Jackson police

introduced an ordinance that would create a public safety director position, sticking elected officials in a war of words between two police unions, representing dozens of cops and their boss.

Kunz, 57, said the “divisive, interpersonal and political disputes” have created an inappropriate and unhealthy burden on officers.

But Police Sgt. John Rodriguez, president of the Superior Officers Association Local 168-A, said, “Leadership of the agency has been in disarray and in decline for a substantial portion of Chief Kunz’s tenure.”

Now, his tenure as the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the township could be coming to an end.

If the ordinance is adopted after a Feb. 27 public hearing, Kunz, who has served as police chief since 2008, would report to the proposed public safety director — who is required to have at least 20 years of law enforcement experience, achieved the rank of sergeant and live in Jackson, according to the ordinance.

But it would be a civilian position — meaning the township’s highest-ranking law enforcement official, who could command a salary as high as $200,000, wouldn’t carry a badge or a gun.

Kunz collected a $216,000 salary last year, according to public records.

In an interview, Council President Jennifer Kuhn said the two positions were different: The police chief would handle day-to-day operations of the department, while the public safety director would handle the department’s budget, liaise with elected and government officials and handle the enforcement of policing directives from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Rumblings of a shake-up in the police department grew louder this month after the town’s two police unions, PBA Local 168 and SOA Local 168-A, issued a joint press release publicly supporting the concept of a public safety director – days before the issue had even been posted on an agenda.

The dissension had been brewing far longer, Rodriguez said, stemming from what he called “zero direction or suggestion of concern” from Kunz on hiring new officers, especially those who speak Spanish.

While Jackson’s Latino population has grown by nearly 54% since 2010, according to Census records, its police department only has two officers who speak Spanish. (The number of residents who speak Spanish at home stayed relatively flat over the same period, Census data shows.)

“Even a modicum of effort from the chief to establish recruitment protocols would have been warmly received, as opposed to watching a growth opportunity slip through our fingers,” Rodriguez said.

Kunz retorted that the department is only two officers shy of the 110-officer department approved by township code, and that the department has faced a dearth of qualified candidates in recent years. He suggested the council redirect the potential $200,000 salary for a public safety director to hiring three new officers.

“We all have the same interests in mind, the growth and success of our department,” Kunz said. “I believe the business of the department, like the business of the township, belongs at a conference table — not an uncomfortable public forum, where it’s akin to airing dirty laundry.”

The turning point came in recent months, after a disciplinary incident involving Detective Lt. Wayne Olejarz that neither Rodriguez nor Kunz would expand upon.

Olejarz, hired by the department in 1997, retired in December, according to a police department social media post.

“As it relates to what did or didn’t happen regarding discipline in this matter, it’s a direct reflection on Chief Kunz, as this incident occurred within the confines of the building he manages — and he alone made the recommendations for what, if any, discipline should have been levied,” Rodriguez said.

Kunz declined to comment on the matter, which he described as a “confidential personnel matter,” other than to say he’d requested the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office review the department’s response.

The decision to create a public safety director job isn’t a slam dunk among council members. The vote to introduce the ordinance was 3-2 along political lines, with Kuhn, Council Vice President Scott Sargent and Councilman Mordechai Burnstein voting in favor.

Councilmen Nino Borrelli and Steve Chisholm, Jr., voted against it, calling for the ordinance to be tabled to allow more time for discussion and, in Chisholm’s case, a ballot question.

“There are serious issues that need to be discussed,” Chisholm said. “But if this is a good idea now, it’ll be a good idea in two or three months.”

If the ordinance is adopted, it won’t be the first time the Jackson Police Department was headed up by a civilian. From 1990 to 2008, the department was led by a public safety director — including Kunz, who served in the job during those last two years.

The position was abolished in 2008, with elected officials at the time citing a desire to get politics out of policing.

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and basically whatever else is going on at any given moment. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.