A TLS report. Does the Lakewood Police Department need more Officers? Well, depends who you ask. If you’re asking someone who just received a summons or just got pulled over, then the answer would probably be an astounding no. But if you were to ask any of this week’s shooting victim’s family members, anyone who’s been targeted with graffiti or someone who’s been burglarized, you may get a definite yes.
And that ‘yes’ answer isn’t just the feeling of a the victim’s family, but also those of several Police Officers we spoke to, and that of the top cop, Police Chief Rob Lawson.
”I’d love to hire more Officers”, Police Chief Rob Lawson tells TLS, “Just look at the last week in Lakewood”, he said. “But the fiscal crisis we are in, just doesn’t allow it”.
“We’ve lost many ranking Officers recently”, (which includes the recent retirement of Sergeant Edd Rupp, Detective Joe Isnardi and several others), “We’re trying to do our best with what we have – working smarter and more efficient – but we can’t endanger the public’s safety”, he said.
“But sooner or later, we will have to hire and promote Officers”, he added. “Promotions will have to be made by the latest, beginning of next year”.
Although, the Chief did not specify which positions will be filled, or which Officers will be promoted.
The police department, the Chief explained, is run para-military style. Which means, the shifts operate in chains of command, and that a shift will usually consist of several patrolman, with a Lieutenant or a Captain as the shift’s supervisor. Therefore, when a Captain or Lieutenant retires, – i.e. Captain Miick – his position must be filled to accommodate the chain of command.
The month of August, is the hiring month for the department, but with the current financial crisis the town finds itself in, the department did not hire any additional Officers this year.
However, with the fiscal outlook of 2011 as bleak as 2010, the Chief doesn’t see the department being able to hire any additional Officers in 2011 either, to expand its 128 member force.
“What that means is”, said Lawson, “Is that even if we were to hire more Officers in 2011, they wouldn’t be on the road until approximately the Summer of 2012”, because of the required training prior to hitting the road.
“In the meantime, cops are retiring – we have several top cops which are eligible to retire, he says. “And if they retire, we will have to make promotions”.
So just who’s decision is it to hire more cops?
The answer is, it’s ultimately up to the Township Committee, if they feel they can fiscally handle the expansion. TLS-CCP.
Even if this is true that lakewood has not got enough cops- that just makes it doubly painful that some members of the force sit around and ticket ladies who are parked 24.9 feet from the curb on CLifton avenue, when they could be stopping violent criminals from walking the streets. – or busting up the drug, gmabling and other illicit activities going on on clifton avenue.
128 cops! How many are on duty at night?
We dont need more cops we need less, cops never prevent crime its not possible. so i ask what would more cops do? more tickets? if we had 500 cops there would still be crime, in N.J there is a very sick mentality people automatically look at cops for everything grow up people, the more you empower them the more power they have over you. i am not a cop basher there is a place for police but a very limited one, namely to investigate and bring criminals to justice, and traffic safety for that we dont need 128 cops
They need more cops at night and much less cops during the day,
moving cops from day shift to the night shift should solve the problem without any cost to the taxpayer
why at night it could take over 10 minutes after placing a call reporting suspicious activity untill a cop shows up (sometimes they never show up)
Less Kudos, more crime fighting
When he said 128 member force, that doesn’t mean they are all patrolman. They do need more, so that the officers on the street can do more proactive policework instead of running from one call to another and writing reports for their entire shift.
and unfortunately for the people who don’t know how to obey simple traffic and parking laws, it is still the duty of the police department to enforce ALL laws. We have these laws for a reason: safety.
cut the currnt salaries and hire more cops with the surplus
Could Tls please get from the chief the time of each shift and how many cops on each shift?
LPD deserves more respect than i see here from some leaving comments. I doubt many of those with negative statements could ever do their jobs.
I personally thank them for a very tough job in this town!!!
to # 6 i think the safety of the community is more threatened by the drug runners than the people who jump a light everynow and then. (i dont jump lights and cant recall a time in the past ten years that I have just blown a light because i didnt want to wait
we are needing to do the guliani method. fighting small crimes, prevents bigger! the graffiti needs to being washed away.
Answer me this. If I can drive through Lakewood all week long, bank, shop, dry clean, work and never get pulled over or a ticket. I travel through Howell, Brick, Jackson, Toms River all the time and never get pulled over. So stop violating the traffic laws of the State of NJ, and let the police police. Do you think they enjoy standing outside in the rain, heat, snow, etc, just to write a ticket. Of course not, but when SEE a FLAGRANT violation they are going to pull over. So obey the laws, all of them not just the convenient ones.
