The Lakewood Police Department is hoping to hire more officers in the coming months, Police Chief Rob Lawson tells TLS. With the recent retiring of two veteran officers and several officers being promoted to Supervisors, the positions of street patrol officers have to be filled, Chief Lawson says.
“I’m hoping to get additional officers”, Lawson says, but says it ultimately depends on what the 2012 Municipal budget can afford.
Last year, the Township Committee passed a budget which allocated $100,000 for new officers, which would cover the salaries for the remainder of the year, and include fees for testing, screening and purchasing police equipment for the officers. The starting salary for an officer says Lawson is about $35,000 for the year.
With last year’s allocated funds, the department hired five new officers – two of which were lateral transfers from the Jackson Police Department and the others off the RICE list. One of the Jackson transfers, Officer Jeremy Felder, has since moved to the Detectives Bureau due to his outstanding performance in patrol, the Chief noted.
Hiring officers off a RICE list, saves a substantial amount of tax payer money Chief Lawson says, as the officers are already trained by the P.T.C., the Police Training Commission, and only require in-house training before getting them on the roads.
“The faster I can get officers on the road, the better”, Lawson says.
Lakewood, with a population of 92,843 according to the most recent census, has a current police force of about 118 officers, after the retirements of about a dozen high ranking officials over the last two years. At least 3 others have left the force due to injuries sustained while on duty. TLS.
ive heard the average salary for police in lakewood is over 100k whwn you include benefits and pentions etc if someone who knows can comment on that
How about hiring from thr Frum community like the NYPD does?
# 2
you have to shave and work friday and saturdays, and able to use electronic devices
can we afford more cops ?
let’s focus on high crime areas .
How much should someone who would lay their life down for a stranger be paid #1?
#5 “How much should someone who would lay their life down for a stranger be paid”
– oh stop that. NJ is the highest paid police state in America. dont tell me that NJ cops offer better service than any other state. and dont tell me, that lower pay will bring worse cops – because the field is already filled with knuckleheads. quit the nonsense. your rhetoric is old and has been proven wrong many times. 60k per year, would still bring quality service. 100k is just absurd. SOLDIERS MAKE 30K AND RISK THEIR LIVES 10X’s MORE THAN ANY POLICE OFFICER DOES! (ask me how i know)
hey mr conservative, how do you know??, oh wait, no one cares what you have to say!!. And if you think you can do the job, take the test, get hired and show us what you got!. My guess is you wouldn’t pass the psych exam!
why cant the promoted cops still do patrol duty?the fact they have a few more medals on their shirts shouldnt absolve them from doing patrol.
when you think of the over all budget this should be taken into acct before hiring more cops ultimately its us the tax payer who pay the price
put less people behind a desk and more out on the streets
How do u know
hey reality, if you have a problem with my views, choose to ignore my comments. lets be mature about this now. you are the exact knucklehead i spoke about. i actually have passed numerous psychological exams for various jobs, and a job that was closer to you than you think. so take a step back, and learn that others are allowed to have different views/opinions. you are not king, and dont let your job in this town let you think you can tell people what/how to think. just because you dont care what it is, i have to say – doesnt mean others dont. what are we 12?
total immature, selfish knucklehead. sorry that the truth hurts. sorry that you forgot how roughly 10yrs ago you too would have done this job for half the pay your making now.
Mr.Conservative…very proud of your words! Don’t let the knuckleheads in this town get to you. I am a 100% supporter of LPD and all the depts. Deserve every penny they make. I would love to see people be a Target for low salary. You have to love your career to pick it…heaters stop hating the well deserved paid officers!
Town doubled in size but the PD staffing is low And hasn’t changed in I don’t know how long. Maybe 50+ years
im certainly not a “cop basher” like REALITY tries to make me out to be – just because i threaten his future raises simply by disagreeing. i have worked in various uniforms from military, to various other local positions. i simply state the truth. if our troops can get paid 30-40k per year to fight in combat, there is no reason why our NJ cops should make 100+ and still complain thats not enough. and still attempt to claim “how much is my life worth on the line for a stranger”.
REALITY, if you dont like this job, if its risky for you – get out while you can. there are plenty of those who love this job, would still do it for 50-60k.
NJ cops are the highest paid in the nation, and its still not enough – and anyone who questions, or disagrees is a “cop basher” or should “go away”. Cops all over this nation make 40-50k and provide a great service and protect millions of people. they take criminals off the streets, and do a great job, and love their jobs. its the money hungry selfish ones like REALITY that only care about their paychecks.
its knuckleheads like REALTY that only do this job for the great pay & benefits. because if he loved this job, he wouldnt concentrate so much on pay.
I GUARANTEE IF POLICE DEPT’S LOWERED THEIR PAY SCALES/RAISES/BENEFITS = CIVIL SERVICE & CHIEF’S TESTS WOULD STILL BE PACKED WITH TEST TAKERS! That just proves that there are plenty good men & women that truly want the job for the right reasons, and not only one reason and thats $$$$$$
didn’t the guy from Jackson only get hired like 6 months ago?? and he’s a detective now? Wow! Was he like superman when he was on patrol??
Hey mr Condervative I agree with you but Take a chill pill. And stop with the nucklehead.
Yes he is…he is a good cop..knows who is and who is not bad..he knows them because they may live in jackson but they frequent the lakewood drug areas..so they know who is who..that is good police work..they know they are coming here not for good reasons. Lakewood is in need of more officers, it doesn’t matter what they make ..we need them here. At the rate of the members retiring..they need more to fill those spots..and to the person that said “can’t the officers that just got promoted answer calls?” They do..but they have other responsibilities in this town..like making sure all their officers are getting their jobs done.
Relax we all work well together..
More police the better!!!!!!! I dont care how much it costs!!!!!
Anonymous,
Ive heard that officer has many years experience as is a very respected member of Lakewood’s community …. not a 6 month rookie as you make it seem.
# 8 . for your information the recently promoted police officers still work on the “road”, only now they oversee what is going on and are the first line of supervision that is needed. the desk “officers” are the fewest now than in the last 40 years……..
get your facts straight