Police will discuss sharing services among towns
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 07/13/07
BY CHRIS LUNDY
STAFF WRITER
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Officials will discuss sharing police services at a Monday public meeting, but the police chief said the departments won't be consolidated.
The meeting will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday at the borough hall on New Jersey Avenue.
Representatives from nearby police departments, including Point Pleasant, Bay Head, and Mantoloking were invited, Point Pleasant Beach Police Chief Daniel DePolo said.
Belmar Police Chief Jack Hill will also be there, since his department shares a lot of services.
A roundtable discussion will be held to explore different options to make the police departments more efficient without sacrificing services, he said.
"We're talking about taking baby steps here," he said.
The department already shares some services, he said. For example, its gas pumps are used by other departments, as well as its servers that cops in other towns can access on their laptops.
"I don't think we're talking about consolidating police departments," he said.
Representatives from PBA Local 106 will be providing an overview of some the issues and concerns that need to be reviewed when considering shared service, or a regional or consolidated police department, said Mayor Thomas Vogel, who will be hosting the forum.
"While we have no plans on making changes, sharing services or consolidation has been receiving a great deal of attention. However, any action in this area needs careful review and consideration," he said.
The goal of this forum is to discuss examples of a regional police department, as well as to review some of the key points in a recent white paper published by the New Jersey Chiefs of Police Association on this topic, he said.
"The objective of this forum is to help provide a better understanding of the complexity of any plan to consolidate or regionalize services and how changes to policing services must be diligently analyzed," he said. |
