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Politics & Government

Police Regionalization Report Deadline Extended

Subcommittees have 'made great progress,' county prosecutor reports.

Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano announced Monday the police regionalization subcommittees would not meet their original July 1 report deadlines and instead would set their sights on Dec. 31.

Noting that it has been 128 days since the task force was officially launched, Soriano said, “Task force members have taken their responsibility very seriously. We have made great progress in our undertaking. The July 1 deadline was overly optimistic.”

In 2007, a regionalized police force was one of 12 areas of opportunities identified, leading to a three-phase project. A basic feasibility study was conducted by consultant Thomas Banker, who concluded in 2008 that regionalization had the “potential for significant savings.”

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During the second phase, Banker completed a detailed audit and created a regionalized prototype.

In the third phase, the baton was passed to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Task Force. Six task force subcommittees comprised of a total of 70 individuals have been at work since early this year.

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The overarching mission, Soriano stressed, was to “investigate the feasibility and viability and practicality of a regionalized police force,” testing the Banker model hypothesis and conclusions.

The subcommittees and their chairmen are:

  1. Governance & Municipal Contracts: Donato Nieman, Montgomery Township Administrator
  2.  Expansion/Standardization of Communications & Records Management: William Stahl, Director of Public Health & Safety, Somerset County
  3. Organizational Structure, Crime Analysis, Scheduling and Deployment: Chief Paul Kaminsky, Hillsborough Township Police Department
  4. Standardization of Operating Procedures: Chief William Parenti, North Plainfield Police Department
  5. Reconfiguration of Host Facilities: Mayor Robert Holtaway, Bedminster Township
  6. Integration of Labor Contracts: Mayor William Horton, Peapack & Gladstone

Several key points were presented during an interim update at a press conference Monday.

  • The three self-contained precincts in the Banker’s model have been changed to five precincts. Kaminsky explained that, based on the review of documentation and statistics such as crime analysis and type of calls, the subcommittee thought it “best due to patrol response and patrol visibility to add a couple of more precincts.” Plus, it would allow for an increase in adaptive reuse of some facilities.

The five precincts would be:

  1. Bernardsville, Peapack & Gladstone, Far Hills, Bernards and Bedminster
  2. Watchung, Warren, North Plainfield and Green Brook
  3. Bridgewater, Branchburg, Raritan, Somerville and Bound Brook
  4. Manville, Hillsborough, Millstone, Rocky Hill and Montgomery
  5. South Bound Brook and Franklin

The cost impact of having five precincts has not yet been evaluated. Soriano said, “The adaptive reuse of facilities may allow us to achieve additional savings but we’re not there yet.”

  • There are statutory and practical obstacles, particularly when it comes to the integration of labor contracts. Extensive legal research and analysis is being undertaken, Horton said, “for the complete and uniform integration of all labor contracts,” including salaries and compensation.
  • A major concern is “what are we going to do with abandoned space and how do we compensate the towns. These are some of the dilemmas we are still facing,” said Holtaway.
  • Administrative staff would have to be in place 18 to 24 months prior to the actual creation of the department, Nieman pointed out, while Parenti noted that the process of developing processes and procedures would have to be begin about two years in advance.

Soriano indicated that, once subcommittee reports are submitted by the end of the year, he and Vice Chairman Dr. Richard Celeste, director of the Somerset County Police Academy, would compile the information. They hope to have a final report by March 31, 2012.

Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli, who has been credited with being instrumental in moving the process forward at its inception, said the initiative is a long process.

“This is a huge undertaking and people need to know that it’s being analyzed the right way," he said. "I hope they see the scope of the analysis and the depth of the analysis.”

“From the beginning, we knew this would be a three- to five-year process, with implementation taking 12 to 18 months,” he continued. “The analysis is proving that the analysis is accurate.”

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