WESTWOOD—Following his official swearing in as deputy police chief at a borough meeting June 22, Capt. Jay Hutchinson received a larger, and ceremonial, swearing in to the post at the July 20 meeting of the mayor and council.
The role was effective July 1.
“I want to thank the governing body, I want to thank the residents of Westwood, and I want to thank the chief,” Hutchinson said after being sworn in Tuesday.
He said, “It’s a great department that I work with, and I thank my family and everyone for being by my side on this 26-year journey.”
The department has not had a deputy chief in recent years. A WWPD spokesperson said the most recent incumbents were Frank Regino, who went on to become chief 2004–2018; and Brad Buschow, who went on to be chief 2002–2004.
Hutchinson has been serving the borough with distinction since 1995 and was a candidate for police chief to replace Regino at the top spot. Instead, he was promoted from lieutenant to captain in 2018 under Chief Michael Pontillo, who rose from sergeant.
Mayor Raymond Arroyo said of Hutchinson’s latest promotion, “Jay really stepped up for this department and the people of Westwood. He decided that he was going to help this chief — our first 21st century chief of the police department of Westwood. He helped them make all the changes that were necessary to implement and the policies that make us all in our town proud of everyone.”
Arroyo clarified to Pascack Press on July 21 that Hutchinson had been planning to retire at the end of the year and agreed to continue on to assist with the department’s succession plan and to help mentor junior officers.
He also was the sole eligible candidate for the deputy post.
Arroyo said, “And he is the best choice, since he has essentially functioned as the department’s deputy under Chief Pontillo, collaborating on and implementing the chief’s vision for a WPD fully prepared to meet the many challenges facing 21st century law enforcement.”
Arroyo said, “The way Jay handled the disappointment of coming in second in the chief’s promotional process three years ago says everything about his character.”
And, he added, “It is a lesson to his subordinates that despite personal setbacks their professional contributions to the department’s mission do not go unnoticed. They deserve to be rewarded.”
The captain slot will not be filled while the deputy chief is in place, Arroyo said.
In March, the council agreed that the department should consist of “no more than one chief of police, no more than one deputy chief, no more than one captain, no more than three lieutenants, no more than five sergeants, and no more than 20 police officers, to be appointed to these positions by the governing body of the Borough of Westwood.”
For promotion to deputy chief, no person shall be eligible for such promotion unless he or she shall have served at least 15 years as a full-time officer in the Westwood Police Department.
The ordinance reads, “In determining such length of service, four or more years of military service with honorable discharge shall be the equivalent of one year of employment as a full-time officer for the Westwood Police Department.”
The ordinance further requires that the person “shall have served at least three years as a full-time lieutenant or has served as a captain for the Westwood Police Department; shall have met or exceeded all Westwood Police Department performance standards in his or her three most recent annual performance evaluations conducted by his or her superiors; and shall possess a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
It adds, “This education requirement shall not apply to officers employed by the Westwood Police Department as of June 20, 2017.”
Also at the July 20 meeting, the Borough Council accepted a state grant toward body-worn cameras for the police department.
As of July 1, all uniformed patrol officers, including SWAT teams, tactical and proactive enforcement groups, K-9 units, and others groups, are required to wear body-worn cameras, according to a mandate by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
Councilmember Erin Collins, deputy liaison for police and Office of Emergency Management, added that the police department will be participating in a Pizza Positivity Project on Aug. 9 for Bergen New Bridge Medical Center’s detox and rehabilitation units by including positive messages with each pizza to patients.
She added a “Paw Patrol” project is now in its planning phase: police officers will help in fostering animals up for adoption.