The goal of accreditation dates back to 2008, when former Police Director Martin Hellwig first proposed it. In 2012, Hellwig sought City Council approval for the plan to hire a consultant to lead the process, using funds from the city's forfeiture account. The actual accreditation was to be carried out by the New Jersey Association of Police Chiefs at a cost of $6,000, but the consultant would receive a $47,000 fee and other costs would drive the total to $83,094.
At the time, one of the police departments that gave the consulting firm a testimonial was embroiled in internal strife that hit the headlines.The council did not approve the proposal.
In March 2014, new Police Director Carl Riley vouched for the need for an accreditation process "so we don't end up in the paper." Riley said the division's policies and procedures were out of date and the division "was going through some things now" that wouldn't have happened if policies were in place.
It would be good to hear an update on how the process is going, especially because some of the costs will recur annually.Besides the $6,000 accreditation fee and the $47,000 consultant's fee, the recurring costs are $22,016 for the Rodgers Group Online Training Program; $2,826 for the Guardian Tracking LLC's software program fee and $8,500 to Innovative Data Solutions, Inc. for its Power DMS software fee. It should be made clear whether these annual costs will come out of tax revenues or will be draw-downs from the forfeiture fund with approval of the Union County Prosecutor's Office.
Police Division salaries and wages and other expenses accounted for more than $15 million of the $75 million 2014 budget, with another $5 million in pension costs. Public safety is always a top concern of the citizenry. A better police force is desired by all - so may we know how things are going with accreditation?
--Bernice
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