[Adopted 6-19-1946 by Ord. No. 553]
[Last amended 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2298]
A.
There is
hereby ratified and confirmed the creation of the Police Department
of the Borough of Hasbrouck Heights pursuant to, in accordance with
and for the purposes as provided in N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118 et seq., and
further as hereinafter provided in this chapter.
B.
The said Police Department shall consist of the following offices:
a Chief of Police, one Captain, four Lieutenants, seven Sergeants
and so many Patrol Officers as may from time to time be appointed,
each of whom shall be appointed as provided herein and each of whom
shall be compensated as provided in the Salary Ordinance of this Borough.[1] The Mayor and Council shall have the complete discretion
to fill any vacancy that may exist in any of the aforesaid offices,
or to defer from filling any such vacancy. This provision shall constitute
the official Table of Organization of said Police Department.
[Amended 5-28-2013 by Ord. No. 2302; 8-23-2016 by Ord. No. 2364]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Salary Ordinance is on file in the Borough
offices.
[Added 2-24-1976 by Ord. No. 1062; amended 12-27-1977 by Ord. No.
1108; 10-28-2003 by Ord. No. 2019; 12-13-2016 by Ord. No. 2378]
A.
The Police Department of the Borough of Hasbrouck Heights shall consist
of two Divisions, the Investigations Division and the Patrol Division.
B.
Each Division shall be under direction of one of its members who
shall be assigned thereto by and be under the direction of the Chief.
C.
There is hereby further constituted a Detective Bureau within the
Investigations Division. The Detective Bureau shall be under the direction
of one of its members who shall be assigned by the Chief and who shall
serve under the Chief's direction.
[Amended 3-23-1982 by Ord. No. 1209; 10-28-2003 by Ord. No.
2019; 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2298]
A.
Consistent
herewith and subject hereto, the Mayor shall see that the laws of
the United States and of the State of New Jersey and the ordinances
of the Borough are faithfully executed.
B.
Each year
upon the annual reorganization of the governing body, the Mayor shall
appoint a Police Commissioner and a Deputy Police Commissioner from
the membership of the governing body. The Mayor and the said Police
Commissioner and Deputy Police Commissioner shall serve as the Police
Committee of the Borough of Hasbrouck Heights, which Police Committee
shall constitute the “appropriate authority” under N.J.S.A.
40A:14-118. It shall be the duty of the Police Committee to adopt
rules and regulations for the governance of the Police Department
and for the discipline of its members. Nothing contained herein to
the contrary withstanding, the Chief shall be the head of the Police
Department, shall be directly responsible to the Police Committee
for the efficiency and routine day-to-day operation thereof, and shall,
pursuant to policies established by the Police Committee:
[Amended 5-28-2019 by Ord. No. 2443]
(1)
Administer
and enforce rules and regulations and special emergency directives
for the disposition and discipline of the force and its officers and
personnel;
(2)
Have,
exercise and discharge the functions, powers and duties of the force
and administer and enforce laws and ordinances;
(3)
Prescribe
the duties and assignments of all subordinates and other personnel;
(4)
Delegate
so much of his/her authority as he/she may deem necessary for the
efficient operation of the force, to be exercised under his/her direction
and supervision; and
(5)
Report
at least monthly to the appropriate authority in such form as shall
be prescribed by such authority on the operation of the force during
the preceding month and make such other reports as may be requested
by such authority.
[Amended 12-4-1946 by Ord. No. 559; 10-28-2003 by Ord. No.
2019; 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2298; 12-13-2016 by Ord. No. 2378]
In authority in said Police Department, a Patrol Officer shall
rank below any Sergeant; a Sergeant shall rank below any Lieutenant;
a Lieutenant shall rank below any Captain; and a Captain shall rank
below the Police Chief. Within any of the aforesaid ranks, tenure
within that rank and time in service shall be recognized. The officers
and members of said Police Department shall obey and perform any and
all orders and directions of any superior officer in accordance with
the aforesaid rank.
[Amended 10-28-2003 by Ord. No. 2019; 3-26-2013 by Ord. No.
