Passions rose high in the Toms River Township Council meeting last Thursday night when Mayor Rodrick announced they were cutting four positions from the Toms River Police force.
Until now, the force’s leadership consisted of the Chief, a deputy, two captains, and six sergeants and lieutenants. While no one is being fired, the two current captains are soon retiring, and Mayor Rodrick along with most of the council has decided to not rehire for the positions.
Councilman Quinslik has decried this decision as essentially defunding the police. The comment, an obvious reference to the unpopular woke movement to defund the police, caused Councilman Lamb to immediately fire back “That is a mischaracterization, and you know it”.
The reason for the cut is because the city is 3.5 million dollars over budget, and in dire need of EMTs. Slow response time, in addition to a major shortage of personnel in Barrier Island, has forced the hands of those in agreement with the Mayor to decide that the money will be much better spent on medical personnel.
The police department responded in an uproar, saying the city doesn’t understand the leadership importance of the captains and the wisdom and experience they give over to the younger officers.
Along with the termination of the captains, there has also been the cutting of one patrol office and the firing of media relations specialist Jillian Messina.
Jillian stated that we must not undermine her position, as her organized events has brought in 600,000 dollars for the department, through she more than pays for her own salary.
While Mayor Rodrick understands the severity of all the arguments, he feels that due to budget constraints, we are forced to choose the greater of two needs, which most of the council feels is the EMTs.
The council however has scheduled a second reading for January 31 at 7 pm at the L. Manuel Hirschblond Meeting Room at town hall.
