Jackson Police Chief Matt Kunz moments ago released the following response to the TLS story of Hatzolah members being ticketed on calls:
”The Jackson Twp. Police Dept. provides high quality, professional policing services to our community, and has done so since 1946. In so doing, we have collaborated with our Fire, EMS, OEM and other community partners, all in the interest of maintaining a safe environment for our residents and guests.
Recently, Jackson Police Officers made the difficult but in their discretion necessary decision to issue traffic summons to members of the Hatzolah organization. This should be neither an indictment of the officers, nor of Hatzolah, but rather a reflection of challenging demands placed upon our staff, to include taking enforcement action when they deem necessary.
The police department leadership is taking these recent concerns seriously. Communications are ongoing between the police department leadership and Hatzolah supervisors, and we have every confidence that the concerns of all parties will be respected and addressed through the mutual cooperation that has been the hallmark of our cooperative service to the community.
There is no reason to believe the actions of the police department staff were anything other than legal and proper, as part of the business of policing our community. We look forward to a reasonable resolution of the present concerns, and our continued, cooperative service to the residents of Jackson Township.“
Would almost respect him more if he just said “we don’t like that Hatzalah is able to operate here”
What a joke of a statement
Hmm, not sure if its “we dont like …” But SOMEBODY certainly has a problem with it.
And from this statement, the Chief either is one of them.. or AFRAID of standing up to them.
Why do you automatically go to that? Why is it every time the discrimination card is pulled? I’m sorry but a vehicle that is not an actual emergency vehicle has no legal right to break the law of the road.
I’ve never seen so many words without actually saying anything. Sounds more suspicious than ever. Time for an investigation
With all due respect, the ticket issued was for parking illegally. Hardly a safety issue. Your well spoken words without even a hint of an apology shows a total disregard for the absurdity of the ticket that was issued. Just to protect your own….
Agree!
In other words its fully legal to ticket hatzlolah if they park illegally and we will continue to do so.
With all due respect, this would be better left unsaid .
I look forward to a statement that actually acknowledges that this was a mistake and will not happen again.
Dear Chief, would your officers under any circumstances give a summons to a fire truck parked illegally ? or even a fellow off duty officer ?
Well said. Also, what’s more important, saving a life, or parking legally? Jackson police apparently hikds it’s the latter one, or if the 3rd choice is making $ for Jackson it would be that one.
Holds*
Agree
The township should act normal, and appreciative. These our members are our heroes. Hatzalah, when they go on lifesaving calls they are 100% responsible, but don’t waste time parking… Every second counts by them that’s why they are so successful every ticket should be dismissed ASAP, and no more given to them in the future, they should be handed Metals for their heroism.
Mr. chief of police, perhaps you don’t understand what these selfless members do. They save lives every hour – selflessly. What do you do? Ticket them?
come on!!
What a joke!!!
the Jackson police really needs a reset in the few times I’ve dealt with them they came off nasty and aggressive. Really unprofessional.
Why’s Jackson not allowed to issues tickets for major violations of the law. Blue light permit allowed 1 blue light and all traffic laws must be upheld.
Sure , they can …
The question is, are they enforcing it equally.
And as a Jackson resident, I know they aren’t. and if they insist to continue with these shenanigans they should hope that nobody shines a spotlight on them because nobody is squeaky clean.
Disgraceful statement. We the residents of Jackson demand and apalogy.
With due respect, we all know good and well that the EMS system is highly less effective than Hatzala. Their response time for life threatening emergencies is beyond the short time frame that allows for just that- life saving treatment.
Your community doesn’t call EMS because you prefer, and are instructed, to use Hatzala so how would you even know how effective our hardworking EMS are? Also, with all due respect we all know good and well that the 1000% increase in traffic accidents is a direct result of a certain demographic.
Why wasn’t the statement provided in the original article?
#Wordsalad
What can be, unburdened by what has been.
Did they ever ticket a jackson ambulance parked on a handicap spot during a emergency
No, the Jackson ambulance will keep circling till a legal spot is available and the patient is room temperature.