2298]
All members and officers shall be appointed
to and promoted within the Police Department only upon the nomination
of the Mayor and the confirmation of such nomination by the Borough
Council, after such nomination is recommended as herein provided.
[Amended 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538; 11-29-2022 by Ord. No.
2520]
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person
shall be appointed as a member of the Police Department unless he
is:
A.
A citizen of the United States.
B.
Must be
between the ages of 18 and 35.
C.
Be a resident
of New Jersey.
D.
Must possess
a valid New Jersey Driver's license.
E.
Must possess
60 college credits or at least two years of active-duty military service
with honorable discharge, or possess a NJ PTC certificate.
F.
Have the
ability to pass a background investigation, psychological examination,
and medical examination with urine drug screening.
G.
Sound in body and of good health sufficient to satisfy
the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System
of New Jersey as to his eligibility for membership in the retirement
system.
H.
Able to read, write and speak the English language
well and intelligently.
I.
Of good moral character and has not been convicted
of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude.
[Added 10-10-1978 by Ord. No. 1126]
In the case of all appointments of patrolmen
or members in the Police Department, each such appointment shall be
for a probationary period of one year after such appointee shall have
received New Jersey Police Training Commission certification, and
the employment of such appointee shall be subject to termination on
the expiration of such probationary period, without express cause,
by resolution of the Mayor and Council adopted not more than 30 days
from the date of the expiration of such appointee's probationary appointment.
[Added 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2298[1]]
The Police Committee shall constitute a Police Examining Board. No person shall be recommended to the Mayor for nomination to appointment as a member or officer of said Department until after said Police Examining Board shall have carefully examined the educational, mental, moral and physical fitness of such person and shall have certified, in writing, by its certificate filed with the Borough Clerk, that such person meets the qualifications prescribed by this article. Prior to the making of any such recommendation, it shall be the duty of said Police Examining Board to consider any and all applications for appointment to said Police Department filed with it, in writing, and to rate said applicants according to their fitness. The Police Examining Board is further authorized to direct that each application for appointment be accompanied by a fee payable to the Borough as set forth in Chapter 133, Fees.
[Added 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2298[1]; amended 12-13-2016 by Ord. No. 2378[2]; 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 2520]
No member or officer shall be nominated to the Mayor for promotion within the Department until approved by the Police Committee as the result of the following promotional process; this process shall, in all respects, comply with the terms of Article VIII, entitled, "Antinepotism," of Chapter 45 of the Borough Code.
A.
Promotional policy. Due consideration shall be given to the candidate
for the promotion to the length and merit of his or her service and
preference shall be given according to his or her seniority in service.
B.
General procedures.
(1)
The promotional process shall commence upon notice from the Mayor to the governing body that he or she seeks to make promotions pursuant to § 55-5 of this Code. If approved by the governing body, the Chief of Police or, in the event of his or her disqualification, the next highest ranking officer of the Department, under the direction of the Police Committee, shall initiate and administer a promotional process as provided hereafter.
(2)
Thereupon, the Chief of Police or his or her substitute shall, under
the supervision of the Police Committee, give all members of the Department
notice of the promotional process a promotional announcement and the
form of candidate's letter of intention, the forms of both of
which shall be approved by the Police Committee. The form of the promotional
announcement shall include a statement of the minimum qualification
to be eligible for consideration. The form of candidate's letter
of intention shall include a specific acknowledgment that the candidate
understands and consents to the release in confidence for consideration
only by the members of the Police Committee and only in relation to
the promotion sought by that candidate, all of his or her Department
records and personal files; all such records shall remain confidential
and none of those personnel records shall be copied or removed from
the meeting. Those records shall be reviewed and scored by the Police
Committee in confidence and, except for the total score given to each
candidate, upon request, those scores shall continue to be kept confidential.
(3)
The approved promotional announcement shall be conspicuously posted
in the Police Department beginning on a date fixed by the Police Committee
and simultaneously dispatched together with the approved form of candidate's
letter of intention to all eligible police officers via the established
Police Department communication system (email, PowerDMS, etc.). Additionally,
at that time, the Chief of Police or his or her substitute shall notify
any eligible candidates who are on extended leave in such further
manner reasonably designed to provide such candidates with the aforesaid
notice.
