Police Pay and Retention Take Center Stage at Montgomery Special Meeting

Nicholas Mistretta

Frustrated Officers and Supporters Demand Fair Contracts, Competitive Salaries

Montgomery Township – May 28, 2025

Officer John Colucci, former president of the Montgomery PBA, gave a sobering account of the current challenges facing the township’s police department. Colucci painted a stark contrast between past and present, noting a generational shift in law enforcement.

“In the past, an officer would join a department and stay their entire career,” he said. “Today’s generation is more aware of their worth—and how that worth compares in neighboring towns.”

Citing a conversation with former Business Administrator Donato Nieman, Colucci likened the modern officer to a young athlete in professional sports: mobile, ambitious, and quick to pursue better offers. “Departments that pay a fair wage,” he added, “do not have retention issues.”

Colucci’s most forceful comments, however, centered on a contract dispute that has left officers disillusioned. In 2020, he said, a deal was reached between the township and the union to bring Montgomery’s pay scale more in line with surrounding municipalities. After a prolonged negotiation period, both sides were set to sign.

“But on the day, we were to meet and sign,” Colucci recounted, “the township didn’t show up with the contract we had agreed upon. Instead, we were told the deal was off.” He called the move “regressive negotiating”—a serious charge in labor relations—and described the aftermath as demoralizing.

When negotiations resumed, Colucci said the township urged patience, with the assurance that “not everything can be fixed in one contract.” He admits now, in hindsight, that his trust in that promise may have been misplaced.

“As a younger union president, that was my mistake,” he said. “I brought that message back to my membership: that the next round would make things right. Hope, along with morale, is diminishing.”

Colucci closed with a direct plea to the committee: “It’s not what you say that motivates your officers—it’s what you do. Please know that all of our members are looking to you now, closer than ever. I ask that you show them the support they deserve.”

Current PBA Local 355 President Salvatore Intili followed with a stark update: several officers have already left Montgomery for towns offering better pay—including Bernards, South Brunswick, and Edison. Others, he said, are actively applying elsewhere.

“Bound Brook and Manville have top salaries that are $15,000 to $30,000 higher than ours,” Intili said. “I can’t blame officers who leave to better support their families—but I will blame the township for recognizing the problem and not fixing it.”

Chris Venis of Skillman—a former deputy mayor, police liaison, and Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Corrections—spoke in support of the officers.

“As the son of a police officer, I know what it’s like to see those we love put themselves in danger,” Venis said. “Today, I fear not everyone has the back of our police officers. You all seem like very nice people, but there is a serious lack of leadership on this committee right now. Real leaders take responsibility.” Turning to the officers in the room, Venis concluded: “We’re here, we support you—and help is on the way.”

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com