It is becoming clear that Mayor Davis has a personal agenda here; perhaps it would be appropriate for an un-biased Council member to assume leadership of the study and let the Mayor sit this one out and wait for the recommendation, whatever that may be.

God forbid if he were actually butt out.. He's a Napoleon he has to have control. If he doesn't get his way hell stop his feet. Seen it before.

If this is truly about saving taxpayer money, the Mayor should step aside and let cooler and perhaps clearer heads prevail. Whats the rush? This is too big a decision to be made by one angry man.

Hey TwinBoroMom! thanks for commenting. Just to be clear: The decision will not be made by one person. There is a committee working on several options that will be presented to the council by the end of June, according to Janet Hoven. If they decide to move forward with any plan, it is stated they would put it on a ballot for the public to vote on.

Thanks for the welcome. I would just like to think that the Council and the PD can find some middle ground where we can keep our own force but save some money too.

There are a great many unknowns right now because much of the process is being done behind closed doors. With any luck, when they present their options to the council and to the public, there can be a fair resolution to the issue. It is an important topic and the more residents that are involved in the process the better.

I say this a ton on our site, but news is a dialogue and a conversation we all have now, so you are a big part of what we do and I am so glad you decided to speak up!

There are a great many unknowns right now because much of the process is being done behind closed doors. With any luck, when they present their options to the council and to the public, there can be a fair resolution to the issue. It is an important topic and the more residents that are involved in the process the better.

@ twinboromom, from what I understand , our borough police is already the most efficient run department in the county with only accruing 19-20,000 in overtime last year. And that's with 8 officers. People need to understand that the more the crime
Goes up and the more arrests are made there will be more overtime it's just the cost of doing business. As i said in the past I rather pay a that little extra for my own police department. From a previous article it was stated by the detective that if something did go through the savings would be around 120.00 per year. I'm sorry but 10.00 a month is not worth getting rid or outsourcing our officers. It's merely a ploy for the mayor to make himself look good. Us residents will not get the response time that we do now. You should go a take a look at how run do their equipment is and other surrounding times have top of the line items. And how inadequate the size of the police station is. The counsel needs to drop this issue and move onto something else in order to cut costs. It's getting ridiculous. And the behind the scenes politics is getting old. Enough is enough!! That little man wants to throw his weight around and thinks he can do whatever he wants. He is a part time employee, stop messing with the officer's lives already. The entire counsel should be ashamed to let this keep happening!! Stand up to him and say now and let him go cry!!

Running a para-military organization ? Facing the open door alone? Oh yeah Chester is loaded with lots of bad people doing evil things like.....parking illegally in a fire zone and driving 5 mph over the speed limit and lest we forget- failure to yield to tourists who walk right into traffic on main street- lmao. Disband the police force with prejudice - one over- payed bunch of loafers in the township should be able to handle the boro as well.

Haha Newark it isn't. You just had bad run ins..meet a life.. You probably don't even live in town

Sell the "field house" or a gazebo or two and keep our police. I'll bet whatever savings are to be found in a consolidation will simply be spent on some other extravagance.

And not to mention you probably can't do their job. So stop hating on what they do. You have no idea.. Bet you wouldn't want to go inside a house 3am with an alarm sounding not knowing if someone is inside.. think before you speak genius.!! Just a lack of respect. Probably why you get tickets !! Arrogant and disrespectful..

Mark r- I lived in town for 10 years and now live in mendham, and as far as run ins- no I have never gotten a ticket from a boro cop-so much for your theories. A major part of why it so insanely expensive to live in nj is among other things - bloated over- paid municipal everything- so don't think I'm picking on the police alone, there are road depts and school administrators galore that fit the bill. I get pissed watching whiners making 100k+ a year sit in idling cars wasting time and gas. I am also neither poor nor old so don't bother advancing those ideas.

Finally, I can voice any opinion I choose, if you dont like it, too bad. Save the scare tactic "you wouldn't do their job" nonsense as well. There are plenty of places that need large individual police forces, Chester borough isn't one of them. You have your opinion, I have mine. Of course mine, genius that I am doesn't involve questioning your character or calling you childish names.

Guys, love the debate....but yeah...no name calling. You guys both have good points. Everyone has the right to their opinion and to express it. And I would express anyone with evidence of these things or grievances to come forward and speak to their local government or go on the record with me. thanks again for the discussion.

We're you a Twp resident or borough resident? It makes a world of difference. And who is whining???. And for your info the cars have to idle in order to maintain power to the radios radars etc.... See its the lack of thinking as to why they idle. Remember that person making the 100k a year when you call 911 when your wife son or someone calls on your behalf because they stop breathing. Guess who's there first.. Certainainly not the first aid squad. Or when you call because of lousy dog barking. Why should a corporate person get 250,000 plus to be a paper pusher when then do nothing for the community. And I wouldn't consider chester borough having an over abundant amount officers they are with minimum and get the job done..!!!,! You are absolutely correct but Iabout voicing your opinion and are correct about the schools. They take up most of what people pay in taxes. And to pretty much say these guys don't deserve to get paid what they do is insane. How many holidays have you missed with your family? how many bodies have you seen mangled or dead from car crashes (unless you're a doctor). How many times have you had to do CPR on a child or save someone's life from a burning car??? I can bet 0. They get paid for what they may have to do. They go into work everyday not knowing if the possibility of them getting hurt is there whether it be from a person they pull over or from one of these soccer moms in their escalades too busy talking on their phone and causing an accident..

