Westwood Council Delays Vote, Amends Police Promotion Rules

The Westwood Council voted to delay the adoption of a long-awaited set of new rules governing police promotions this week so they could further tweak the draft.

The council voted 4-3, with a tie-breaking vote from Mayor John Birkner, to make a few more changes and hold the vote until their November 12 meeting. It has been almost a year since the council first voted against a change in the promotion rules.

The proposed rules still include requirements for officers to hold a degree in order to be eligible for most promotions and would weigh college credits at a ratio of 32 credits to three years of experience with the department, as was proposed in the original version of the ordinance introduced earlier this month.

The new version would extend a waiver for officers seeking promotions who don't have degrees an extra year, from 2015 to 2016, if they have worked for the department prior to 2002.

A new section of the proposed rules also adds a process for officers to appeal the ranking of candidates for promotion. Officers would have 10 days to make an appeal to the chief, who would consider them on a case-by-case basis.

The new version of the ordinance can be viewed online here. The council is expected to vote on it at their November 12 meeting, at 8 p.m. in the municipal building.