Police State of the Union
Spotlight On
by Clark Westfield
August 2013
The other day I was taking a break from shoveling Route 35 when I came upon an article written by the inimitable Steve Adubato. It had to do with a topic I have been hearing about a lot lately in the state of New Jersey and it affects us all, some more than others, and it shows no signs of going away any time soon. You may have heard or read something yourselves or maybe you are experiencing it firsthand. In our largest cities and even in some smaller towns, there is a struggle between the municipalities and the police unions. In a nutshell this has led to the layoffs of hundreds of uniformed officers, 167 in Newark, and 180 in Camden, America’s Playground. Yes, Camden. This is the city where the bright minds of the state’s tourism think tank decided to put the State Aquarium. You have to drive through Baghdad to see 5 depressed flounder (and you know they’re Jersey fish ‘cause they’re smoking). Taking police off the streets in Camden is tantamount to hiring Charlie Sheen to teach an all-girls gym class. Our biggest and most dangerous cities are losing their street force, their immediate response capabilities and their overall presence in neighborhoods where even drug dealers and murderers won’t go out after dark. Unfortunately, it isn’t just the big cities that are affected. Mid-sized municipalities and small towns are also being squeezed by this recriminating war between the mayors and the police unions. The word of the day is “concessions.” Whether it be uniform allowances, health care give-backs, pension funding, furlough days or pay freezes, the towns are asking or demanding, and the unions are saying no way. The result is the hard line choice to reduce the number of salaried officers. And the ones that are getting laid off are the newer members, some just out of the academy. Too bad these are some of the younger, more physically fit and tech savvy men out there who may be more of what a modern police force needs in these times of runaway hit and run crimes. There seems to be no easy answer.
Here’s an idea…Why don’t we pay real cops the kind of money TV cops get? In his new hit series Tom Selleck plays a big time city cop with an impeccable record and a prodigious moustache. How much can he possibly spend on grooming that Chihuahua? Donate a portion of those “Blue Blood” greenbacks to Camden. Boom! Another 100 officers reinstated. What about the guys on “Hawaii 5-0?” I mean, hey, Scott Caan’s character is from New Jersey. Surely he can be a little nostalgic for some east coast waves to rehire some Jersey City cops to the force. And don’t even get me started on “Lethal Weapon.” Hello…Mel Gibson. I just have this to say to you…Lock yourself away for a very long time and give your misguided millions to Newark. And there it is. Another round of well trained, physically fit, courageous sons of New Jersey to serve and protect. And protect us they will. Hey, you never know when Mad Max is gonna go nuts on the Parkway. Book ‘em Dano.
More to come… CW