I guess this clearly points out the problem we as a nation are facing where Government employees are raking in the bucks while employees of private companies and a lot of small business owners are one pay check away from bankruptcy.

Even if you're making less than 200k a year, if 70k of that is overtime... let me say it this way instead. If your overtime is more than most people's annual salary, you are part of the 1% and you're out of touch with the people your paid to protect. Then people wonder what's wrong with this Country as Point Pleasant residents taxes keep increasing

Once again a politican runs off at the mouth without knowing what he is talking about. Reid is making a bunch of wild accusations about a lot of people, before he has any facts. While I agree that it seems like a lot of money, if the Lt. was needed because of some expertise, then he by law has to be paid. He legally can not work for free. And it is again by law his choice if he wants to take it in cash or comp time. And so everyone know, his overtime does not get included in his pension, unlike New York or the Port Authority. Give the Chief a chance to explain why the Lt. was needed before you rush to judgement, like the loud mouth Councilmen did.

First let me say that Councilman Select Stephen Reid does NOT speak for me so let's drop the "I along with the rest of the residents" line. The good people of Point Pleasant Beach don't want to hire more cops and many in the "Eastern" area of town can be heard complaining about poor coverage. You don't want to hire anyone, you get mad when you don't have "enough" coverage and you go nuts over paying for more. Do expect Chief O’Hara to wave a magic wand and just make extra coverage appear from thin air? Granted $70,000 is a lot of overtime maybe it could be spread around among other officers but how many of them wanted it? Oh, by the way, has anyone noticed the new batch of graffiti that appeared around town this past weekend? We need MORE police on the street.

This guy should be let go immediately. He let the department and the taxpayers down and took advantage of his position. The prosecutors office should step in and clean house.

Many on the streets of Point Pleasant Beach are complaining about these grossly over paid police in a small seaside shore town. Everyone seems to be saying the same thing. It is not that we have to many police, we have to many whom make more money than they should. Like many have stated before. When you have Philadelphia, NY and Newark police making a lot less than these 1 mile seaside beach resort towns, that is a problem.

I hope the council explains how the point pleasant beach police department operates. Being the police works 24hrs. a day seven days a week, broken down equates to how many police officers on a shift. Residents complain we have to many police at 21 police. Do we really? Something tells me, we do not. They do not comprehend. This is not a job you get to go home after so many hours. If you do, you are replaced with another police officer. Most residents have been complaining and feel the overtime is mismanagement with in the police dept. Is any funding coming from the state of NJ, or specific programs earmark being we had known problems. We can't sit and argue for hours over something that happened. We need specific ideas on how to change it all and run a more sufficient police department. The problem is the council needs to explain to the residents how the police department is run. Most do not understand about contracts. Any union is going to protect their members. That is their job. So as a town we just can't do what ever we want. We can't violate these contracts or we will be slapped with law suits. But something needs to be done. When all the other town employees are forced to take 17 furlough days off, then our police department should for go raises. Freeze salaries until everyone is back to work without having to take furlough days.

It is so funny the reaction of Mr Reid,
The police department has been telling the town for years that the cuts from attrition were actually going to cost the town. First off the Police generated a record amount of revenue this year. The Federal Government is paying a large chunk of the overtime from the hurricane. Lt Dikun is actually a NJ attorney and his expertise saves the town thousands in legal fees must likely hundreds of thousands over his career. The town council spent an EXTRA $60,00 in legal fees fighting ridicules law suits like the prayer in a public meeting suit. The police budget is down $400,000 from five years ago!!!! and the Department went from FOUR administration officers to TWO!!! and still is considered one of the finest departments in the State. The lost money on the court shared services....that flop actually cost the taxpayers more money.....and the hits keep coming....This story is a perfect example of how a small amount of information can be dangerous. Mr Reid as truly shown that as a councilman he is lacking....but as a spin doctor lobbyist he excels!

Such a shame that this officer was allowed to do this! Isn't this the same municipal township that gave up furlough days to compensate for a lack of funds? $70, 000 would have been enough money to hire two young able bodied police officers. How soon does Lt. Dikun retire? Talk about running up the numbers towards retirement....

