Dear Editor:
On Feb. 19, 2010, the State of New Jersey, Division of Community Affairs, released an audit, conducted by a member of its staff, of the Hoboken Police Department.
In my 24 years of service, I never thought that I would have to defend myself for being a public servant. For the past few months and more so since the audit was released, several anti-police factions have been smearing the Hoboken Police Department and its members. Under the guise of fake names, they have posted false information and have made their recommendations for how they believe a police department should be run. None have any expertise in policing and some just appear to have a hatred for the Police Department. One such person even accused the police of committing a crime for having the salaries we do. How ridiculous! Think about it – if we were looking to be wealthy, we wouldn’t have taken jobs as police officers.
We, as police officers serve people who request or require our help. We work, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We are forced to miss affairs and events that those working a normal schedule usually can attend. We don’t always get to wake up with our children on Christmas morning, go to school plays, watch the 4th of July fireworks with our children in our arms or spend birthdays with our families. We deal with drunks, drug addicts and criminals, get verbally abused, physically assaulted, spat at and even shot. That’s correct. For those of you who are new to the City of Hoboken, Hoboken Police Officer John Aguiar was shot in the line of duty while searching for an individual who was wanted for an earlier shooting. Officer Aguiar observed a person fitting the description, attempted to question him, and was shot and injured, all while in uniform and sitting in a marked police vehicle. He recovered from his injuries but was forced to leave policing due to the incident.
We earn salaries and benefits because we have sworn to protect and serve the citizens of Hoboken. Although some have accused us of doing so, we do not determine our own salaries and benefits (that is done through collective bargaining). In the past we even took certain benefits in lieu of raises when the City of Hoboken could not afford to give raises. We, unlike corporate America, do not receive six figure bonuses when crime goes down. What we do get are periodic, nominal raises, an occasional thank you for a job well done, and the satisfaction of knowing that we are serving and keeping the public safe.
Be assured that in the near future, we will rebut the recently released Police Audit and expose its many inconsistencies. Thank you.
Lieutenant Edward D. Schell
President
Hoboken Police Superior Officer’s Association