Park/Neutral Interlock - need to wiggle waggle the shift knob 2002 Sebring

Newbie here.
I'm having issues with the 2002 Sebring convertible. 2.7 v6, auto. Occasionally I've had to bump the shift lever forward in Park to get the starter to engage. The other day, I had to wiggle it in Neutral.
Haynes manual indicated there was a Park/Neutral switch under the shift lever. NOPE! I was going to cross the 2 black/red stripe wires and bypass it.
Now it may appear that there's a PRNDL switch in the transmission! Major PITA to replace, i gather.

SO, the question(s) is (are) :
Does this switch signal the starter circuit?
If its in the transmission, is there a possibility of finding the grounding wire for the "safety" starting interlock, getting to it, and grounding it out, yep bypassing it.
If there's another way to, any other way to not worry about having this fail in an in-opprotune time and place, I'd appreciate any input.
Transmission itself works well, I just hope there's an easy way to resolve my "issue"

Thanks!