Cameron
NEWBURGH – Interim Newburgh Police Daniel Cameron can no longer
serve in that capacity, according to the city civil service commission
based on guidance from the state. Therefore the city council, meeting
in emergency session Friday night, re-established the position of deputy
chief in hopes that Cameron would accept that job temporarily and essentially
continue to run the police department.
The issue of being named chief boiled down to an open competitive exam
administered by the city civil service commission, which refused to also
give a promotional exam. Cameron declined to take the open competitive
test believing that as a 19-year police officer in Newburgh, most recently
as a lieutenant, he should have been allowed to take a promotional exam.
He did, however, take the promotional exam offered by Orange County and
scored on the top of the list. All three of the people who passed the
Newburgh exam were not interested in the chief’s job when the scores
came in, resulting in Cameron remaining on in that slot.
But, the state later said the qualifications for chief in Newburgh are
less stringent that the rest of the county, therefore he could not be
named to the job permanently.
Now, with the state telling the city that Cameron cannot serve as provision
chief past Friday, rather than risk the department leadership falling
into disarray, the city council voted to establish a deputy chief post,
something that was abolished years ago.
It will be up to Cameron to accept the deputy post and continue to run
the department, but he is on vacation so that question remains up in the
air.
At Friday night’s special council meeting, Councilman Torrance Harvey
said the council should have nothing to do with the hiring and firing
of city employees; that is up to the civil service commission. But, he
said since the members cold come to an agreement with Cameron, the council
had to step in with the compromise. The general consensus among council
members and the general population of the city is that Cameron has changed
the culture of the department and opened up the lines of communication
between the police and city residents.
