Pleasantville Man Arrested for Unlawful Possession of Handgun, Possession and Distribution of Drugs

Car stop on White Horse Pike and Xanthus Avenue on July 23, 2013 at 4:12 a.m., leaves one charged with Unlawful Possession of a Handgun as well as Possession and Distribution of Drugs. Officer Ryba made the arrest. 

Galloway Township Police arrested Kenneth L. Brown Jr. of Pleasantville subsequent to a motor vehicle stop in Galloway Township on July 23, 2013 on the White Horse Pike. Brown was charged with Unlawful Possession of a .25 caliber Beretta handgun and Possession as well as Distribution of Marijuana and Prescription CDS. 

Brown was lodged in the Atlantic County Jail Facility in lieu of $25000.00 cash bail. 

Fugitives Arrested after Car Stop and Charged with Possession of Drugs and a Stolen Handgun

A car stop on Duerer Street and Genoa Avenue in the early morning of July 22, 2013 lead to two fugitives being arresting for Possession of Stolen Handgun. Officer Choe and Officer Winneberger were the arresting officers. 

Galloway Township Police arrested Keith Goodman and Keith Kinsey both of New York City , NY, subsequent to a motor vehicle stop in Galloway Township on July 22, 2013 at 1:40am. 

Both males were Fugitives from Justice out of New York and were found in Possession of a Stolen .40 caliber Taurus handgun during the course of the motor vehicle stop as well as Possession of Marijuana under 50 grams. 

The handgun had previously been reported stolen out of Pennsylvania. Both Goodman and Kinsey were lodged in the Atlantic County Jail Facility in lieu of $100,000.00 cash bail each pending their extradition back to New York. 

Galloway Police Officers Win in Court Ruling to Receive Pay for Military Drill Weekends

The Township of Galloway and the New Jersey State Policeman's Benevolent Association (PBA), Mainland Local #77, which represents the Police Officers in Galloway, have been spending time in and out of Court since January 2012, over a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Chief of Police Patrick Moran regarding time off for Military Drill. 

According to the Court Documents released by the Township through an Open Public Records request,  Moran issued a Special Order on January 13, 2012, which would discontinue the practice of paying officers for military drills (weekends). Moran clarified in a statement, "the military drills are not to be confused with active military duty where orders are issued." Moran's special orders only included weekend drill only. 


According to the Special Order issued by Moran, "in compliance with the laws regarding military, Officers will be allowed to utilize compensatory time, benefit time, trade shifts, or take leave without pay to attend military drill." 

After Moran's Special Order was issued, the PBA filed a grievance against the Township on February 14, 2012. The Union alleged a breach in the Township's collective bargaining agreement with the PBA. The PBA alleged in the grievance "that time off with pay for military weekend drill has been past practice and the issuance of the SOP violated the Continuation of Benefits clause in the parties' Agreement." According to the Court Document, for the past 20 years the Township had given police officers off with pay for their drill weekends, if the drill overlapped with their scheduled shift. 

On January 28, 2013, the PBA's grievance was upheld by the Arbitrator overseeing the case. The Township disputed the arbitrators decision and filed an appeal in Atlantic County Superior Court alleging the Arbitrator failed to Rule on Applicable State Law thus constituting a mistake of Law. 

In the appeal, the Township requested the court to decide if the arbitration award should be vacated because said award requires the Township to pay police officers for weekend drills in violation of law. The Township also alleged the Arbitrator failed to consider the Public Interest and Welfare, thus violating standards set for Public Sector Arbitration. 

Atlantic County Superior Court heard the case and ruled on July 18, 2013, in favor of the PBA. According to the Final Order Judgment, the Judge ordered in part, "to make whole all affected Township Police Officers for any lost wages and/or contractual leave charged for the purpose of weekend military drills retroactive to July 13, 2012."  

The Galloway Police Department currently has five (5) police officers who are Military Personnel that this ruling affected. According to Moran, the five Police Officers are Raymond Casanova, Patrick Neal, Rita Abatemarco, Paul Smith and Kevin Costa.  According to the Arbitrator documents, these officers are part of the National Guard and Reserves who are "ordered to attend unit training assemblies (i.e. drill weekends)."

In a request for comment regarding the Judge's decision, Ray Theriault, President of the Mainland PBA Local #77 stated, "I find it troubling especially during this time of the war on terrorists that the Twp has chosen to arbitrarily eliminate a long standing benefit the citizen soldiers of the GTPD have enjoyed without due process. As you know, we grieved their decision and won. They appealed that decision and lost that too. I can't read their minds but I would expect them to appeal that decision as well. When they lose that one, they will have no choice but to make their citizen soldier's that are officers whole regarding the time and money they have lost. There is a process for them to follow if they are not happy with a benefit enjoyed by the members of GTPD and that process is contract negotiations. They can't just arbitrarily change benefits and expect to get away with it."  

Regarding the amount of legal fees the PBA has spent in the case, Theriault further stated, "If our attorney's feel it is appropriate to seek restitution for their fees then we will do so."  In response to the PBA, Moran stated, "I would also expect that if the Township's position is incorrect, that the PBA would do what they feel is right for their members." 

In a request for comment regarding the Judge's decision and what if any the Township's next move would be, Chief of Police Patrick Moran stated, "It is believed that the statute does not allow for the payment for military drill weekends; that has already been established and ruled upon by Civil Service.  Therefore, by Civil service’s interpretation of the statute, officers cannot get paid for military drill but they can take time off or the employer and employee can agree to a schedule change(that is in the briefs you OPRa’d).  However, it has not been decided for non-civil service departments.  Most Non-Civil Service departments change the officers schedules, Galloway has had a past practice of paying for weekend drill.  Budget considerations and savings were considered originally, however, it is believed that the statute does not allow for the payment, therefore there is no way to pay legally.