Gordon says that the primary reason for all of Lt. Dikuns overtime was Hurricane Irene and a busy summer, correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the $25,000 for all 21 officers and most likely some specials being as it was still summer? Also, why should Lt. Dikun pushing a baby carriage back and forth across the road count as 'overtime'? What did that accomplish? Shouldn't his 'overtime' have been used on something more productive than that? Also, what about all the time he as spent at the Academy? I'm sure that has taken a large chunk of his 'overtime' pay!

What you people don't understand is that the police Department hits it out of the park every year making more money then towns three times their size. If the police department stops being successful your taxes are going to rise three fold.....that a fact.... what people don't understand is the republicans want the town to fail the master plan is to force consolidation and then blame the lack of funds.....get ready for "New Brick"

Coriolanus sounds like someone on inside of the dept with much detail. This town will never change. The inmates run the asylum. Look around folks because its a ghost town for eight months and the workers struggle to hide. The police department spent 240,000 dollars in overtime during 2011. On what was it spent ? 25,000 on hurricane and 215,000 on operation baby carriage.

...I just love all the political posturing. . .waiting for the Mayor to way in with his prose. . .So Mayor I know you don't want to engage with me. . .but according to the Ocean Star: total police O/T for 2011 was over $252,000. How much of that money did Police Dept budget for. . .and where is the money coming from that wasn't budgeted. . .and attrition is not a solution here!

The unions and the politicians want to keep tradition going. . .while the citizens are the ones who feel the pain with reduced services. . .Under the surface or behind the scenes which ever you prefer. . .there's a "political strategy" going on, pressuring citizens to get the Governor and Trenton to repeal or amend the 2% property cap, and/or enact more local tax ordinances. . .the bottom line: "more taxes" for property owners and whoever else they can get money out of. . .while [tradition] goes on with growing six figure police costs?

PS: when fatso told everybody to get off the beaches. . .because the coming hurricane upset his vacation. . .How much money did Trenton fork up for extra police costs?

Let the Lt walk the streets of Bedford Stuyvestant,NY with my son who is an officer there. He makes $50,000 per year with no overtime. Reality would set in with Lt Dikun real quick that he is overpaid. He would be wishing for the fresh and clean air of the Jersey shore and vision himself back on his segway.

What is the problem here? Why is it every time someone makes money in this country it is frowned upon. Especially a civil servent or goverment worker...Give Dikum a friggin break...The issue in hand is a OT cap should be in place if it not is already.
...As for you Vincent, tell your son to take a promotional exam so he can make some money with the NYPD..Also ask him again about how there is no OT in Bedsty, I find that hard to believe...

I can see the biggest problem here the politicians lie the police try to do a good job...I give up lay-off the cops go down to 18 let the cops file that the town can not fill in with specials and lets see what the summer brings.....I THINK ITS TIME! did any of you live here when it happened in Manasquan....and by the way their overtime was larger then Pt Beach.

Let us all remember...the PD wants to promote Dikun to Captain and promote a Sgt. to Lieutenant, than an officer to Sgt.

How about that overtime Bob collected being spent on cops on the street! Not more administrative people.

The council meeting is tonight and the Republicans didn't want any normal citizens coming to show support for the police.....just the normal dirty dozen!!!!!

Dear Mr. Reid,
"The Galleries are full of critics. They play no ball. They fight no fights. They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing. Down in the arena are the doers. They make mistakes because they try many things. The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and spirit of adventure. He is the one who never tries anything. he is the brake on the wheel of progress ...and yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes,because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he tries nothing,.....does nothing....except criticise those who do things".....Gen David Shoup US Marine Corps Medal of Honor Winner, Mr. Reid reject the Hennessey politics and go against the grain support your Police Department and all that they do!

That is a huge OT bill!!
Simple math, based on a salary of $126.000.00 or $60.00 per hour on a 40 work week.
$61,000.00 of Straight overtime @ $60.00 an hour would equal 1,023 hours or 23 weeks.
$61,000.00 of Time and Half overtime @ $90.00 an hour would equal 682 hours or 17 weeks.

Suppose it's time and a half -- 17 weeks is almost 33% of the total year. REALLY???
Hurricane Irene didn't last for 17 weeks.....and our summer is only 12 weeks. WHAT was he doing for all these hours of overtime?
Is there a budget for this or does he just work the hours and then everyone scrambles to pay it or figure out what to do? Who does he answer to or get his OT approved by?