I thought there may have been more to the story until I saw this statement.
What a terrible statement! This basically says, “Too bad.” We did it, and we will continue to do it. What a disgrace.
So to understand
This is about safety
Funny the guy (cop) going 100 mph with limited medical knowledge cares about his ego not saftey
an investigation is needed here, The taxes in Jackson aren’t cheap, and for some reason go up, this should be the last thing that the Jackson police department should be making a deal about,
when someone’s in need of help there’s no time & place for monkey business!
i’m waiting for an appreciation and acknowledgement letter from the Jackson police chief of the great work that Hatzolah central jersey does!
thank you for your attention to this matter!
I honestly don’t even know how to respond to this ridiculous statement, so maybe I shouldn’t respond to the statement and express my frustration with what the Jackson police department is doing by giving HATZOLAH a hard time.
A few weeks ago, HATZOLAH was called for a child drowning in the pool. HATZOLAH came and did CPR on the child and literally saved his life. The child came home a day later, normal and healthy!!!
To the Jackson police department, if a member going on that call had to think for a second where to park, the child may not have made it!!!
Jackson police department: HATZOLAH is all over the world and gets along with all police departments. If there is a problem, IT IS THE OFFICER’S PROBLEM, NOT HATZOLAH!!!
HATZOLAH IS HERE TO STAY!!!
They do get along with every PD dept and IS clearly the cops’ fault.
Absolutely!
Central jersey hatzolah is same as Lakewood Hatzolah??
Maybe the lakewood twp relationship is not for jackson???
How about jackson community having they’re own hatzolah and they can work with they’re own twp, versus the lakewood askonim cutting ribbons in lakewood, like Flatbush, boro, park, williamsburg, crown heights….. working pretty well there.
Just asking !
Are you A hatzulas nefashos fan????
Definitely sound like it!!!!
unfortunately it was tried and did not work out.
The situation we are in now is also not working out
There was a Jackson hatzalah set up which was, however, assured by rabbanim.
We need to get this Clown fired
No reason to believe?
I was pulled over by a Jackson police officer that came over screaming at me that I shouldn’t tell him I didn’t see him 10 miles earlier and said he needed to drive over 90mph to catch up to me. He didn’t let me say anything at all and ticketed me for 74mph.
He was lying thru his teeth I didn’t drive over 52mph and the best I got in court was a 2 point reduction with higher fines.
They are corrupt!!
I guess including the cheif.
And yes theese things need to come out in public and someone needs to do something about it.
Sure sure sure.
If this is the definition of corruption, then my question is how are you going to define the whole court system in NY where Letitia James tried desperately for over 5 years to press charges on President Trump. She did not sleep for 5 years- she tried non stop for 5 years looking for ways to penalize the President and sue him for millions of $. During these 5 years Mrs. James actually forgot that she was elected to help her district.
But Biden was a better president, so there goes your theory.
Not surprising.
I hope you invested in a dash cam with gps and speed tracking since then.
Unfortunately Jackson police department has very nasty Attitude
What a pathetic reply! I live in a different state and am literally embarrassed for this chief that this is his reply.
It was a parking issue. He was saving a life. Your cops parked the same way, ticket them too.
If someone you love needs to be saved, these are who you want coming your way. Just saying.
Lakewood vs Hatzoloh went through the same growing pains.
Everybody relax.
Jackson has been becoming a frum inhabited place for at least 8 years. Time to adjust. Growing pains are over.
I daven that you should never need hatzola’s services especially if a cop pulls them over.
Every. Second. Counts.
I hope you value every life.
Amen! Thanks for the Tefilos.
And yes, in the eighties, and I believe all the way into the early nineties, there were Lakewood Hatzoloh members, even an am ulance from time to time that were ticketed and detained while trying to get to calls.
