Laid Off New Jersey Officers Turn in Badges

April 19, 2011

N.J. Cops Turn in Badges

Laid off Paterson Police Department officers march down Church Street in Paterson, N.J. on Monday, April 18.

In the first step of what will amount to a 25 percent smaller police force by next week, about half of the 125 Paterson officers targeted for layoffs in this year's budget turned in their badges and weapons on Thursday, a police union official said.

The layoffs were a controversial provision in the city's effort to wrestle what began as a $70 million budget deficit in light of the city's high rate of crime. Police brass have said that the job cuts would harm law-enforcement effectiveness.

Monday is the official effective date of the layoffs, but because of shift scheduling the officers turning in equipment and credentials Thursday had completed their last tour of duty. Another 34 officers are to be demoted.

The 125 police layoffs were part of the planned job cuts of 392 city employees from various departments, from a workforce of nearly 2,000.

A "vast majority" of the city's 487 police officers are expected to march from department headquarters to City Hall on Monday morning in "humble opposition" to the layoffs and demotions of a third of the force, according to a union flier.

"We are marching to show the residents of Paterson the proud men and women that will miss protecting and serving them on a daily basis," union President Steven Olimpio said in a statement. "This decision by the mayor and council will adversely impact public safety in Paterson, the city's schools, the city business community, and future economic development in 'the Silk City.' "

Last week the department received another jolt when 34 more officers were handed pink slips in error. The error derived from the city's Feb. 2 layoff plan, which the state read as a proposal to eliminate 159 positions rather than 125 layoffs and 34 demotions. In a letter Monday, the state approved an amended plan that kept the number at 125.