Central Ocean towns mull pooling cops
Berkeley hosts meeting led by Belmar mayor
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/22/07
BY BONNIE DELANEY
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
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BERKELEY — Will Berkeley and its central Ocean County neighbors regionalize police departments to save money and reduce taxes?
"It's a lot to digest. You'd have to ask the mayor," Berkeley Police Chief John Weinlein said following a meeting Wednesday night at town hall on the concept of shared service and regionalization among neighboring towns.
Berkeley Mayor Jason J. Varano said it is too early to tell whether regionalization of police departments is something that Berkeley and its neighbors will consider.
"I think it's an opportunity for us to start talking with other towns and planning for the future," Varano said. "We need to start the process."
The police budget currently accounts for one-third of the township's $36 million budget.
Varano, who said Berkeley already shares some services with neighboring towns, said that shared services has been one of the concepts the state Legislature and Gov. Corzine has been exploring as part of the state's property tax reforms.
The concept of regionalizing police departments was presented by Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle, an advocate of shared services. Representatives from Berkeley, as well as Manchester, Lacey, Ocean Gate, Beachwood, Pine Beach, South Toms River and Toms River, were at the meeting.
Pringle, who has served as Belmar's mayor since 1990, said that his town and several neighboring towns, including Brielle, Lake Como, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Sea Girt, Manasquan and Wall are exploring the idea of creating the South Monmouth Regional Police Department.
"I'm not here to talk about consolidating municipalities, only the duplication of services they provide," said Pringle, adding that his presentation is based only upon his opinions.
He said that several of the southern Monmouth towns plan to hire Carroll Buracker & Associates, of Harrisonburg, Va. to study the concept. Buracker is the former chief of the Fairfax County Police Department who has conducted studies on law enforcement across the nation, Pringle said.
Pringle said he believes that towns would see the biggest savings by regionalizing police departments, which could be done over a period of time.
"You don't want to lay people off or demote them or cut salaries. You would want to do it over time through attrition," he said.
"I don't think there is any question that fewer police officers are going to cost less than more police officers," he said.
Ocean Gate Mayor Paul Kennedy said he was glad to have the opportunity to explore the concept.
"In a little town it's hard to survive. I think the dialogue will start among us," he said.
Toms River Mayor Paul Brush pointed out that some issues would have to be addressed by the legislature, such as merging civil service and non-civil service employees.
"The leadership of the towns in the state have to think outside the box to maintain savings and keep up services. If there is an advantage to sharing services we should look into it," Varano said.
The Joint Legislative Committee on Government Services and Shared Services held more than a dozen meetings to investigate the possible effects of shared municipal, educational, fire and emergency departments. Its final report issued Dec. 1 includes 18 recommendations, including shared municipal courts, expanding the powers of 21 executive county superintendents to oversee local districts' administrative spending, and coordinating capital purchasing by municipalities, among others.
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