Why is that people pass on NEPOTISM now, as it has been going on for year's. Look back as early as the Haggerty's father and Son,Goral father and son, Janiski father son and grandson.

These new recruits with in short time will make rank of Sgt and above, just by having the names that they have, or the clubs and money that sponsor them. When they come out of the academy, they will never walk a beat and meeting the merchants and citizen's who pay there salary. Each had there own patrol car, with the price of fuel no wonder why Lyndhurst fuel was over 200,000.for 2008 The highest out of any of the surrounding town's. Can we actually compare Lyndhurst with NY or even Newark? Give me a brake. I would hate to a Lynhdurst cop have to deal with what NY and Newark deal with everyday. People in this town do not make the salaries that the police in the town make.

Don't be mad at Commisioner Gangeruso because Mr Haggerty tells him and the Chief what to do.

There is no doubt that only a handful of families have benefited from the current commissioner’s position. They have benefited very handsomely.

Here is a homework task for my fellow citizens.

Assignment 1
Name all of the police appointments in the last four years and how they are related to this commissioner?

Assignment 2
Guess at the number of applicants who paid an application fee with the belief that they had a fair shot?

Assignment 3
Take your answers and mail them to the Bergen Record, North Jersey Media Group, 150 River Street, Hackensack, NJ, 07601-7172.

Assignment 4
Take your answers and mail them to the NJ State Attorney Division of Criminal Justice
Attn: Records and Identification (R&I), Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, 25 Market Street - PO Box 085, Trenton, NJ 08625-0085

Apart from being unethical, the fact that the township charged people to apply, while knowing that they did not have any chance, constitutes FRAUD. I am sure that if a sharp government attorney who despises political corruption where to investigate Lyndhurst, they would find that charges are warranted.

Excellent post! Lets all print out copies of the posts that are most informational on this topic and send them to the addresses given. It's about time this fraud was exposed once and for all.

I have sat back and watched this debate boil over the past few weeks....Here is my take, as I'm sure you are all interested.

Lyndhurst has always been about who you know, ALWAYS. Lyndhurst has always been about shady back room deals, and under the table goings on. And when it benefits the residents, and TAX payers, everyone looks the other way, like in any other town.

As far as this police issue. Aside from the possible fraud issues with application fees, here is the issues. As long as the jobs given are being filled with people that are qualified to do them, there should be no issue, if fact it may be beneficial at times to fill the position of a Township Police officer with someone that had grown up in town, knows the town and it's businesses and residents. And yes that can be a detriment too. In the past there have been officers that thought they were entitled to the force...and they were allowed to do what they pleased because they were untouchable for their actions while on the Lyndhurst Police department.

It is a sticky issue. but the one question is and should be first and foremost, are the guys that got the jobs trustworthy and qualified. Legal ethics is one thing, witch hunting is quite another....

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There are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told and those who can do nothing else. (Cyrus H. Curtis)

You make some good points Mr. Moderator. The problem is we need a real solution.

This is the twenty first century and we should expect that our local leaders do not act like they are still in the dark ages.

The way our police are hired and promoted is very unethical. Now it seems that laws are actually broken. We must address the issue.

I can see how our officers being from Lyndhurst could be both a benefit and detriment. For argument’s sake, let’s assume that it is a benefit. When building a real application and testing process, a solution can be as easy as giving extra points to candidates who have had legal residence in the township for the last two years. That is the best way to handle that argument.

Everything should be equal. You should get no points if you are related to existing officers or commissioners. In fact, those candidates should be identified so there is no appearance of unethical hiring practices.

Next, create a permanent hiring and promotions process that recruits the best possible candidates for the job. For what we are paying our police, we should expect that the new hires are the best of the best. A police officer is an important and valuable job. We should recruit nation wide. Why not?

This current commissioner seems to be the worst we have seen in years. Who has he hired and promoted during his tenure?

Fix the problem. Keep the comments about individual officers and candidates out. It is not their fault that the situation is out of control. The blame falls exclusively at the top.

It's always upsetting and unproductive when people people behave immaturely and name-call (fatty, etc) It's ridiculous that adults conduct themselves that way. However, we can sift through that garbage and see some truly valid and important points that have been made on this website regarding the unethical police hiring tactics. You mention many of them in the above post. While perhaps we cannot blame the new officers for the lottery they just won, we can't help but be disgusted with their families as well as our mayor and commissioners. I believe that Commissioner Giangeruso should be questioned on every single hire he has made - and it be demanded that he explain why he appointed each individual. I believe that since Gail Kapp as secretary to the chief and the Chief himself did not do the right thing with regard to her son being hired as a police officer then then new polices have to be put in place to MANDATE that they do. It's simple. Her son should have been disqualified unless she was removed from her position. No one replaced her in the application processing role. She will continue to have access to all police personnel records, payroll, confidential correspondence, etc and it is utterly absurd to believe that her son wil not be of unfair advantage. If O'Connor can't see what is wrong with this picture then someone needs to explain it to him. The bottom line is, Gail Kapp should not be working in that position, with her access to all of the inside information as long as her son is a police officer in that department. It's an insult to all of us that the greedy families of these men (and by that I mean the families who already are on the township payroll) and the commissioner, mayor and police chief thought that they could yet again take advantage of the hardworking residents of this community. And moreover, take advantage of the hopeful candidates who applied and never even had a chance.

Do you remember when OConnor and Giangaruso went at it to become Police Chief and Giangarouso lost? Well aparently Bobby Giang. figured If he runs for Commissioner he will be top cop like he wanted. And you know he promised the world to his friends if he gets elected. Now he has to come good and do what he said so he looks good. You could bet he he allready knows the next hires. He is probly training them to bring him coffee and donuts as we speak.