I was disappointed to see the Record article this morning where the hold-over prosecutor, county executive and county sheriff signed an agreement placing the county police under control of the sheriff. Local chiefs of police and future county prosecutors will come to regret this decision. People have strong opinions on this subject but all too often dont have an iota of knowledge of or experience in the subject. As a former county prosecutor Is saw the games some sheriffs played withholding or threatening withholding services during investigations. The men and women of the Sheriffs dept. were just trying to do their jobs, but power hungry politicians, holding the title sheriff, would put them squarely in the middle. I had more than my share of bad experiences with Bergens sheriffs...Does anyone remember Sheriff Joe Ciccone? Remember how he sold jobs ($10,000 price tag) and badges ($500 - $1000 to become his special deputy@) to fill his campaign coffers and buy power? Checks and balances you say? Not when the powers in Trenton either dont care or dont have the intestinal fortitude to back a criminal investigation to route out the corruption and bring the offender to justice. I remember a deputy chief of investigators from the NJ Division of Criminal Justice telling my chief of detectives that the investigation of Democrat sheriff Ciccone was not a good idea, because if the Democrats get in (McGreevey did get in) where will I (the state deputy chief) be? And he dragged his feet and put roadblock after roadblock in front of the investigation, as did other state DAGs and the Director of the DCG. Disgraceful! Unlike the sheriff, the county police chief always knew and followed the law enforcement chain of command and was always responsive to the needs of the Prosecutors office and local law enforcement. So good luck with this terrible idea. County law enforcement just took a giant step backward by yesterdays misguided action. I dont want to leave the impression that all sheriffs craved power or were difficult. Both Republican Joel Trella and Democrat Gordon Johnson were outstanding sheriffs and consummate professionals who put the needs of law enforcement and the public first. Maybe thats why Joel lost the next election and Gordon was dropped by the Democrats...they didnt play politics and placed law enforcement professionalism above self-interest. And this problem with sheriffs was experienced by Democrat appointed prosecutor Jay Fahey and me, a Republican appointee. Thats why Jay and I jointly spoke out against consolidation and the dangers it posed to law enforcement and the need to keep it free from political interference or abuse of power. To the men and women of the Bergen County Police Department I thank you for your fine service to the citizens of the county and its many law enforcement agencies and I wish you luck in this new arrangement. You did not deserve to be treated this way by the county government that you have so faithfully and professionally served.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:05:44 +0000
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