It's time that the public workers in this state started paying attention to the greater good rather then their own. We are in a lot of trouble. Some of it can be solved by doing away with the feathering that occurs in our public payrolls with both the rank and file and management. We certainly have too many officers in the department and frankly we could do with fewer officers as well. This is also true in city hall. Hoboken is desperate for reform. The self serving letter from the PBA President is just another example of the "village" trying to protect its own at the expense of the taxpayer.

Hobokencares,

Not all the cops in Hoboken are corrupt like LaBruno and Andriani. I do not condone defacing the Police Department. They do a valiant, tough job.

My issues have been with the management to non management ratios, the pay scales at the management levels and the overall rich benefits package. Yes, the Police and all other departments could use new policies and procedures to help them deal with misuse and overspending of town funds, discipline to move out unethical employees.

Defacing the Police like this doesn't help in reforming how Hoboken and it's departments are managed.

Donna

HPD is a Joke most of these Punk cops walk around like there gods and forget who pays there payroll, just look at all wasted time these cops stand in font of wallace school on willow ,and stand in middle of the street talking to woman that favor them and give everyone else a hard time to move. The same A holes cops on bikes , there is a nother lawsuit wasting to happen.. you will see.

I think the police department is doing an excellent job and should not have their morale effected by some of the internet neer-do-wells on other message boards. Some of them will bash anyone without truly understanding the hard work and challenges of the job. If you want to know what the police do or why a certain salary is high, why not ASK?

I do not count Donna (below) as a neer-do-well because she is making suggestions and as far as I can see has tried to have a dialogue with the firefighters when she asked questions. There is nothing wrong with asking questions if you truly want answers and aren't assuming without having facts (as many people do on teh internet). However, some will make assumptions and bash for no reason.

Keep protecting us, guys, and know you are appreciated. But these are tough financial times and we'll be looking for ways to make constructive cuts. I respect that you reached out to us, and I thank you. Hopefully more people will reach out to you rather than making cheap barbs.

Vince- Please publish an analysis of your management structure instead of picking part of the facts to present an untrue and unfair picture of the benevolence of the HPD (no pun in intended.)

The facts don't support your view if you share with the readers the grossly inflated salary and benefit structures that are in place for all levels of Hoboken HPD. I am fully aware that patrolmen and women start their careers at lower pay and work their way up.

However, I am also FULLY aware that the management in HPD is GROSSLY overpaid. Just look at our police Chief's salary being $200K+ versus Ray Kelly's salary of about $190K. That's 1 square mile in Hoboken versus over 300 square miles in New York City. That's a few hundred staff versus more than 30K officers alone (not counting staff at all.)

If they can find qualified management at those levels of compensation, why are we paying someone so much more? Shouldn't it be a lot less? Isn't that a fair question to ask and to have a discussion about?

Thank you Vince for your letter. Please go back and look at the layoff examples and my letter to Tripodi and posts. The examples given, the statements made have never been about the patrolmen, i.e., the men and women on the street protecting us, the fine and courageous work that they do for the city. The criticism has always been about the management levels - how much they get paid, the number of them in relation to the number of patrolmen (or firefighters) on the street responding to calls and protecting people.

The cuts suggested were MANAGEMENT CUTS (Sergeant and above).

When you look at compensation and make comparisons you have to include the value of the benefits i.e., TOTAL COMPENSATION. You mention Bergen County. Ridgewood is one of the towns where municipal workers contribute to monthly healthcare premium payments. You also mentioned that in the 70's the Police and Fire worked without pay raises. It was, in fact, because Hoboken along with NYC almost declared bankruptcy, that Hoboken began to offer Terminal Pay and the ability to accrue vacation and comp time towards retirement. It was a way of deferring compensation. When Hoboken gentrified in the early 80s, salaries went up but the Police and Fire kept these lucrative benefits. So, Hoboken has the highest pay and the richest benefits which means they have the highest TOTAL COMPENSATION when you include benefits.

Savings should not be look at in relation to the most that we've ever spent. It should be look at in terms of what we need to run an efficient department. That is, we need a bottoms up approach v. skimming off the top.

I am sorry that the morale within the Police and Fire departments is down. I wish that the departments can empathize more with taxpayers. Contrary to what people may think not all, not most of the taxpayers in Hoboken make tons of money. The 'morale' of the taxpayer is way down. People are worried, moving out of their apartments to smaller places, moving home or moving in with more room mates. I can name many. We want to stay here too and I would hope that departments can empathize with citizens who love this town.

Truly with best regards,

Donna