January 16, 2011 NJ police department scales back services, response www.privateofficer.com
HOWELL NJ Jan 16 2011 — Beginning Monday, the public should not expect a township police officer to take a report of minor incidents, such as a mailbox knocked down or a small theft with no alleged suspects.
Instead, police dispatchers will take a brief description of the incident, after which the department will send the victims a “Citizen Initiated Reporting” form. The Detective Division will review the forms to see if a followup is necessary.
The new procedure, spelled out in a Jan. 11 memo from Capt. Donna Craton, does not include incidents that are in progress, has identified suspects, where there is a safety threat, damage exceeds $200, domestic violence, missing people, and incidents that are part of a pattern, such as several vandalized mailboxes.
Also, the police will no longer respond to lockouts where no one is inside the vehicle, non-life-threatening first aid calls when an ambulance is en route, house checks and environmental crimes.
What prompted this? In a word, finances.
“We need to do things better, more efficient,” said Township Manager Helene Schlegel, speaking of all township departments.
How the public will react to this is unclear, because police were just formally notifying the public — through mailings and information posted on the police website.
As of Friday, the township had 86 sworn police officers — a chief, three captains (although Craton is retiring this week), four lieutenants, 11 sergeants, 10 detectives and 57 officers, according to Chief Ronald T. Carter. The department was at its peak about two years ago with 99 sworn officers, Carter said.
“You have budgetary restraints here,” said Carter, adding the loss of police officers was basically through attrition.
The police reorganization, which took effect Jan. 1, means the traffic safety unit has one officer, down from four, and the community services unit four officers, down from eight. Community Services will still provide an officer to Howell High School, while the others revolve through the township’s other 12 public schools.
Now, about 51 officers are assigned to patrol. “We don’t want to go below that,” said Carter, who has been with the department 37 years, 18 as chief.
A year ago, there were 61 patroling officers, which Carter called “a comfortable level.” So, instead of a police officer responding to every incident, the public is being asked to self-report “if we want to maintain the same level” of general service to the community, Carter said.
“It’ll free them up to answer more serious calls or do prevention patrols,” Carter said.
“I don’t think we’re at the point where anybody thinks they’re unsafe,” Schlegel said.
How any changes, including having less police officers, will affect the police budget is not yet clear, according to Carter and Schlegel. What would have to be factored in is savings of salaries and benefits to police officers who left with raises for current police officers and the purchase of new equipment, they said.
In 2010, the police budget was $11 million of the total township budget of $42.3 million. Township officials are now working on the 2011 budget.
By midsummer, police are expected to expand the public self-reporting system to the Internet, Carter said. Studies, according to Carter, shows the Internet reporting system should reduce the workload to the equivalent of 10 percent of staff — or about the loss in police officers over the past two years.
“We’re doing the best we can,” Carter said.
“We’ll do what we have to do,” Schlegel said.
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