Washington Twp. Police Salaries Approved by Council

The Washington Township Council voted unanimously to pass a new salary ordinance for the Police Department during their meeting Monday.

The council had approved a new agreement with the PBA at their previous meeting. The salary ordinance set the salaries as agreed to in the new contract, which retroactively takes effect as of January 1, 2012 and lasts through 2014.

The new ordinance includes a 1.5 percent salary increase each year for three years. The highest salary included in the ordinance, for a senior officer captain, will increase from $128,066 in 2011 to $133,916 in 2014. A patrolman's salary will increase from $102,064 in 2011 to $106,726 in 2014.

The new contract also eliminates terminal leave as of December 31, 2011, according to Mayor Janet Sobkowicz. Officers who have leave saved from before that time will still receive it, but they will not be able to accumulate any more.

Sobkowicz previously said the elimination of terminal leave was a "major step" in making long-term savings for the township.

She thanked the police and township officials involved in negotiating the contract during the meeting Monday.

"It was a good give-and-take process," Sobkowicz said.

During a work session at the meeting, township officials and police also discussed upgrades to some of the department's equipment, including new cameras for patrol cars and a new computer for the dispatch desk.

"We're far behind when it comes to almost everyone else around here when it comes to technology," Police Chief Randy Ciocco said.

Currently, only two of the township's police cars have working cameras, and they run on VHS tapes. The new cameras the department has proposed to use would wirelessly transmit their footage to a computer in the department, and the recordings will be stored on DVDs.

A new computer is also needed for the dispatch desk, because the current one is so old that the company which made it will stop supporting or repairing it in April, Ciocco said.

The upgrade will include new hardware and software.

Ciocco also said that the department had received resumes for civilian dispatchers and they could get started with a plan to use them fulltime as soon as the council gives the go-ahead. The township advertised for dispatchers who are already trained, but an officer will likely need to sit with them for about a month as they learn the township's system, police said.

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