LPD cops do a great job for the most part, however they are the highest paid in the state. we already have too many police officers, my heart skips a beat thinking will they pull me over today, will they embarass me with two cops and all sirens for a rutein traffic stop. No more cops pleeese, now detectives would be another story let’s get more detctives
#10- I agree w/you of course they need to more to stop the drugs, gangs etc but like it or not the police also have to enforce the smaller things. When an emergency vehicle can’t get close enough to a building on fire or an ambulance can’t get to a person in need because someone is parked where they shouldn’t it- it needs to be addressed. Just like the person who speeds or talks on their phone while driving. They could hit a pedestrian. The major crimes aren’t being ignored because a cop decides to write tickets during the day. I’m sure those cops would rather be doing something more meaningful- but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pull people over or write tickets when they see the law being broken.
But do they need more cops at night? absolutely!
I think knowing where every officer is all night long is not one of the issues there. I think if most people would lock their car doors and keep valuables out of sight of those criminals, there would be less thefts from vehicles. Lock your glove boxes, lock your cars. That is just an invite to someone “Come On IN see what I have”. I agree that there is a need for more officers but overall us residents have to share the responsibility to taking care of our stuff. If you leave it open and your valuables in plain view what can you expect..Police can not be everywhere at the same time..this town is big and getting bigger everyday..unfortunately the economy is not, all our services are feeling the “pinch” and there is nothing that can be done. For now…We all have to keep that watchful eye.
I love how people say the town they live in has the highest paid police in the state! I’ve heard it about Jackson, Toms River, the list goes on. Definitely not in Lakewood… and how often to you risk YOUR life doing your job anyway? How much would it be worth to you?
The article by itself gives the answer to the problem: the people that get tickets say there is too many cops and the people that get hit by crime say to little the answer is let the same cops stop focusing on tickets and fight crime this is the logical answer.
I got pulled over for going threw a yellow light and 3 cops came and surrounded me it was crazy This was litteraly “Paramilitary”
get rid rid of state police and hire more cops for violent crimes. if there is no money why is lakewood buying new garbage trucks and cop cars?
You guys are crazy 1st they are not the highest paid Brick with one of the lowest crime rates get paid more. 2nd I guess the cops safety does not matter to the bloggers. 3rd if we are talking about a large number of cops retiring and almost a year to get on the road then we are creating an unsafe work environment for the size of this town. A lot of this town is not frum and are drunk, violent and we have a large gang community.
JUST BY THE WAY CHIEF LAWSON & THE ENTIRE FORCE DESERVE A LOT OF RESPECT THEY HAVE SHOWN ME & MY FAMILY THE UPMOST CARE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS
i have lived in lakewood all of my life and have never been pulled over at all. i have been robbed many times and had people vandalize my property before.
you really have to be doing some stupid stuff to get pulled over in lakewood.
I also was pulled over by three cop cars. They came to each side of the car with guns drawn. It was night on a dark road. My car matched the description of a car they were looking for, with armed thieves in it.
They would have been crazy not to approach the car in the manner they did. What they found in our car were two pregnant women, with our hands in the air so they could see we were not a threat. We realized right away, as they were approaching the car, that there was more to the stop then me just making an illegal turn. One car stayed behind and gave me a ticket. I deserved it. This was in Brick. We need to respect our PO. They have a dangerous job, with lots of grief from the public.
#9 I couldn’t agree with you more. The people on this posting that say we need less police giving tickets, are the ones that are getting the tickets. These people would also be the ones that will call the police for anything and expect the police to be there for them .
lets vote for LCSW
I find it completely amazing to here people on here complain about the police simply doing their job. They are required to enforce all aspects of the law. If people would just follow traffic laws they would not get tickets just like if the drug dealer didn’t sell drugs they would not get arrested.
I for one am someone who was involved in a serious car accident because the other driver decided to jump a red light. I required surgery and physical therapy due to my injury. Anyone who complains about being ticketed for parking is just selfish and anoyed they got caught. When you park to close to an intersection you force other cars into an area where a turning car can hit them, they can see arount corners or people walking or riding bikes. Why can’t the people of Lakewood just grow up already and take responsibility for their actions. If drivers used more commonsense the police working during the day would not have to spend their entire shift dealing with accidents and violations that cause accidents. However in this self important time we live in no one cares about anyone except themself. Why else would people constantly park in fire lanes just to not have to walk a few blocks. Those that do that obviously don’t care if someone is injured or worse because emergency vehicle’s can’t access the area. The only thing that matters to people like that is that they are not inconvienced. And for those that don’t think traffic tickets are a good use of the Lakewood police officers time just look at the amount of violations and accidents that occur in this town. Ocean County leads the state in car accident fatalities this year and Lakewood leads the county in accidents. I realize there is a lot traffic and congestion on the roads of Lakewood but that does not give anyone the authority to run stop signs, red lights, speed (especially in residental neighborhoods), or park in a manner that obstructs other drivers ability to see on coming vehicles. The police will do their best to protect the people of Lakewood from all aspects of crime and violations that put people lives and property in danger but the public has to help by not being part of the problem. Just look at the recent rash of thefts from cars. If these cars would have been locked the vast majority could have been prevented. How much time do you time do you think the police officers spent writing those reports instead of trying to be proactive and keeping the town safe.
