JERSEY CITY – Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop announced he will next month introduce an ordinance that will combine the city’s police director and fire director jobs into one “public safety director” position. The office of Police Director and Office of Fire Director would also be combined and streamlined under his proposal.
Fulop’s announcement comes a week after current Police Director Sam Jefferson announced that he will retire February.
According to a release from Fulop, the new public safety director position would not impact the Chief of Police or Fire Chief, whom each would maintain their respective responsibility for leadership of day-to-day operational aspects of the police and fire departments in the new organizational structure.
The newly created public safety director position would, however, combine two current positions – that of police director and fire director – into one. If approved by the full City Council, the public safety director would, according to Fulop, eliminate redundancy in management. Currently, the chief
of each department is responsible for operational aspects of the department, while the directors’ offices are tasked with udgeting and communication to the mayor. Per Jersey City ordinance, the police and fire directors are political appointees selected by the mayor and approved by the council.
“We have a window of opportunity with Director Jefferson’s retirement to move past politics and put residents first,” Fulop said. “Combining the two positions will not only save money for taxpayers but it will streamline operations, it will improve communication between the fire and police department, it will eliminate layers of management and most importantly it will find synergies that can improve public safety.”
Fulop said he expects to introduce an ordinance to create the public safety director position at the council’s meeting of Feb. 8.
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