I'm sorry, but if anyone has to work 33% of the year in overtime, then clearly something is wrong with the management of the department. Just sayin!

I'd like to get more details on this.

Coriolanus equals Point Beach cop. Anyone who defends a top man in the department and is ok with the police doing as they please because they wrote a lot of tickets needs major pyschlogical evaluation. They should not have a badge. You work for the people.

Peg- on top of all this they overspent their budget by 150,000 dollars. Where did that money come from ?

bobo equals republican club......not a cop do attend the meeting though lets chat tonight.

@coriolanus: sounds like your playing right into the hands of the PBA and the Trenton politicians. . .along with the locals who want to make an argument to go back to the days of over 11.5% annual property tax increases. . .From 2000 to 2007, local tax rate went up over 80%...
http://www.tax.co.ocean.nj.us/

Not to mention the time sheets are turned into the Borough Administer every pay period and the council gets copies if they want this is attack against one man for doing the job that was asked of him.....

bobo now i know who you are the number your talking about is $140,00 and the Police reduced their budget $400,000 in the last four years. The republican club is killing the town....and I agree fire all the cops hire no specials let Rome burn!!!!

The police brought in 1.2 million next year when its 600,000 what will you people say!!! answer me that

Last year when the council had their shot to close the bars earlier they ran like scared children showing they are in the pockets of the board-walk......I agree downsize the police force.....close the bars earlier and we will not need as much.....I have an idea close all the bars make it Bay Head and we can have Eight cops....Republican in this town you hate the cops and what they do but then beg them to keep the Board-walk under raps such nonsense.....this whole thing is corrupt!

Forget the overtime. A Police Officer making $125,272 a year in Point Pleasant is huge. No wonder the town is broke.

Coriolanus -- my math is correct as an average. $61,428.00 divided by $90.00 per hour OT is a total of 682.5 total hours. And that's if it's time and a half. If the overtime is straight pay you're looking at even more hours. I don't care how you spread it out -- by week, or by year --- it's a LOT of hours to work overtime.

It is not my intention to attack the Lt. -- it's a red flag in my book when someone has to work this much OT, in my mind something is wrong. Do we need more officers?
.

Republican club not. Educated citizen yes. I will be there. You should keep your trap shut. You have buried yourself enough today

bobo that seems threatening I may have to report you to the police.

Denise, BOBO just threatened me!!!!!LOL

Coriolanus- go arrest the seagulls on the boardwalk. They are pooping in public.

You must be off today or working the night shift later

Bobo go hit some golf balls.....

No thank you. Not my cup of tea. See you tonight and keep defending this corruption.

Nothing like a story about the police department to bring out all the cop haters in town. What a pathetic bunch you are.

Just curious, if you didn't have to pay that OT and had hired additional full-time officers, how much would you have have to spend on funding their pensions, hospitalization, social security, etc. I do think it is an over-the-top amount but what would the cost have been for a number (whatever #) of full-time officers?

I have often wondered how officers can stand the boredom of driving around a small town for hours on end where nothing happens .....Now I Know.

Councilman Reid is certainly entitled to voice his own opinion, but "I along with the rest of the residents are outraged" I find quite an overreaching claim. Not this resident. Some of us wait to find out the facts before we judge the situation.

In the real world, there are those individuals at the upper echelon who do not receive OT. OT is reserved for hourly wage personnel or at least persons not having top level positions. That is why their salaries compute out higher than say janitorial personnel.
In government, such upper echelon employees are categorized as "exempt" personnel are not eligible for OT. That is how at least Lts., Capts, Asst. Chiefs, and Chiefs should be treated paywise. The contract between the Pt. Beach Borough and the Police Dept. should be invalid as far as covering those positions I just noted.

Anyone with any municipal experience in the State of NJ must know this or perhaps
the governing body is doin' the "head-in-the-sand" bit?

Charlie Bogert

Charles, The problem is. We only have A Chief of Police and 1 Lt., We do not have Captain, or Asst. Chief, we are short. Most police departments have a Chief, Captain, 2 Lts. or Assisting Chief that is our problem. We are understaff and the reason why our department is being mismanaged thanks to our prior council.