(4)
In the event that a Department member is on extended leave and the
Chief of Police or his or her substitute is unable to contact such
a member, the Police Committee may grant to such a candidate a reasonable
extension of the time limit for the submission of a candidate's
letter of intention and resume.
(5)
Within 14 days of the posting as aforesaid promotional announcement,
interested candidates must submit to the office of the Chief of Police
a dated candidate's letter of intention in the approved form
indicating that they wish to be a candidate for promotion to a particular
rank including a signed acknowledgment in respect to personnel records
as aforesaid and together with the candidate's resume.
(6)
Resumes shall be in the form of a standard business resume including,
but not limited to, the following information, if applicable:
C.
Eligibility for promotion.
(1)
Any officer who, at the time that the promotional process is posted,
has served at least five full years in any law enforcement agency
of the State of New Jersey, at least three full years of which have
been served in the Hasbrouck Heights Police Department, will be eligible
for promotion to Sergeant; any officer who has served at least two
full years as a Sergeant in the Police Department of the Borough of
Hasbrouck Heights at the time that this promotional process is posted
will be eligible for promotion to Lieutenant; and any officer who
has served at least two full years as a Lieutenant in the Police Department
of the Borough of Hasbrouck Heights at the time that this promotional
process is posted will be eligible for promotion to Captain.
(2)
Further, a sworn member of the Department shall be eligible to participate
in the promotional process if he or she meets the minimum qualifications
for promotion fixed by this article and as further set by the Police
Committee and as set forth in the approved promotional announcement.
D.
Employment review.
(1)
The employment review shall be based on each candidate's personnel
files and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(2)
The Police Committee shall meet with the Police Chief or his or her
substitute and create a written form to use for the employment review.
The Chief or his or her substitute shall provide the Police Committee
with all of the candidate's departmental records and personal
files; none of those records shall be copied or removed from the meeting.
Those records shall be reviewed and scored by the Police Committee
in confidence and, except for the total score given to each candidate,
those scores shall continue to be kept confidential. The employment
review will account for 25% of the final score in the overall promotional
process.
E.
Oral examination.
(1)
The Police Committee shall, in consultation with the Police Chief
or his or her substitute and in consultation with such other consultants
as may be retained by the Police Committee with the approval of the
governing body, prepare the questions to be posed to the candidates
during their oral examination. The oral examination shall be prepared
in a manner intended to assist the Police Committee in assessing the
various candidates' qualifications for the positions sought,
and shall focus on the desired skills, knowledge and abilities deemed
by the Police Committee to be required for the candidate's position.
(2)
All candidates will be asked the same or similar questions during
the oral examination. Questions will be asked by the Police Committee
members only. The Police Committee members will score the oral examinations
on a standard form and scores from the individual Committee members
will be averaged numerically with a score of 100 being the highest
available score. The Chief or his or her substitute shall not provide
scores for the various candidates but may make recommendations to
the Police Committee members regarding scores for the various candidates.
(3)
Candidates shall be directed that they are prohibited from any discussion
or any mention of an examination question until the entire promotional
process has been concluded.
(4)
The oral examination shall account for 65% of the candidate's
final score in the overall promotional process.
F.
Final scores.
(1)
At the conclusion of the aforesaid process, the Police Committee
shall further meet in closed session and the Police Chief or his or
her substitute shall advise of his or her recommendations, which shall
account for 10% of the candidate's final score.
(2)
The Police Committee shall review the final scores based upon the
three components of the promotional process (the employment review,
25%; the oral examinations, 65%; and the Chief's recommendations,
10%); and the Police Committee shall convey its nomination based upon
the completed promotional process to the Mayor.
(3)
If the Mayor decides to recognize the Police Committee nomination,
the Mayor will bring the Police Committee nomination to the full governing
body for a vote.
(4)
If no promotions occur for any reason, the completed list will be
maintained for up to two years at the discretion of the Police Committee.
After at least one promotion has been made from the list within that
period, the Police Committee may choose to conduct a new promotional
process for any further promotions.
G.
