TOMS RIVER, NJ — A letter to Toms River residents from Mayor Dan Rodrick about his plan to hire community service officers and cut four positions in the police department has drawn a sharp response from Police Chief Mitchell Little, refuting Rodrick’s claims about staffing and about efforts to increase EMTs.
Rodrick’s letter, received Friday by many township residents, again defended his plan to cut two captains’ positions after they retire, saying the two positions are costing Toms River nearly $700,000 in salaries and benefits, and the money could be used to hire eight community service officers to beef up the township’s emergency medical services and improve response times.
“By not backfilling these desk jobs, the township will have the money it needs to put more boots on the ground,” Rodrick wrote in the letter, included at the bottom of this article. “Some of the Department’s top brass are upset that we will not be backfilling these retirements in management — because their colleagues will not be getting a promotion. Their management union is fighting our plan to fix this emergency response crisis.”
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“They are purposefully mischaracterizing this as taking cops off the street. Nothing could be further from the truth. We added 7 new cops my first week in office,” he wrote.
Rodrick sent the letter as the backlash against his proposal to remove captains’ positions grows amid a move to change the Jan. 31 council meeting to a Zoom format.
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At least two rallies are planned, one at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of Washington and Robbins streets, and a second one at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of town hall, 33 Washington St.
The move to the Zoom meeting, announced Wednesday by Council President Craig Coleman, is vehemently opposed by Councilmen David Ciccozzi and James Quinlisk, who issued a letter Friday urging Coleman to hold the meeting in person. Read more: Councilmen Demand Controversial Toms River Police Vote To Be In-Person
Rodrick, who said at the Jan. 18 council meeting that Toms River is facing a $3.5 million budget shortfall, repeated that claim, saying, “Due to the fiscal mismanagement of my predecessor, the township is facing a $3.5 million shortfall. Still, we need more emergency medical responders. It’s a matter of life and death. The prior mayor and chief of police had 4 years to fix this crisis, but they did not. We are fixing it!”
Little, in a letter posted to the Toms River Police Department’s Facebook page and distributed to reporters, refuted the claims Rodrick made.
“As Chief of Police, it is my duty to ensure that accurate information is disseminated so everyone in the community can make informed decisions about important matters that impact the safety and well-being of you and your family,” he wrote. “Let me assure you that our PBA Police Officer Union, the FOP Supervisor’s Union and the Chief’s Office stand united with the increase in personnel in our EMT program.”
“The overall safety of our residents is our number one priority and we are proud of our average response time of 9.6 minutes by our EMTs in a community spanning 44 square miles,” he said.
The Facebook post had been removed as of Saturday afternoon.
Little said the police department has been trying to hire additional EMTs for a while.
“Unfortunately, even with extensive recruiting efforts, the pool of EMT applicants has been almost non-existent for some time, as other agencies are also in need of emergency medical personnel,” he said. “Additionally, police officers outfitted with first aid equipment and defibrillators are also dispatched to emergency medical calls and often first on the scene to start emergency treatment in anticipation of the EMTs’ arrival.”
Little said both police unions along with his office “stand united in opposition to the elimination of two Captains positions to fund the EMT program.”
“I have asked the Mayor for an opportunity to discuss his concerns in relation to the potential unintended consequences of his decision to implement these cuts to our command staff. I believe there is a middle ground that is mutually beneficial to all involved, the police department, the governing body, and most of all, the members of the community,” Little said.
The department has applied for a grant through the NJ Division of Community Affairs “to enter into a shared services agreement with another municipality to join forces and defray the cost. This is only one possibility. We are open to exploring others, but there is no rush to require hasty decisions that will have far-reaching implications,” he said.
Little refuted Rodrick’s claims about the supervisory roles as well. He said Deputy Chief Patrick Dellane supervises the entire patrol division, including all 112 patrol officers. The two captains whose positions would be cut help to supervise the department’s staff, which totals 335 employees, Little said.
The captains “are critical to the effective and efficient operation of the police department,” he said. “They are my executive staff and each command entire bureaus totaling 335 employees (not 112) such as, sworn officers, Class 1, 2 and 3 Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEO), as well as all civilian support personnel.”
“In the past, the police department had a Chief, two Deputy Chiefs and four Captains. Presently the department has a Chief and three Bureau Commanders, a reduction of four command positions,” Little said.
He referenced the 2021 efficiency study (you can read it here) conducted by the Government Strategy Group, which was brought up repeatedly on Jan. 18, noting the study said the department “operates extremely ‘lean and efficient’ with no recommendations to reduce personnel.”
Little said the department has “the same number of sworn officers (162) as 20 years ago. The context of these numbers is significant, with the increase in calls for service then from 43,885 to 65,000 per year now, and a current population close to 100,000 residents, of which, U.S Census data does not count motels or the burgeoning summer tourist population.”
Little also said the seven officers Rodrick said he approved hiring are not patrol officers, but seasonal, part-time Class 1 SLEO officers, “who patrol parks, the beach area and our municipal jail. These SLEO officers are not authorized to carry weapons and have no arrest powers.”
Little said the seven SLEO officers hired “are replacements for the 15 SLEO officers lost last year due to them pursuing other full-time law enforcement employment. In reality, the police department is still short eight Class 1 Officers from last year with the possibility of losing 2 full-time sworn police officers through attrition this year, dropping the total end strength of full-time sworn officers from 162 to 158.”
Rodrick’s letter included a list of the salaries and benefit costs for Little, Dellane, the two captains, seven lieutenants and 20 sergeants, calling the cost “out of control;” nine of the management staff receive more than $300,000 in salary and benefits annually.
The amounts included the officers’ base pay combined with their longevity pay — an employee benefit seen in a host of Toms River Township employees’ salaries that were obtained by Patch through an Open Public Records Act request.
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Rodrick also included the cost of the town’s share of the officers’ health benefits, and the pension contribution. The pension contribution for the management officers was $61,606.44, not $90,000 as he said at the Dec. 18 meeting.
Among the management staff, Little has been in the department for 38 years, the most senior by longevity of all of the police staff. He has the fifth-most years among all township employees. Including him, there are seven with more than 25 years working for Toms River, eight with 20 to 25 years with the Toms River force and the rest had a minimum of 12 years.
“I have proudly served this great community for 38 years, ten of those years as Chief of Police,” Little wrote. “I am honored to lead this great organization and all of the amazing officers and support staff who dedicate their lives to serving each and every resident of Toms River through their tireless and selfless service. With your continued support, we will continue to provide the same exemplary service that you have come to expect from the professional men and women of the Toms River Police Department.”
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