Rochelle Park committee hears police plea to hold staffing steady, approves school security hire

Rochelle Park police leaders told the township committee on Dec. 10 they are asking the panel to preserve the department s current staffing level and create an operational lieutenant to cover specialized duties left vacant by an impending retirement.

"This is not a presentation to add to our current staff. just maintain what we currently have," Captain Deprada said, describing duties the new operational lieutenant would assume, including supervising dispatch, managing records redaction under Daniel —ass law workflows and overseeing school security and training coordination.

Chiefs and lieutenants described a growing administrative burden from public-records requests and body-worn/mobile video redactions. The presenters said multi-gigabyte video requests can involve 10–12 clips for a single incident, requiring lengthy downloads, redaction and upload steps: "a typical request would probably like 40 gigs of data," a presenter said, noting the process can take many hours per request.

Officials cited increases in several call categories—alcohol-related calls, domestic violence and juvenile dispersals—and said staffing shortfalls limit proactive policing. They warned that large regional events in 2026 could further strain resources. "The county estimated 1.2 million visitors will come to [the region] for the tournament," a presenter said, calling it a potential drain on policing resources.

The committee did not approve a formal new job classification during the meeting, but members said they would consider the request during budget and personnel planning. The presentation included cost estimates for promotions and replacements and emphasized that an in-house operational lieutenant could reduce reliance on expensive external IT contractors.

Separately, the committee approved a personnel action to remove probationary status for a patrol officer after a one-year review. Chief and members praised Officer Paul for community interactions; the resolution to make him permanent passed on a unanimous roll call.

The committee also introduced and unanimously approved Joe Katsac as a part-time school security officer. Katsac, a retired county sheriff's deputy and former courthouse security specialist, was described by the panel as experienced in school security and special-response operations.

The police presentation and SRO hire were the most substantial personnel items on an agenda that also included multiple ordinances, grant announcements and routine business. The committee set follow-up steps to review staffing implications during upcoming budget and human-resources deliberations.