuss "the future for leadership in the police department" on Sept. 25.
Truman also questioned practical staffing limits in proposed ordinance changes to police composition and asked why the cap was set at 17 officers; council members explained that budgeted positions and ordinance-authorized positions differ and that budgeting constraints affect how many officers may be hired in a given year.
What the council will do next: Council members said they will obtain a training and sign-out breakdown for the LIDAR devices and follow up on staffing and budget questions at the Sept. 25 meeting devoted to police leadership.
