JACKSON – A shake-up of police leadership, and issues of staffing, overtime, training and coordination were discussed during a recent Township Council meeting.
Council President Jennifer Kuhn was once again critical of Police Chief Matthew Kunz during the latest session following up with some concerns she noted from a prior council meeting.
During that session, she welcomed several new police officers that were sworn in to the department where then Jackson Police Department Public Safety Director Joseph Candido and Chief Kunz, introduced four newly appointed full-time police officers.
Candido, who has since left that position and has returned to his rank as police lieutenant with the department, said, “we would like to take this opportunity to thank Mayor Michael Reina and his administration for their continued support of this agency and for the following promotion and newly appointed police officers.” Reina would tender his resignation after the meeting was held.
Those officers include police officers Michael Pratt and Dominick Grenci and police recruits Matthew Herrick and Joshua Bollard. Both recruits will be attending the Ocean County Police Academy this month.
Kuhn noted, “we have no authority over where these officers are assigned but I must ask that some of them be assigned to our Traffic Safety Department.” She added that the police department “didn’t have a single officer working on Friday, Saturday or Sunday on any given week.”
“My understanding is that this department along with other specialized units such as our detective bureau, do not have mandated minimum staffing levels. These officers also do not work weekends,” she added.
“Chief, I am asking that this be looked into. It is my understanding that we are already $650,000 in overtime pay to date and that number continues to rise,” the council president remarked. She also said a police sergeant in IT receives “seven hours of comp time per week to be available to the department however I do not believe this sergeant is an actual IT professional.”
Kuhn noted, “I have heard amazing things about him. He’s gotten the town out of a jam in less than two hours (referring to an e-mail shut down within the municipal online system in April that took several days to resolve) but I am still trying to fully understand the day-to-day operations within the police department.”
She said the Traffic Safety Department previously received five hours “of off hour time to respond to contractors for approving blueprints and construction plans but that has come to a halt.”
Recently a two-hour meeting was held between the council president and the chief and she reported, “I wanted to take a moment to address something that is critical to the safety and wellbeing of our community, the need for a true collaboration among all our first responders, working together consecutively starting at the top with leadership.”
“It starts with the chief of the Jackson Township Police and the chiefs and captains of our first responders including EMS, fire and Hatzolah,” Kuhn said. “While leadership sets the tone, when it prioritizes proper training on process and procedures it creates a culture where teams can respond efficiently and competently even in the height of the most stressful situations.”
Kuhn went on to say, “unfortunately our township is experiencing these high stress events daily. Accidents are at an all-time high. Our community is growing rapidly. It is imperative that we implement universal training not as a reaction to incidents but as a proactive measure that assures that every responder knows their role and works seamlessly with others.”
She said she felt that this type of training should have been happening over the past five years. “Regrettably, that is the not the case under our Jackson Police Department’s current leadership.” Kuhn added that “too often it takes a public newspaper article highlighting an officer or responder to bring attention to the gaps in coordinating that should not be the standard.”
“True leaders bring everyone to the table before a crisis occurs,” she said. “I hope we reach a place where all first responders’ police, fire, EMS and Hatzolah can work together effectively because when it comes to saving a life there is no distinction of religion, background or title. We all serve the same mission.”
Kuhn reported that with Candido leaving the position of director the township was looking for a new director of public safety and a police IT. “Our police IT guy is absolutely amazing but we need officers and he’s a sergeant now and we need him in the police department. We want to give the police department an IT guy so we do have that role open.”
Council Vice President Mordechai Burnstein noted a recent “tragic shooting in Jackson. A special thank you to everyone who responded who worked as a team to take care of business over there and our condolences to the family. This is a call for our leadership, our administration, council and to our local police department and our volunteers in town for them to sit down together, work together and ensure that we are able to respond together as one team because that is what we are here in Jackson.”
Candido later thanked the council for the opportunity to serve in the role of public safety director. In August a Superior Court judge ruled that he could no longer continue serving in that position while also remaining as a member of the township’s police department.
He was appointed to the newly created Public Safety Director position in April 2024 and council members stated at the time that his responsibilities would include making recommendations to the administration on public safety issues, reporting on police department matters to the township, helping establish performance standards, and ensuring compliance with state reporting and accountability requirements.
Officials emphasized that the position would not replace the police chief or eliminate the role but in December 2024, Chief Kunz filed a lawsuit arguing that Candido’s dual roles gave him authority over the department’s daily operations and allowed him to overturn the chief’s own decisions.
Kunz, who became chief in 2008, argued this undermined the independence of the police chief’s position. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office later advised Candido in writing that he could not independently discipline Kunz and that his continued intervention in department affairs conflicted with state law governing the responsibilities of police chiefs.
Candido said he was happy to no longer have the responsibility of that position and glad to be a lieutenant serving with the department.
