Westwood Council to Decide on Police Promotion Policy

The Westwood Council will make a decision on whether or not to require college degrees for police officers to be promoted during their next meeting, officials said this week.

Members of the council's police committee, including Councilman Robert Miller, Council President Jay Sciara and Police Chief Frank Regino have pushed for a change in the current promotion policy, which requires officers to hold a degree in order to be eligible. The requirement creates a situation in which an officer with little experience would have to be promoted over another with many years of experience, they have said.

Members of the PBA sent a letter to the council stating their support for a change.

Other council members, including Ingrid Quinn and Peter Grefrath, have opposed the change because of the value of education and the more definitive path to promotion it creates, they said.

The council voted 3-2 against removing the degree requirement almost a year ago. Members of the police committee raised the issue again this past spring and discussions continued intermittently since. 

One possible compromise suggested by Grefrath is using a point-based system to evaluate candidates for promotion and including a degree as one of many factors. Officials have not yet been able to agree on how heavily a degree should be weighted in a point system. Grefrath previously suggested 20 out of a possible 100 points, while Miller said he believed the number should be lower.

Regino touted some of the department's recent achievements and thanked the council for their support and for discussing the promotion issue at a council meeting Tuesday.

"I know that, working together, all problems are solvable," Regino said.

Miller said they would have an ordinance prepared for the council to vote on at their next meeting, which is scheduled for October 15 at 8 p.m. in the borough municipal building.