Jamesburg Police Department taking over Helmetta police and dispatch services
MIDDLESEX COUNTY - Another police department will be protecting the Helmetta community beginning Friday.
Helmetta and Jamesburg entered into a six-year shared service contract giving Jamesburg full responsibility for all police and dispatch services within Helmetta until June 30, 2028.
In a Facebook post Monday, Helmetta Mayor Christopher Slavicek said "a resolution was passed this evening approving the transition of police services from Spotswood to Jamesburg Police effective July 1, 2022."
"Jamesburg Police will assume full responsibility of all police services with no lapse in emergency and/or public safety coverage," he wrote. "Thank you to Spotswood administration, police, and PBA for your support to Helmetta throughout your tenure. A warm welcome to Jamesburg Police. Please keep an eye out for communication to include a Meet & Greet event."
In 2018, Helmetta disbanded its police department and the council approved a police service contract with Spotswood.
In a statement, Helmetta borough attorney Joseph Youssouf said a meeting was held with the Borough of Spotswood and they told us that it was no longer economically viable for them to provide police coverage for the borough.
June 30 will be the last day of coverage by Spotswood police department, the statement said.
Jamesburg approved a resolution for the shared service agreement at a special council meeting Tuesday.
Under the contract, Jamesburg guarantees that a minimum of one fully trained, PTC certified, full time police officer will patrol Helmetta 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to the contract, Helmetta will pay $712,500 for the first year, $731,500 for the second year, $769,500 for the third year, $807,500 for the fourth year, $845,500 for the fifth year and $883,500 for the final year.
Additional fees would be charged for such things as special events that require more than one officer be assigned to Helmetta, the contract says.
The contract further states that the agreement can be terminated for any reason provided the party seeking the termination provides a written notice to the other party 12 months in advance of the termination.
Jamesburg Mayor Marlene Lowande said the borough has been in talks with Helmetta since April.
"It's difficult to find a shared service that will actually bring revenue to your town, especially if you're a small town," she said. "This really was a good opportunity for us to partner with another small town and to have an opportunity to add some revenue to our base. I think it's a good thing for Jamesburg and I think it's good for Helmetta. We have an amazing police department. For a small town, these guys are truly about community policing and being out there in the public and getting to know the residents. I feel it's a good fit. In fact, a few of our police officers even came from Helmetta Police Department when they were let go. It's familiar to most of them."
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Lowande said she doesn't yet know exactly how much revenue Jamesburg will make. She said there are start up costs involved.
"There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes," she said. "We want our officers to be able to use the old Helmetta police headquarters when officers are down there."
Lowande said Spotswood and its Chief of Police "have been absolutely helpful and wonderful in this transition and our Police Chief and Captain have taken the reigns on this and have done a good job."
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She also said the Borough Council approved resolutions authorizing the hiring of two new police full-time officers to assist with the Helmetta plan.
"We hired two police officers yesterday (Tuesday) as a result of the Helmetta plan," Lowande said. "There may be two additional hirings in the near future."
Jamesburg had a police complement of 16 and the two new hires will bring it to 18, Lowande said.
Jamesburg also recently hired two others for full and part time dispatcher positions, but that has been in the works since January and had nothing to do with Helmetta, Lowande said.
Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com
Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Jamesburg NJ Police Department taking over Helmetta police services
