No member of the police or fire department of any municipality who shall have served honorably in either department for the required number of years to entitle him to retire or be retired on a pension, shall be deprived of his pension privileges because of any violation of the rules and regulations established for the government of the department, but he may be fined, reprimanded or discharged. A member of the department found guilty before a court of competent jurisdiction of having committed a crime may be dismissed or punished in any manner provided by law.
N.J.S. § 43:11-1