New Jersey S tate P oli cem en’ s B en evol ent Associ ation H o b o k e n P o l i c e L o c a l No. 2 38 Jac kson S t r eet ● S uit e 300 ● P O B ox 1401 H o b o k e n , N e w J e rs e y 0 7 0 3 0 - 1 4 0 1
Hoboken411.com
Vincent T. Lombardi P RESIDENT
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July 14, 2010 Mayor Dawn Zimmer City of Hoboken Hoboken, NJ 07030 Re: Hoboken PBA Professional Report Analysis/Rebuttal of the HPD Staffing Study prepared by the NJ State Division of Local Government Services - Department of Community Affairs. Dear Mayor: As president of the Hoboken Policemen’s Benevolent Association, I am responsible for the representation of all (rank and file) Hoboken police officers below the rank of sergeant and address you on their behalf exclusively. In late February 2010, the City received a report titled, “A preliminary review of the staffing levels and organizational structure for the City of Hoboken’s Police Department” which was prepared by the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) State of New Jersey. Upon receipt of this “DLGS report”, you authorized, apparently acting on behalf of the City and out of public demand, the immediate release of the report to the public via the City of Hoboken webpage and other cyber media outlets. The release of this report and its findings resulted in an immediate public and political backlash aimed at the police department and its dedicated members of service. Unfortunately, the report was written with purpose to invoke such reactions via its many faulty and misleading data copulations and financial cost savings and or wasteful spending conclusions. I was not opposed to the DLGS report being made public because I am a firm believer that the citizens have a right to studies, audits, budgets and other information called for and collected by the City which affects them both directly and indirectly. However, I was appalled by the many errors, miscalculations, omissions and contradictions it contained and realized that the city and public needed and deserved a proper and accurate report analysis of the HPD and its rank and file officers. To accomplish that objective the PBA hired a professional consulting firm to conduct a complete analysis of the DLGS report, and our analysis was recently completed and our report finalized.
U n it e d In B r o t h er h oo d S in c e 1 8 96 & F o u ndin g Lo c a l o f t h e N e w J er s ey S t a t e PB A
Hoboken411.com
Ne w Je rs e y S t at e P olice me n’s Hoboke n Police
Be ne volent A ss oci at ion L o c a l No. 2
I have chosen to provide you, the business administrator, public safety director and the city council with a hard copy of our report. Also, I am providing you with a CD-R disk of the report in a PDF file format for the sole purpose of uploading it to the City of Hoboken webpage for everyone to review in comparison to the DLGS report. Being a strong advocate of government transparency, I encourage you to release our report on the city webpage as part of your commitment and in all fairness to the PBA and public. The PBA is completely comfortable with the total and unrestricted release to the public our own report of analysis and rebuttal and firmly stand by its comprehensive and highly competent content. Again, the PBA chose to hire a highly qualified and professional consultant to analyze and rebut the DLGS report, and to clarify the many omissions, mistakes, and faulty data calculations it contains in an effort to educate the city council, administration and the public concerning the realistic rank and file staffing levels needed in the Hoboken Police Department. Based upon our own report, we have concluded that the police officer cuts recommended in the DLGS report are outright ludicrous and implementation of these cuts, by your administration and city council, would be disastrous to safe and effective policing of our great city. Our report is open, honest, fair and factual and should be carefully read in direct comparison and contrast to that of the DLGS report. It is my strong opinion, shared by many including our own expert, that the DLGS study was drafted to purposely and deliberately misinform and mislead the administration and public. It was created to achieve a predetermined financial cost savings objective, and the study team worked backwards to accomplish such, while dangerously glossing over the probable future negative impact on overall public safety and services to the community. I hope and trust that our report will be received and read with the same careful, clear and competent mindset that required its completion and led to its conclusions. Please note that the principal author of our report has over thirty years of law enforcement and executive management experience among his other impressive credentials, and is the former Jersey City Police Chief. Respectfully yours,
Vince Lombardi President Enclosure(s): Northeast Labor Consultants, Inc. – Hoboken PBA report & DLGS report – CD-R disk of report Copies of this letter and the Hoboken PBA Analysis report will be provided to the following: C: Hon. Peter Cunningham, Council President – Councilman – 5th Ward All City Council members Hon. Angel Alicea, Director of Public Safety Hon. Arch Liston, City Business Administrator
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