Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Ordinance 2026-19 would create a new hiring pathway allowing appointments without written and oral competitive examinations. That pathway already exists in the Township Code. The article has been corrected.
I’ll be breaking up the agenda coverage of the 07/21/2026 Berkeley Heights Town Council Agenda over the next few days and we’re going to start with an Ordinance that significantly changes the department itself as well the hiring process.
Under Ordinance 2026-19, the Berkeley Heights Police Department would grow from two lieutenants to three, from 17 patrol officers to 21 and would add a brand-new deputy chief position between the police chief and captain.
The deputy chief would serve as second-in-command and would exercise all the powers and duties of the chief when the chief is absent or directs the deputy to act.
The ordinance also contains conflicting language about another new category of personnel. One section says “special law information officers,” while the operative language says “special law informant officers.”
Neither term is defined anywhere in the ordinance.
As was discussed during the last meeting, qualifications would also change. An applicant with an associate degree or 60 college credits would be eligible if they have successfully completed or are enrolled in the Police Training Commission Alternate Route Program and have or will be receiving certification.
The chief already has authority to waive the education requirement for certain qualified veterans and applicants certified by the Police Training Commission. The ordinance would expand that authority to applicants who meet the minimum educational requirements for participation in the Alternate Route Program.
The ordinance keeps the Township’s normal competitive process, which includes written, physical fitness and oral examinations followed by the creation of an eligibility list, and maintains an existing second path stating that the mayor may appoint an applicant “without examination” upon the recommendation of the police chief.
Those applicants would still have to pass a fitness test, background investigation, psychological examination and medical examination but would be allowed to skip the written and oral competitive examinations and the ranking process used to establish the eligibility list.
Why is that necessary?
The police trainee working-test period would remain one year, but the ordinance changes when that clock begins.
Under the current language, the one-year period begins on the date of appointment. Under the proposed ordinance, it would begin on the date the trainee may begin work as a police officer.
Because trainees must first complete police academy training, the change could extend the overall amount of time between their original appointment and their permanent appointment as a patrol officer.
Promotions to lieutenant and captain are already made by executive order of the mayor upon the chief’s recommendation. The ordinance would add deputy chief to that existing process.
There is no fiscal impact statement in the packet showing the salaries, benefits, equipment, vehicles or other costs associated with adding the six authorized positions.
Virtual Cities can be expensive, I guess.
Source Document
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