Reports backs use of county police in Pennsauken

The Pennsauken Township Police Department sends too many officers to low-priority calls, such as burglar alarms, and spends more time on activities such as lunch breaks and patrol car maintenance than on preventing crimes, a 42-page report from a law enforcement consultant suggests.

The report - which Camden County paid the consultant to produce - also estimates that replacing Pennsauken's department with the Camden County-run police force would save the township more than $30 million over six years, much of it by reducing the pay of the township's current officers.

The report, which Pennsauken police received Monday, comes as the county pushes to expand into neighboring towns its police force, which currently patrols only Camden. None of the county's other 36 municipalities have agreed to join, though some say they have been approached.

The report, obtained by The Inquirer, was produced by Jose Cordero, a law enforcement consultant who helped design the Camden County Metro force that patrols Camden. Cordero was paid $36,100 by the county to produce the Pennsauken report.

In interviews Tuesday, Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor and a township police captain scoffed at some of the report's findings, and Taylor said the township had "not even made up our mind in the slightest" about which way to go.

"To be honest with you, money is important in this day and age," Taylor said. "But also, the comfort level of our residents is equally important to us."

The report estimated that sworn personnel on Pennsauken's police force will cost $86 million in the next six years. If a county department took over - and a much lower pay scale for officers was implemented - that amount could drop to close to $57 million, the analysis said. Pennsauken Public Safety Director John Kneib this month declined to provide information on the total cost of the department for the current fiscal year.

Comparing the police contracts of the forces, Camden officers start at $31,407. Pennsauken officers start at $47,000. Pennsauken officers would need to apply for jobs with the county if a new force took over, which has raised concerns among the ranks about job security.

The report suggests that the number of personnel in Pennsauken could stay close to the 82 the department has, though it also proposes a scenario with 69 officers and supervisors.

Cordero reviewed two years of police call data provided by township officials, and found that police responded most often to burglar alarms and medical issues. His report said police spent an average of 45 minutes on those calls, and that between one and nine units responded, both of which Cordero said were unnecessary.

Over-response, his report said, "wastes police resources that could otherwise be used to address important conditions present in the community," such as property crime.

The report also said officers spent more hours on food breaks, car repairs, and responding to headquarters than on performing car stops, follow-up investigations, and surveillance.

"I'm not sure that the taxpayers are getting exactly what they're paying for in terms of value of police work," Cordero said Tuesday.

Pennsauken Police Capt. Michael Probasco called Cordero's findings "a slanted report by someone that was hired by the county." He said of his department: "We're working fine the way we are."

"We're very proactive," Probasco said. "We try to nip things in the bud before they happen, and it's been working for us for a long time."

He said the department averages about 5,000 calls per month. In down time, he said, officers watch for intoxicated drivers and check on properties where residents have requested additional enforcement because of burglaries or vandalism.

Pennsauken officials also point to their crime statistics as proof of good police work. Last year, there were zero homicides in the township, compared with 33 in neighboring Camden.

Probasco said residents expect multiple officers to respond to a burglary alarm - where they may need to check multiple entrances to a property - and on medical calls. Cordero's report said officers "often do nothing more than watch patients being treated and transported to the hospital." Probasco said officers carry first aid kits and the drug Narcan, which can revive heroin overdose victims.

"It's our job to do something," Probasco said.

He questioned why Cordero did not speak to police officers or visit the department for the report.

Cordero said his job was to examine crime data from Pennsauken and determine whether further discussions between it and the county were warranted. If the county seeks his services again, he said, he would "absolutely" talk to officers.

Camden County officials first approached Pennsauken last year about replacing the township's police force. In an initial meeting, Cordero and the county presented a nearly 20-page report, Pennsauken Public Safety Director Johnsaid Kneib, the public safety director. The township then sent nearly 60 questions to the county about what staffing levels and costs of a new force would look like, Kneib said.

The report Pennsauken officials recently received is in response to those questions.

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said the report "demonstrates the ability for the county to provide police services to a municipality at a greater value combined with a enhanced capacity to reduce crime." He stressed that the report is preliminary.

The county has sought to expand its police force since it took over policing in Camden in May 2013, in a move officials said was intended to cut costs and hire more officers. Some officers in the city's former police department criticized it as a union-busting tactic. The New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association brought up that concern Monday when President Obama visited Camden to praise the new police force.

The City of Camden pays for police services, much as Pennsauken would if the county created a division of its force there.

Taylor said he and the township committee are expected to discuss the report on Pennsauken soon, but have not set a date. Police in the township have a contract through December 2018.