There borough police that I pay for is great. I don't want it to change and will absolutely vote against any merger as I know a lot of people will.

By the way Russ. You're doing a great job!!

Wow mark you take everything a little too literally. Having a police force to call about your neighbors barking dog, which is a lot of what goes on is not a necessity. Paying a 20 something year old kid top dollar for potentially performing CPR is a little over the top. Since you don't know me you have no idea what my position is or who I may know or interact with. Like wise you do not represent the majority opinion of Chester borough any more than I may claim to- and I know there are plenty of people who share my opinion, and don't happen to be stupid, insane or overpaid paperpushers. There are plenty of people who contribute a lot community without the promise of a lifetime pension and benefits after their 20years of patrolling the mean streets of Chester. What goes on in this regard is unsustainable. Just as an aside, I was in califon a couple times on the past month, and I was not assaulted by roving bands of criminals due to the lack of a local police force.

Teeny bit off topic, but I wanted to ask: Newark, from your posts I am gathering your issue isn't necessarily with the Chester Borough PD, but with what you see as institutional issues in places like law enforcement, education, etc. One of the things we have been discussing here at at Patch is sort of an informal gathering with members of the community and members of the public. It might be in person a couple times a year and but it would primarily be an e-mail chain or message board sort of thing. We would love to facilitate communication between intelligent citizens and the governing bodies that represent them. A lot of people find attending meetings restrictive for a variety of reasons, and this might be a way to spitball new ideas. Does this sound like something you might be interested in? People you know in your community? We're trying to gauge interest before moving forward.

And this isn't just for you, if anyone reading this is interested let me know. We're always trying new things here.

Um Newark I believe they earn their pension and it's after 25 years. As I stated earlier how many holidays have you missed or events that you couldn't make because you had to work , I assure not many. I don't really care to know you quite frankly, before you talk down to what an officer does I would love to see you do there job for a day. I'm really proud of you that you weren't assaulted , you obviously do have something against police because they do get pensions and decent pay. Instead of attacking a police department that you have no affiliation with attack the one in your "home" town and let's see how far that gets you. . @ Russ from what hear the borough officers would rather stay separate and even if it means making less, I know some of them by them driving in. The neighborhoods and them stopping and talking to me.

Yeah Mark, I hear that too. I am wondering if there will be some sort of arrangement that can be reached that makes the MAJORITY happy. I really don't know at this point.

Thanks Russ, I think your meeting idea is probably a good one except for one thing. People on these boards on any topic generally have a very specific view point. There is also a lot of anger that comes with it at times. Clearly in this discussion that is the case. I honestly meant to throw out a comment and leave it at that. Instead I am now participateing in a debate. You are also correct with regard to the police. They are a symptom of a larger problem. Chester at one point had the highest retail vacancy rate in Morris county. The rents in the stores are untenable, because taxes and overall costs are so high, yet everybody wants what they want, cost be damned. Using the bloated budget of one municipal police force as a yard stick to compare it to the bloated budget of another municipal police force doesn't make for a sensible comparison. I have a lot more experience from a taxpayer stand point on both the business and personal siding than just chatting with the police in my free time, so this shapes my opinion of who they are and what they do. There is simply not the need for a township and borough department, but there will always be somebody loudly trumpeting how the world will end without them.

And mark- as far as missing holidays for work- lots of them- everyday except Christmas as a matter of fact. People like you don't get it. You sit in your myopic little box and stamp your foot and protest about whatever your personal beef of the day is. Being napoleanic isn't confined to cops and mayors. Frankly there doesn't need to be a mendham borough force either- even less than Chester- and long valley doesn't need 40 police cars but these are all things for another pointless debate. Fin.

Are any of the Borough Police Officers ready to retire? I don't want anybody forced out, but if they are ready to go, could we save our force if they were replaced with new officers at the starting rate?

TwinBoroMom, there are a couple who are eligible, but I understand they are not on speaking terms with the Mayor. I agree with you that we should try to maintain our own police force if possible. If we can't afford our own cops, maybe a complete merger of both towns, forming one Chester, isn't such a bad idea after all. (despite the study of a couple of years ago)

@ TominChester,and TwinBoroMom, its not that they aren't on speaking terms, its the fact the the mayor has a personal agenda here and is keeping "key" people out of the loop and is trying to be sneaky and throws out mis-leading information to make it seem that the financial woes of the Borough are b/c of the Police which is completely inaccurate.Yes there will actually be a savings when officers do retire and new ones come in. They are saving now with one new guy and two other officers who only have a few years on and are not at top pay. Another way to save money is for the entire council who receives medical benefits should forfeit them, espcially since they a PART TIME. The study that was done two years ago is not going to be any different now. As I have always said, i'll pay that extra for our own department as i believe a lot of will, and strongly feel that if it does go to a referendum it will get voted down!!! And as for doing a town merger no way either Mayor will be willing to give up their position of power. The money is there to pay for our own police but the Mayor rather spend it on ridiculous things. I wonder how much revenue that field house on Seminary Ave has accrued since it has been built, probably no where near what it cost to build it. Why doesn't the town sell that?? It's obvious what the Mayor's intentions are, and i hope this special commitee reads these comments and decide to squash the issue once and for. all. .

Why are they willing to break apart something that works for our town, it's not right. Bottom line is that there will be no savings by mergering our Pd with the Twp pd, its simple math. Also, I caught wind that there is a petition going around town to recall the Mayor