To the Editor:
Sheriff Robert Austino and his administration have let down the citizens of Cumberland County again.
The first issue is with overtime. Headlines in The News on April 6, 2010, read, “Overtime killing sheriff’s budget .” The report states that since 2008, the sheriff’s department has exceeded its budgeted overtime amount by approximately $200,000 over the last two years.
Another recent let-down was reported in The Daily Journal on August 20, 2011. “Officer suspended over abandoned rifle.” Not reported, however, was the fact that this assault rifle was a Heckler & Koch UMP 40-caliber, a fully automatic machine gun with four fully loaded magazines, containing 120 rounds of ammunition.
The weapon in question was found in its case in the middle of the roadway on Beebe Run Road, Hopewell. We, the citizens of the county, are fortunate that the weapon was found by county officials and not by a curious youth or criminal.
By his own admission, the sheriff stated that this was a serious violation and breach, adding, “Needless to say, I’m not very pleased.” You are right, sheriff; this is a serious violation and a breach, and to admit that you are “not very pleased” is an understatement, to say the least.
However, when all is said and done, ultimately, you are responsible. Under your administration, the department has been stripped of the weekly firearms training sessions that I instituted when I first took office in 2000.
This has been replaced with minimal firearms training: shooting one course to qualify for daytime shooting and one course for nighttime shooting, only performed twice a year.
Instead, as was the case under my training program, the officers should continue to shoot several courses to become more proficient with their service weapon and build their confidence levels up to the highest degree.
Also, currently missing from their training is hands-on instruction with different shooting scenarios, such as “shoot/don’t shoot,” an operation that affords the officer practice in making split-second decisions. Furthermore, officers should become familiar with different weapons that the department carries, always with the emphasis on safety.
In addition, officers should have sufficient training in securing their service and/or tactical weapons at all times, regardless of the situation. By assigning the officers on a training work day, the department benefits by eliminating having to pay them overtime, which would have been necessary without the assignment.
Knowing that all of our vehicles have mechanical trunk releases by the dashboard, I enforced the policy that if an officer were assigned any weapon other than the issued service weapon, then the weapon must be kept in the trunk of the vehicle.
As an additional safety measure, all trunks were secured with a chain and lock in case someone without authorization gained access to the release button.
In law enforcement, the biggest liability is the misuse of firearms. The department’s best insurance is training. In the case of the assault weapon being left in the middle of the roadway, I question why this officer even had this weapon in his vehicle when he was simply monitoring a washed-out roadway.
This weapon is a tactical assault rifle to be used in extreme circumstances, such as a felony arrest, dealing with armed subjects, or high-risk narcotics searches. This weapon should never have been in the car in the first place.
The officer who left the weapon on the roadway certainly has a degree of culpability. Was fatigue a factor? Many officers were forced to work overtime, and it is understood that during an emergency, the county has to pull all of its resources together and do all that is necessary to deal with the crisis. This includes having officers provide security for damaged roadways along with their normal departmental duties.
However, this is where the administration is culpable by failing in the decision-making process dealing with the overtime. Why, sheriff, were there two officers sitting in one car during the early afternoon hours, on Thursday, Aug. 18, protecting a washed-out bridge? This fact was related to me by a civilian worker, who was very upset and considered it a waste of taxpayer’s money.
This public worker further stated that during the day he and his fellow workers could keep the public away, thereby eliminating the need for the officers so they could do their regular job.
Once an emergency was declared by the county officials, the sheriff then has the flexibility to change officers regularly-scheduled work times to conform with the emergency. I do not believe the sheriff changed the assigned work schedule, which is evident by these two officers working the same detail.
Another recent complaint I got was from a Verizon worker who wanted to know why the sheriff’s department assigned officers around the clock on a security detail during a strike at their garage on Reese Road in Millville. This was on Aug. 19. Good question. Why, sheriff?
It is starting to become obvious why officers may be fatigued and why the overtime budgets are regularly exceeded. If security was needed at Verizon, a private entity, Verizon should have hired a security company to provide that service. Consequently, there would be less fatigue on your officers and less overtime burden on taxpayers.
If re-elected, I will take charge and start making the right decisions concerning the overtime issue, and insuring the safety of our sheriff’s officers, their families, and the citizens of our county.
This will save taxpayers money, by eliminating unnecessary overtime thus preventing the possibility of fatigue, which itself, as is plainly evident, could possibly lead to very tragic outcomes.
Michael F. Barruzza
Vineland