If people think that moving officers from day to night shift will make a difference they are wrong. The police can not be everywhere all the time. The communities have to work with the police and call when they see something suspicious. Now I know it does happen here but it needs to be done more and people have to be able to give a good description of the person they saw. Simply saying they saw a Mexican or black man is useless. You need to include clothing descriptions at a minimum. The police can’t stop every person that is black or hispanic. You need to give them more to work with. The poeple of Lakewood need to stop being easy victims. Now I don’t mean everyone should get a gun, what I’m talking about is locking cars and houses, lighting up your property, not walking alone late at night through neighborhoods that even the polce would not if they didn’t have a gun and radio. Sadly there will always be crime but your best defense if to be a hard target and an excellent witness if need be.
I am with # 12
100%, do not do” stuff” to get pulled over in lakewood.
#13, LOL, we wish. We are one of the lowest paid in the County when it comes to big towns. Brick, Toms River and pay hire wages then Lakewood. Lakewoodm is on Par with Lacey, Breakley and Barneget.
#25- Good Post!
#25
right on target !!!!!!!
#25. I usually don’t read completely through extra long comments, but your comments were most compelling and right on target. WHY DO SO MANY THINK THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW?
it’s fine if they get more cops but they should put a few out to watch thy’re own on several ocassions (not on calls) i c cops running reds parking illigally and flipping u turns THEY PUT THIER LIGHTS ON AND TURN THEM OFF!!!!!!!!!!
a person could break a lock and when a person breaks a lock the police do not act right away so your comment goes all the way down the drain maybe think before you right
#25 well said
# 25 for mayor
number 17 is right
#25 GREAT POST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
32…. It’s Write.. not right….
yes we may leave our cars open by mistake but does this allow someone to have the right to steal. this is the problem with this ocunty..
when some crooks passed my complex one older teenager was riding a scooter (obviously not for his size). Another one decided to grab one. when i confronted him, his simple answer was it was just lying on the ground (like he had a right to steal).
go back to (moderated) if you think its legal to steal and make this town lawless with gangs, graffiti , stealing and crazy booming bass sounds from you house or cars that can be heard for blocks.
Why is it that so many people are so quick to judge the police in traffic enforcement? I understand that it is an inconvenience to be pulled over for breaking the law and occassionally being forced to pay a fee in retribution for the error (law braking), but do these that criticise over the traffic enforcement realize that everyday, in every situation that an officer goes to could be their last? Who on here would be willing to accept a carreer that meant that one day you may not go home to your loved ones? I am being completely honest when I state that Lakewood Police Officers in general are liberal when it comes to traffic enforcement. It is also difficult attempting to do a generally pre-established job in a township of such great diversity. Try thinking of all the different types of people that exist in Lakewood and realize that the average officer will have to communicate with all those types during one shift. While trying to assist every person they are called to, the officer has to also attempt to remember all the laws he or she can and determine at basically a moment’s notice whether there has been a violation or not. For those that say, don’t bother me with traffic enforcement, imagine what it would be like if there were no laws to prevent people from doing what ever they want on the road…Scary! Although the officer may cause a slight inconvenience, try looking at it from their angle… Sorry to blabber, but seriously these officers are willing to put their lives on the line, everyday, for you, the citizens… Could you do the same? or would you rather hide in the peace and tranquility of your homes and families????
They just need to hire more Butterworths… That will fix everything!!
Don’t leave things out that look like fun to take… You simply make yourself any easy target! If common sense is so common, WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE OF IT?!?!?!
There are sone realities we just have to face. #1. Lakewood police are by NO MEANS the highest paid in the state. Not even close. #2. If you think the police doing traffic stops is unnecessary ask one of the victims of the countless car accidents a day who were injured by those who “jump a light now and then” or ask our own Hatzolah members who run from accident to accident all day long. Kevin- you embarrass yourself by not being able to follow simple traffic laws. Lakewood Police do an amazing job and are severely needed in this town buy they are HUMAN. They can not be everywhere at once as much as they want to be. To be effective more are needed. It just simple math. It will take an officer “over ten minutes” to get to a call if he’s still on another call with 3 more waiting when he’s done with that one. If we want faster responses and safer streets we have to give LPD the resources to do so. Wake up people.
Thank you LPD for all you do!!
We all need to support OUR POLICE OFFICERS, they all do a great job. If you don’t want to get a ticket, then don’t do the things that will result in you getting a ticket. Own up to your responsibility and obey the law.
A very BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE for our POLICE OFFICERS
whether we have more or less police officers, we still need whoever is working for our town. without cops, the world would be a disaster. people getting away with crimes is something pple don’t like to see. there is a reason we have laws. true, pple are still doing terrible things. but cops have their special ways of protection our communities. we respect them for they are our protectors and we’d be lost without them. thank you to the officers who help protect us.
We need more lcsw not more cops lcsw is a bunch of individuals who don’t get paid and would not have anything to do if we hired more cops. Plus they can’t write tickets so everyone is happy!!!