With all these comments. I can't help to wonder what some of these individuals do for a living? How much are they making and what do they think they are worth. Some on here seemed to think they are so experienced and being a police is a cake job. Sure it is. I can almost bet, most here could not handle being a police officer.

Pointman,is that really all that you can come up with? haha Who was on council that had to approve the promotions? Was it the Mayor? I believe that you are suffering from"YOUR REIGN IS OVER"haha...

The problem is the union contracts. The town needs to renegotiate these town contracts and make the starting salary for new cops much lower. Also, I think the new cops, after a new contract is in place, show be told they will not be receiving a pension from the town. The town will set up a 401k plan and the new cops will make a decision to join. The town could match the new cops contribution, up to 6%. Th is how it works in the corporate world these days. There is no pension. This would eliminate the town taking care of the retired cops ( and all new town employees) for the rest of their lives. This would also help keep the taxes down in the town since the town would no longer have to pay the retired employees. A simple solution which will never take place because you have council members and town employees who's families have been working for the town and they know they have a secure job with a good pension. The town needs a plan that puts the responsible of a pension on the employee and not the tax payers of the tow. The salaries for all the employees are out of hand.

To A RESIDENT
Not asking for present cops or employes for a concession. Would apply to all new town employees, if a new contract is negotiated. (Again, I do not think it it will happen).
The problem is the unions and the civil service contracts. All the local towns look and see what the other town employees are negotiating for and then they want the same. The contracts should be based on what the individual town can afford to pay their employees. Not what the employees want from the town. Until the contracts are renegotiated and new employees are offered lower starting salaries and they also understand they will be responsible for their own retirement and not a pension from the town, the taxpayers will be paying higher taxes every year the contracts are in effect. I'm sure there are plenty of individuals who would be happy to join the Point Pleasant Police and also take town jobs, at a lower salary. Lets be real, the union contracts and civil service laws are the problem.

The individual employee pays into social security.. it is a deduction out of their paycheck, pensions are also a deduction of between 7-9 percent out of each employees paycheck, benefits are also a deduction, and within the next 3 years each and every government employee will be paying 35 percent of their benefit costs, which conservatives estimates that will be between $650-750 per month..If they are part of a union, they pay additional union dues, such as the PBA,, So they average government employee will be paying nearly half of their salaries to cover their benefits. If you don't believe this you can look all of it up online. As far as "A Resident"'s comment about unions and binding arbitration.. Unless your previous contracts agree to binding arbitration for any new contracts, the employer does not have to agree to arbitration. My company has been in contract negotiations for 4 years and as a union delegate I can tell you NJ labor laws favor the employer not the employee.. My employer refuses to agree to arbitration and it is completely legal because we have no past contract agreeing to it.

Local for years.....since I have family employed by the state and I have seen the figures for the projected cost in 3-4 years. Several towns paying 8% are paying $92 per paycheck now... That's 184.00 a month... You do the math and add inflation to that. I am in private sector and my company charges $200 a month for family coverage and that's 7.5 percent of their cost..and it is one of the worst plans out there. If you take the time to look up the costs online and do the research the figures are correct.
And I suggest you look at the 10's of millions of dollars NJ has raided and withheld from the pension fund. It was self sustaining until the state started raiding it, a practiced that began with Whitman and still continues today..

Peg,

They have paid into it since around 1988. I know employees who are working past 65 and getting paid and receiving SS. That's a fact.

Peg,

I also confirmed with a retired employee of the PD. Retired employee can get early SS at 62 or wait until 65. That's plus pension.