Notification of nomination. At the conclusion of the interview process
and following the nomination to the Mayor, the Chief of Police will
be notified of who was presented to the Mayor for nomination of promotion.
In advance of the vote by the Council, the Chief of Police, at the
direction of the Police Committee, has the authority to notify the
candidate being presented to the governing body for approval and those
who were not selected, via the established Police Department communication
system (email, PowerDMS, etc.).
H.
Notification of promotion. Once a Council vote is conducted and a
candidate has been approved for promotion, the effective date of the
promotion and swearing in of the appointed individual will occur during
the meeting in which the vote took place. If the nominated party is
not present at the meeting, the swearing in of the appointed individual
will take place on Borough property at the next available opportunity
and at the direction of the Mayor.
Upon appointment, an officer or member of said
Police Department shall take the oath prescribed by law and file the
same with the Borough Clerk. The failure so to do within 30 days shall
constitute said office vacant.
[Amended 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538]
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:14-128, the officers
and members of said Police Department shall severally hold their respective
offices and continue in their respective employment during good behavior
and shall not be removed from office, suspended, fined or reduced
for political reasons or for any other cause than incapacity, misconduct
or disobedience of the rules and regulations established for the government
of the Police Department and until after written charges of the cause
of complaint shall have been preferred against such officer or member
signed by the person making such charges and filed with the Police
Commissioner, and after the charges shall have been publicly examined
by the Mayor and Council upon reasonable notice to the person charged
and he shall have been given a fair trial upon said charges and every
reasonable opportunity to make his defense.
The Police Commissioner may, for good cause,
temporarily relieve any officer or member of the Department from duty
pending trial on charges, but such trial shall be commenced within
30 days, and if not so commenced, the charges shall be deemed to have
been dismissed and said officer or member returned to duty.
The officers and members of said Police Department
shall require the enforcement of all criminal laws and ordinances
within the Borough of Hasbrouck Heights, suppress all violations thereof,
seek out, arrest and prosecute all persons who may be charged with
or whom they have reasonable ground for believing are guilty of any
such violations and take any and all other actions as may be necessary
or proper to preserve the public peace, prevent crime and protect
life and property.
[Amended 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538]
The officers and members of said Police Department
shall have all the powers of a constable appointed in said Borough.
They shall have authority and it shall be their duty to serve and
execute any and all processes issued out of the Municipal Court.
In the event of emergency or widespread conflagration,
the Police Commissioner or Chief may, upon request of the Chief of
the Fire or Police Department or the Mayor of any other municipality
for assistance, provide and render such assistance by supplying police
aid in protection of life and property or assistance in quelling any
riot or in suppressing any conflagration.
[Amended 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538]
The Police Committee shall, from time to time,
prescribe the uniform and wearing apparel and other equipment which
shall be worn or used by the officers and members of the Police Department
at such time as may be directed by said Police Committee.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 15, which
immediately followed this section and dealt with uniforms and equipment,
was deleted 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538.
All officers and members of said Police Department
shall be considered always on duty and shall not be engaged in any
other business or interested in any other employment, either with
or without compensation, without the written consent of the Police
Commission.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 17, which
immediately followed this section and dealt with termination due to
unauthorized absence from duty, was deleted 5-29-1990 by Ord. No.
1538.
No officer or member of the Police Department
shall, without permission of the Police Commissioner, use or permit
any automobile, equipment or other property furnished by the Borough
for said Department to be used for private purposes or other than
in the performance of police work.
[Amended 11-28-2000 by Ord. No. 1913]
Except in case of imminent peril to life or property or other proper emergency, the regular officers and members of the Police Department shall not, without the permission of the Police Chief, act as special guard or escort for a private person or property. Any person, firm or corporation who may desire special police protection in the absence of any imminent peril to life or property or other proper emergency shall request the same from the Police Chief and if, in the opinion of said Police Chief, officers and men of the Department shall be available, said special protection may be furnished upon the payment of a charge to cover the cost thereof as set forth in Chapter 133, Fees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sections 20, 21 and
22, which immediately followed this section and dealt with temporary
and special police, were deleted 5-29-1990 by Ord. No. 1538.
