By David Cruz
Correspondent
In more than 30 years in law enforcement, Jerry Speziale has gone from NYPD detective to Passaic County Sheriff, worked for the Port Authority and even undercover for the DEA. For the most part he’s held those jobs one at a time, though, so there was some surprise when he agreed to take on the job of interim police chief for Hazelton, Pennsylvania, population 25,000, about 100 miles west of Paterson. In a city with one of the state’s highest rates of crime, the police director says not to worry, he’s not going anywhere.
“To the people of Paterson,” he said, “I’m committed; I’ll be responsive to your needs. You have my phone number. They call me non-stop. I always am there. I will be at those community meetings. I will be the same person I’ve always been.”
And that person has been at the helm of a police force that has seen a steep drop in homicides and other violent crime over the past year. Speziale says the Hazelton gig will be part-time and will not require him to actually be there. He’ll be paid by the hour and serve as a consultant, not as a cop, for a city with a new mayor, Jeff Cusat, hamstrung by politics and budget constraints, a service he’s been providing for a month and a half, for free.
“You know, they cut this guy’s budget. He has zero dollars for a chief of police. He has no leadership,” he said. “He has no one to really look to and do a comprehensive review on strategy, hot spot policing, there is none. Manpower allocation.”
Speziale says Mayor Jose Torres has given his blessing to the move. Torres called Speziale a public safety “guru” and told us today that he spoke to mayor Cusat before giving his blessing.
“Hazleton is facing very similar challenges to those faced by Paterson, and we are happy to share 21st century best practices in this city’s transition phase,” Torres said in a statement. “We have Director Speziale‘s full assurance that this part-time position will not become a conflict to the City of Paterson and support him in this endeavor.”
Speziale says there’s already a connection between Hazelton and Paterson.
“We have a definite nexus of guns that are being bought in the Hazelton area and being traded here for heroin that goes back, so we have jitney buses that run back and forth, daily,” he said, “so, for me, it’s definitely a positive thing because I get some intelligence out of it as well.”
Councilman Andre Sayegh, a former mayoral candidate, said he supports Speziale. “I prefer not to share him with anyone, but, to make it clear, he is 100 percent dedicated; I had a conversation with him he said he’s 100 percent dedicated to Paterson,” he said. “This is his dream job, so he’s in demand and we should find that flattering.”
Speziale notes that he’s so 24/7 for Paterson that he’s about to lose eight unused vacation days. His new job starts Jan. 4. Actual hours and rate of pay, still to be determined, he said.