None of this would have happened had the PBA allowed a police director instead of a new chief when DePola retired at 47. Yes at 47, he's on a paid vacation for the rest of his life, just like the 4 other Beach police chiefs. Maybe he'll double-dip like most of the unionized government retirees in their 40's. DePola's pension/benefits package is estimated to cost taxpayers over 3 million. Directors work well in Newark and other cities. But,no the PBA thugs had to picket, intimidate and wrote no tickets for 2 weeks. The council gave in. This is why taxpayers are fed up. We don't hate cops.We hate overpaid and over pensioned tax takers.
Isn't the law state you need 1 cop for every 500 residents? 5,200 residents in a square mile town. Humm. Can't meter maids and auxiliaries take up the slack in the summer? Let's face it, except for some drunks, there's really no crime here. Can't recall a cop ever having to draw his weapon. Barney Fife would do O.K here. And what's with all their online degrees. Extra pay?
Reid does speak for us. He won 3 out of 4 districts, I don't know what you idiots near the beach were promised but why are your shocked there's noise when the bars let out. Remember Gordon is a lifetime tax taker and sees the taxpayers as an endless supply of money. This why is Greece bankrupt. To many people working for government and not enough tax makers.
And didn't Dikun sue the town twice? Yeah, good thing he's a lawyer. How much did that cost the taxpayers?

I wish I was on time for this discussion. Isn't overtime paid on a daily basis? Say a cop works 10 hours one day and 6 hours the next day. Is he actually paid 2 hours of overtime even though it was 16 hours in 2 days? And doesn't overtime also start after 35 hours for the week? Did I hear this right? How about it tax takers and your family members?

No, overtime is based on exceeding 40 hours in a given work week. Some departments work 8 hour shifts, some work 10 hour shifts all based on a 40 hour work week. Their salaries are based on 40 hour work weeks as are most full time government jobs(not all but most)...There are very few out there based on less, but even those based on 35-36 are not eligible for overtime until the employee exceeds 40 hours.

A police director a political hack? Yeah we wouldn't want some cop making 70 grand in overtime and we certainly wouldn't want to save the taxpayers millions by giving another guy a 6 figure pension/benefits package and a 6 figure payout for unused sick and vacation days. Noooo our police chief is working just fine!
In Newark the police chief works under the director DeMaio. It's not 2 people doing the job of one. I'm sure it's to prevent the things like outrageous overtime and the like. You know, like the stuff going on here. How about Wooodbridge's police director? POP around 100,000. Hired from within, no union thugs, no intimidation and no work stoppage. Will save the taxpayers millions.
When I have a question it's followed by a (?) It's not a statement.
So"a resident" your union mentality is so evident. What lies about Depola? No "o".I want to see if you can get any more childish. What shootings? Give me dates please. Also, and this is huge. Anybody please answer, Is Dikun's pension based on his last 3 years and/or high 3?

John,you have brought the word "ignorant"to a whole new level....

John... minimum I.Q. of 75 before you can post. Please stay off.

John57(aka,coward hiding behind an alias) first off you were the one that was calling names,remember your comment" I don't know what you idiots near the beach"etc...Second,I NEVER said 1-2 million people at one time so stop blatantly lying in order to make yourself sound smart.Third,you have made the same posts over and over and have received the facts about the Police director,pension etc...yet you continue to post nonsense...I think you should find a new hobby,just an opinion. Obviously you cannot comprehend english....

Cathy Kelly...I just want to say Thank YOU!
John57... a police director is a political appointment...so we go back to Jersey's favorite game of playing political favoritsm by putting an unqualified politically connected individual (i.e.) hack) in a job that should be done by an experienced police officer. More than likely that police director would make as much if not more than a chief...Again as I have suggested to you before...Go online and research what police directors get paid and how they are appointed before you make unsupported comments that are based on heresay, personal opinion and rumor not on factual data.

Oh Peg so ignorant. From all of you, I'm still waiting for facts to prove me wrong. A director (usually a retired cop) can make schedules and he doesn't get pension and benefits! What don't you understand about that? Ex-chief, Depola will get over $3 million in pension and benefits if he lives to age 77. Around $87,000 in pension and $24,000 in benefits per year. I'm not even mentioning that lovely 6 figure payout for unused sick an vacation days. Do I really have to show you the math equation? You don't need a calculator or do you? A director gets no pension and benefits. Saves millions. Agree? If that's a hack, than hack away. Be specific, what did I say was hearsay, personal opinion and rumor? I'm waiting. Prove me wrong with facts. You can't nobody can't. All you can say is I'm wrong,low IQ etc.

Is this O'Hara related to the O'Hara police chief in Keansburg? The chief of police O'Hara retired as chief and the next day took a supervisor job at the Chief of police Salary.

This is a perfect example that the only people that can live in New Jersey are the crooked politcans, doctors, lawyers and high ranking police officers.