Boro to discuss hiring additional police officers Ocean Township budget hearing scheduled to be held April 14 BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer OCEAN TOWNSHIP- The Township Council is expected to discuss increasing its police budget during its budget sessions next month in order to add manpower to the force. The town will be looking into adding more police officers to the current 62-officer police department, Mayor William Larkin said at the Feb. 4 council meeting. "You suggested [at the last meeting] that maybe there should be a conversation about [the total number of officers] as part of the budget process," Ocean Township resident and attorney Larry Loigman said to Larkin and the council at the meeting. Council plans to start discussions on the matter in March during its 2008 budget sessions, according to Larkin. "We will be discussing that in the budget hearing," Larkin said, adding that the public budget hearing is scheduled to be held April 14. Despite the fact that the department is functioning at its maximum strength, Police Chief Antonio Amodio said he would like to see more officers added to the force. "I think any chief would say they would like to see more officers in their department, but it comes down to a question of wants versus needs," Amodio said. "I would love to have a large amount of officers to do things, but officers are expensive." Amodio explained that additional officers would help the police department better serve the town's nearly 29,000 residents. "The town council has been very receptive to the majority of the department's requests since I've become chief," he said. The township police department has experienced several changes on its staff since Amodio took over as head of the department in 2005. "In the last three years, we have had 18 vacancies,"Amodio said last week. "Not one of those officers left the field of police work early. "We lost one officer to cancer, while the remaining 17 simply retired or moved on to other departments to better themselves," he added. Even with the police staff changes over the past three years, Amodio said the Ocean Township Police Department continues to function at its authorized maximum strength of 62 officers. The department has appointed three officers to the force since Jan. 1, according to Amodio, who said two of the recent appointees are previously trained officers and one must still graduate from theMonmouth County Police Academy. "The last three we just hired were a dispatcher from Ocean Township and two Class II specialists, one from Hazlet and one from Point Pleasant," Amodio said. The loss of so many officers over a relatively short period of time is simply due to age, Amodio explained. "In 2008, five additional officers, including myself, will be eligible for retirement," he said. "Whether they retire or not is a personal decision." In 2004 former Police Chief Robert Swannack retired from his position, which was followed by a variety of changes in the department, according to Amodio. "Some officers were waiting to see what the new administration would bring to the department in terms of opportunities to be promoted," Amodio said. "Those that had the time to retire and didn't get promoted, retired. "A few of the officers went to the prosecutor's office, which is considered a step up in their career because they will be focusing on investigations," he said, adding, "But most simply retired." The department is in the process of seeking officers to promote to the positions of lieutenant and sergeant. "When we have a confirmed vacancy, we immediately start the process of searching for new hires," Amodio said. "If we hire someone who isn't previously trained, we get them into the 23-week Monmouth County Police Academy program right away. "If a new hire has gone through the academy, they go into field training with us, which lasts roughly 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks, we have them working on the road by themselves," he said. To be considered for the Ocean Township Police Department, applicants must have a minimum of a two-year degree and have already passed both the physical and academic sections of the Monmouth County Chief 's Test. Applicants are then subjected to extensive interviews with senior officers from the department's administrative section, Amodio explained. Applicants chosen by the administrative section are then passed on to the township manager, who makes appointments based on the recommendations from the police department.