New Jersey's municipal police officers are taking an economic beating lately.  The New Jersey Police and Firemen Retirement System (PFRS) is running low causing distress among both the Governor and police statewide.  Governor Chris Christie has been touting a revision of the (PFRS), in his view, to save it.  However, many police officers around the state have a different view of the proposed revisions.  To make matters worse, the PFRS revisions is not the only issue surrounding the police profession.  Layoffs and proposed consolidations are other issues facing New Jersey's municipal police officers. 

Local police departments throughout New Jersey have been laying off police officers during the past year.  Most recently, Camden has officially given pink slips to 167 police officers.  Camden has also laid off 68 firefighters.  This latest round of police and firefighter lay offs is only a glance into the dimming financial future of New Jersey's municipal police and firefighters.  Atlantic City police have suffered two rounds of lay offs with only 17 police officers' jobs saved due to union concessions.  The City of Newark has also had to lay off 167 police officers.  However devastating the police lay offs will be to these cities, they are not alone. Many other municipalities across the state have had to do the same.  Municipalities have received less in aid back from the State under Governor Christie forcing municipal budgets to be tightly squeezed.  But that is not where the story ends or begins.

Most recently, in his State of the State speech last week, Governor Christie noted that the PFRS is in jeopardy of becoming bankrupt unless certain actions are taken.  In particular, Governor Christie proposed the following reforms:  raising the retirement age; eliminating Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAS) in times of low inflation; requiring a higher contribution from employees; and ensuring the State begins to make its contributions toward the PFRS. 

While those proposed reforms may sound sensible, the history of the State's behavior sheds a new perspective on the situation.  In late 2010, Sergeant Michael Pocquat from Mount Olive Township (Morris County) sent a letter which was published in the Mount Olive Chronicle eloquently explaining the history of the State's failure to do their part with regard to the PFRS.  In short, Sergeant Pocquat noted that the public was being led to believe the "police and firemen were bilking the taxpayers dry, when the truth is totally the opposite...[t]he politicians bilked your police officers and firemen...." The letter speaks volumes.  It explains how the State, beginning with Governor Whitman along with the other Governors following her took money from the PFRS to balance the budget after granting tax cuts.  In short, essentially the State raided the PFRS.

Additionally, while the laws surrounding the PFRS originally required municipalities to match contributions, that requirement was later repealed. The current Governor's proposal then to require a higher contribution by the police and fire employees seems unfair.  Governor Christie's pension reform proposals may seem rational in order to ensure the PFRS is around for future retirees, but his commentary that "pensions are too rich, and contributions are too small...." seems misplaced.

However, we are in a time of economic uncertainty. Police and firefighters are facing the same public wrath New Jersey's teachers faced last year. Without a proper understanding of the history as outlined by Sergeant Pocquat, many New Jersey citizens would rather side with Governor Christie's proposals and commentary.  Public workers are facing the public who are in fact the taxpayers funding the public workers' salaries. Calls for smaller government and less public workers is the political flavor of the moment not only in New Jersey but across the nation.

Consider not only Governor Christie's fight with the teachers' union last year but also President Obama's two year freeze on federal workers' salaries.  Combine all of the above with the Tea Party's call for a smaller government and you have a cold outlook on public workers whether they are police or firefighters or teachers. 

New Jersey's municipal police are now facing another political ploy to combat the costs of running police departments.  On January 26th a meeting will be held in Parsippany, New Jersey by the organization entitled the "Government Efficiency Movement".  A plan for reorganizing the County's 37 police departments into four departments will be presented.  The idea appears to be that of saving by eliminating the need for the current amount of police chiefs and other upper level officers.  The plan is being rallied by Tim Smith, a councilman from Roxbury Township, home of one of the most well regarded police departments in Morris County.  Currently, little information has come out publicly on the consolidation plan.  However, the concept, as vague as it is at present, is catching the eye of the taxpayers in the hopes it will reign in the costs of municipal police departments thus lowering their tax bills.  To learn more about the Government Efficiency Movement visit http://www.governmentefficiencymovement.org/.

The future of New Jersey's municipal police departments may be clearer when and if the details of the police consolidation plan are explained to the public next week.  Even without  consolidation plans, it appears with the proposed PFRS reforms and the continuing lay offs, New Jersey's municipal police have replaced New Jersey's teachers as the victims of the economy.  New Jersey's police unions have information on their respective websites regarding the PFRS issue.  To view their websites go to http://www.njspba.com and http://www.njfop.org.