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Police
Department Activity JANUARY 2008 The Police Department received a grant in the amount of
$608.81 from the State Body Armor Replacement Fund Program.
This funding will be used for the purchase of a new “bullet
proof” vest for one of our officers. On January 9th the Township Committee
approved the hiring of West Deptford resident Thomas McWain as a Special
Law Enforcement Officer II (SLEOII).
As a SLEOII, Officer McWain will have all of the same authority as
a full-time regular police officer with the exception that he must be
scheduled to work when another officer is on duty.
Officer McWain’s duties will be split between supplemental police
patrol work and the police clerk duties. Officer McWain’s position is a
replacement for the civilian police clerk position.
He was hired as a part-time officer at no additional cost to the
Township. The advantage of this SLEOII position in place of the civilian
clerk’s position is that Officer McWain can supplement full-time patrols
when needed to provide some additional police coverage and he can also
respond to police calls while serving as the part-time police clerk.
McWain worked as a SLEOII officer in North Wildwood and is a
graduate of the Cape May County Police Academy. On January 17th three members of the police
department attended a one day training seminar on Gang Awareness and
Recognition in Salem County hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Great Lakes
Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network. On January 31st four members of the police
department attended a training seminar in Salem County sponsored by
Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) on various illegal immigration
topics and investigative techniques. In addition to normal patrol duties, traffic details,
responding to burglar and fire alarms, 911 hang up calls, medical assists,
property checks, and general citizen’s complaints etc., members of the
South Harrison Police Department also engaged in the following activities
during the month of January 2008. 1st
aid to disabled motorist/ warrant arrest- contempt of court 2nd
juvenile complaint/ warrant arrest & processing-contempt of
court 3rd
warrant arrest & processing-contempt of court/ additional
charges- possession of CDS in park and possession CDS with intent to
distribute/ DARE classes @ elementary school/ suspicious vehicle complaint 4th
resident fingerprinting service/ suspicious vehicle fire/ juvenile
arrest & processing- bias crime & criminal mischief 5th
hunting complaint/ suspicious vehicle complaint 6th
assist disabled motorist-transport/ warrant arrest & processing
for two contempt of court warrants 7th
struck deer in roadway complaint 8th
motor vehicle complaint-ATVs on roadway/ juvenile complaint/
recovered property/ struck deer in roadway 9th
firearms applicant fingerprinting & processing/ medical
emergency assist/ neighbor dispute 10th
struck deer in roadway/ DARE instruction-elementary school/ vehicle
impound/ neighbor dispute 11th
suspicious activity-telephone calls complaint/ vandalism complaint/
warrant arrest & processing-contempt of court/ assist other agency
armed robbery & resisting arrest/ warrant arrest & processing for
hindering apprehension 12th
assist other police agency with large unruly crowd/ traffic control
detail-remove X-mas decorations-Harrisonville 13th
warrant arrest & processing-disorderly conduct (bail)/ medical
emergency assist 14th
theft of services-bad check complaint 15th
family domestic dispute/ abandoned vehicle removal/ motor vehicle
crash- Lincoln Road/ landlord-tenant dispute 16th
Grand Jury presentation-Megan’s Law violations/ arrest and
processing for producing fraudulent and forged documents 17th
damage to property complaint/ motor vehicle crash (CR#618)/
abandoned vehicle in roadway-impound/ motor vehicle crash (SH#45 &
CR#538/ motor vehicle crash (CR#694)/ motor vehicle crash-overturned (SH#45)
/ hazardous condition-arcing utility wires/ motor vehicle crash (Doe Ct)/
motor vehicle crash (CR#617)/ vehicle off roadway into ditch (snow storm) 18th
suspicious person-vehicle complaint/ animal complaint/ arrest &
processing- uttering forged documents/ vehicle impound 19th
hunting complaint 21st
theft of STOP signs-traffic hazard/ theft of property complaint 22nd
criminal mischief-damage to property complaint/ medical emergency
assist/ warrant service & processing/ municipal court/ reported motor
vehicle crash-unfounded 23rd
medical emergency assist/ hunting complaint/ medical emergency
assist/ vehicle impound/ medical emergency assist 24th
animal complaint 25th
special traffic detail-filming of commercial 26th
animal complaint/ aggressive driving complaint 27th
suspicious motor vehicle-person complaint 28th
aggravated assault arrest, processing & investigation 29th
criminal mischief-damage to property/ medical emergency assist/
arrest & processing for hindering apprehension & obstruction of
justice 30th
aggravated assault follow up-additional processing and transport to
jail/ warrant arrest & processing-contempt of court/ traffic
hazard-large tree across roadway 31st
missing person-runaway complaint/ DARE-elementary school/ motor
vehicle incident-accident
TOWNSHIP ALARM ORDINANCE The South Harrison Township Police Department strives to provide conscientious, courteous and timely response to all calls for assistance and response to activated home intrusion, fire and panic residential alarms as well as accidental 911 hang-up calls. When South Harrison officers are not working the State Police must respond to these false alarms. A significant amount of false alarms occur at the same addresses and for the same careless reasons.
During 2006, police responded to 297 burglar/intrusion alarms, 72 "911" misdial calls, and 24 false fire alarms. Experience
has shown that although environmental factors sometimes play a role in
activation of alarms, the vast majority of false alarms are caused by
human error and carelessness. In an attempt to decrease the amount of false alarms caused by human error, the Township Committee has adopted an Alarm Ordinance (O-07-10) . The final reading of the ordinance will be at the regular township committee meeting on June 13, 2007. This
ordinance provides for graduated penalties for repetitive false alarm
activations. For the first,
second and third false alarms in a calendar year, residents are given a
written warning. The fourth offense imposes a $50.00 fine and the fifth
offense imposes a $100.00 fine. Subsequent
false alarm activations in a calendar year provide for increased penalties
not to exceed $1,000.00. When officers respond to alarms they will be leaving behind a notification card explaining the date and time that they responded and any pertinent information. In addition, this Ordinance requires the registration of all alarms with the Police Department which is to include current information consisting of the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may be contacted in case of emergency or who are authorized to provide services to the alarm systems. The Police Department thanks you for your anticipated cooperation in ensuring that care is taken when activating and de-activating alarms and that all authorized persons have the proper pass codes for their alarm systems. |
