County Sheriff Race Deals with Layoff Issues in Trenton

Candidates for the Mercer County, N.J. sheriff are going to have to run their candidacies with a bit of an unusual platform this year. That platform is layoffs. As the city of Trenton gets ready to cope with its third reduction in police force, due to current economics issues and a round of budget balancing layoffs. Trenton, which is the biggest city in Mercer County, as well as the capitol of the state, is often a keystone in carry a county level election. This means that both acting Sheriff Jack Kemler, a Democrat, and his Republican Party challenger, Richard Urbani , are going to have to come up with a workable solution that will make the voters happy. One that can actually be implemented during their term.

Candidate Urbani is making promises to the public that, should he be elected, he will put more of the sheriff’s units on patrol in the city of Trenton in order to support the local police presence. He had this to say about his plan, “There has to be something done. There’s no deterrent whatsoever being 105 down. I know the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t patrol like a police officer would. That’s why you have to do something to back up the police officers.” His suggestion is to bring in the officers during the nighttime hours. This not only keeps court duties traditionally performed by the sheriffs department out of the way, but also coincides with the times when crimes tend to spike. Resources that he hopes to use include: include K-9 units, SERT, and the SWAT team.

Candidate Urbani made no mention of how his plans would affect the county’s law enforcement budget. In addition professionals working on the nigh shift are often paid at a higher rate than those who work during the daylight hours.

Acting Sheriff Jack Kemler had more pragmatic objections to the plan. He had this to say about the idea, “If I had 300 officers, I’d be more than happy to do it,” said Mr. Kemler, who has been the sheriff of the 124-member department for almost one year. “I don’t have that liberty.”

Citing reasons such as: a dozen current unfilled vacancies on the sheriffs staff, mandatory court services and high overtime costs. On the whole these reasons sound reasonable, but you have to wonder which one the voters of Mercer County will believe.

In an era where government budgets of all levels are being cut the ability to balance the needs of the people with the money that is available is a tightrope walk that officials on all levels of government need to be prepared to deal with, especially in an election year.

Candidate Urbani was formerly a corrections office in a facility in the state of New Jersey. Current Sherriff Kemler was formerly a Trenton police officer for nearly 20 years before moving to the sheriff’s office. While Sherriff Kemler did acknowledge that the Sheriffs office can help in an emergency, he is concerned that helping out too often would lead to overtime costs that would be unsustainable under the current budget.