Judge Baten ruled in favor of the arbitrator’s award due to jurisdictional issues and not the details of the case and from what I am told, the Township will be appealing it.

Please be clear to ensure that this issue is not confused with active military duty, where orders are issued.  This is about weekend drill only.  If the Township’s appeal is lost, and the payment is deemed to be legal, the monies owed will be paid according to law and/or by whatever conditions are set or agreed upon by the Township and the PBA.

I also want to be clear that this is not a question as to whether we support or do not support the military.   We support the officers in the military 100% and we follow the payments and rules governing Military leave set by law.  This is about saving tax payer dollars and abiding by the law for dispersing public funds."   

The PBA indicated in their statement that the Township could have followed the process through negotiations. Moran in response to that statement said "there were unsuccessful attempts to discuss the matter; however, with the interpretation that "the law does not allow for the payment of military drill weekends", I am not sure it could have been negotiated."

To our knowledge, the Township has 45 days to appeal the Superior Court's decision. Moran stated, "from what I am told, the Township will be appealing it." That decision of appeal would have to come from either the Manager or Council, or a combination of the two, according to Moran. 

According to N.J.S.A. 40:43 et seq, the powers regarding litigation are solely with the Governing Body. GallowayTwpNews.com will follow this case and Council's decision to appeal the Judge's decision, if a vote of Council occurs. 

GallowayTwpNews.com has released below in full all of the documents we OPRA'd from the Township regarding this case. 

Gallowaytwpnews 7-23-2013 A by GallowayTwpNews

Gallowaytwpnews 7-23-2013 B by GallowayTwpNews

New Jersey Troopers Participate in National Highway Safety Initiative

West Trenton, N.J. – The New Jersey State Police is teaming up with law enforcement officials from throughout the country for a special “I-80 Challenge Highway Safety Initiative” to ramp up enforcement of life-saving traffic safety laws during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

From July 24th to July 31st, troopers and other law enforcement officials patrolling the Interstate 80 corridor across the U.S. will be cracking down on drivers who are speeding, driving while intoxicated, or not wearing a seat belt, with the goal of achieving a zero fatality rate for the eight-day period.

Law enforcement and highway safety officials say too many lives are being lost on I-80 from those who violate basic traffic safety laws.

“During this critically important traffic safety initiative, troopers will be on patrol to ensure that drivers are obeying New Jersey traffic laws and arriving at their summer-time destination safely.” said Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “This joint effort by police departments across the country sends a clear message that the law enforcement community is determined to reduce fatalities on Interstate 80.”

This safety initiative targets a heavy summer travel period when the rate of fatal and injury crashes on Interstate 80 is higher than any other time of the year.

New Jersey experienced 13 crashes resulting in 14 deaths on Interstate 80 in 2012. This year on Interstate 80 there have been four crashes resulting in four deaths. That is a 42.8 % decrease from this time last year.

Nationally, in 2011, more than 21,000 passenger vehicle occupants across the nation were killed in traffic crashes. Of those fatalities, 52 percent were not wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.

Approximately 9,900 people were killed in drunk driving crashes, with more than 3,300 killed in fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, and nearly 10,000 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has partnered with the New Jersey State Police to implement combined highway safety law enforcement campaigns which focus enforcement on multiple traffic safety laws at one time. 

For more information on the campaign, please visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov.

Follow the New Jersey State Police online at Twitter and Facebook. The social media links provided are for reference only. 

The New Jersey State Police do not endorse any non-governmental websites, companies or applications.

For additional information visit our website at www.njsp.org.

Absecon Police Investigating Early Morning Reports of Gunfire; Area Police Departments Respond as Mutual Aid

The Absecon Police Department is investigating an early morning report of gunfire from inside a resident’s home. On July 21, 2013 at 4:37 AM patrol officers responded to a 911 call from a homeowner on Lisbon Avenue reporting what he believed to be several intruders breaking into his home and opening fire on him. 

The caller, a 53 year old male, stated he returned fire through the walls of his bedroom in an attempt to defend himself from the supposed intruders before jumping from a second-story bathroom window to escape. The homeowner then ran to a neighbor’s house to summon help. 

The caller entered his neighbor’s home and found a resident there asleep on a couch. When the caller could not wake the sleeping neighbor he believed the neighbor to have been killed by the same intruders that were inside his own home. 

The caller, still in fear for his life, broke a second story window in his neighbor’s home with a chair and again leapt out and into a backyard pool to escape. The caller then fled to a second neighbor’s garage where he hid until surrendering to arriving patrol officers. 

Streets in the area were closed and a perimeter was established by responding officers from Absecon, along with the help of officers from Atlantic City, Galloway, Pleasantville, and Egg Harbor Township police departments who responded to a call for mutual aid. 

Area residents were evacuated from their homes as a safety precaution while the Atlantic County Emergency Response Team and Hostage/Crisis Negotiators were called to the scene. Statements from the original caller indicated there may be armed subjects barricaded inside his home and his neighbor’s home. 

Prolonged attempts to contact anyone inside either home failed and both residences were eventually cleared by Emergency Response Teams with the help of Atlantic City Bomb Squad robots. No barricaded subjects were located and there was no loss-of-life. The only injury reported was to the caller who suffered back injuries after leaping from his second-story window. 

Approximately 20 shots had been fired inside the caller's home, all of which appeared to have been fired by the caller. Preliminary investigations and evidence at the scene reveal this to be an isolated incident with no direct threat to the community. 

Anyone with information or community concerns in regard to this incident is asked to contact Det. Mitch Levin at 609-641-0667 ext. 217.