Yes, that might be correct. I grew up here in the 80’s. But it’s been 40+ years since then & I’m certain Jackson township has heard about Hatzolah for at least 20 years. So it’s a little silly that they are still acting like this is a new concept. It’s just anger that Jews are taking over. Simple.
the whole thing sounds suspicious, this chief’s statement sounds like he does not know how to respect, validate, and address the regular guy, he is relying on some cozy connection with the mayor, judge, and who knows whom else, sounds like in a 3rd world country.
Wow! I didn’t realize that a police chief could react in such an unintelligent bigoted and defensive way
police chief should be at the height of dignity and fairness. I think this whole discussion points to the alacrity and success of Hatzolah CJ, to the point that the neighboring authorities feel inferior and threatened
If a Jackson police officer “uses his discretion” to “deem it necessary” to ticket someone potentially in middle of saving a life, then he doesn’t have the necessary discretion to be a police officer.
If the officer can park in a handicapped spot to ticket Hatzolah, then Hatzolah can park there to save lives.
As a resident of Jackson, this is just an embarrassing statement. Shame on you!
well written this is so embarrasing as a resident, it stinks from hate
“Anything other than legal” ? Are you kidding me? The amount of times I’ve seen Jackson police officers breaking the law is “everything other than legal” for eg. parking on the corner at a stop sign on Louisiana Parkway and S. New prospect. Blocking the stop sign but doing so that he could pull people over. I don’t believe there’s anywhere I. The law book that says that’s legal for a police officer to do that. Jackson officers are full of hate. It’s been shown time and time again.
take a video
send it in to the lakewood scoop
@ Jackson police Department you can still make this right…
honor this Hatzala member and thank him for his dedication and service that he provides free of charge 24/7 to this community
And apologies that this would never happen again. You need to retrain your department things have changed since 1946 this can never happen again…!!
What a stupid statement, and honestly an embarrassment to the leadership if they accept such a statement, having the police department call child service on a member, showing up at the house and writing up tickets and harassing members and taking this as an excuse, nothing more than a disgrace, captains of hatzolah stand up for your members get the federal government involved rather then being afraid.
Maybe jackson twp is treating lakewood hatzolah the way lakewood treats jackson hatzolah?
Go fly a kite. Don’t plug your nonsense where it doesn’t belong.
Are you kidding me you giving him A ticket for trying to save someone’s life??? This is so wrong you should give him a plaque and thank him for his service….. we need to get this story to our president asap
I have worked EMS for over 30 yrs… if as volunteers were to respond to first aid calls in personnel vehicles we had to get special permission for a blue light.. a blue light!! We were not permitted to deck our vehicles out in red, white and blue lights that resemble police vehicles!! And if cars pulled over for us with our blue light it was a curtesy NOT a necessity!! I can’t get over all these vehicles flying through traffic like they are police vehicles responding to a first aid calls!! You want to volunteer?? Stay with the ambulance or at a designated building so you r close to the emergency vehicle and you can respond accordingly!!
Aha! So because cars with lights annoy you, you’d rather people just die. Very noble of you.
Hatzalah has an average response time of 1/3 the national average. But, apparently, it’s an inconvenience to you, so we should stop it.
Get help
What planet are you from? You’ve got something in common with the chief – the more you say, the more you sound like a clown!
U are Obviusly not familiar with hatzolah they have vol respond in pov because they want and need a response time of under 2 minutes for critical emergencies if u would read the bible u would know that u have to do everything possible to save a life they dont work like reguler ems that respond with rigs and have a 10 minute response times which doesnt help at a drowning chocking cardiac arrest etc so learn the facts pls and respect the communitys values like every other neighberhood in the tri state and no only the captains and paramedics have red lights in the front of the car all emts have only blue
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for your services.
I won’t address your concerns about the lights and sirens that I somewhat agree with.
but I would like to explain the difference between the Hatzolah model of EMS and the traditional volunteer squads typically found in towns across the country.
EMS response times in ocean county can run anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes in many cases. As an EMT you surely know that in SOME cases that can be the difference between life and death or at least diminish the likelihood of a full recovery.
The Jewish religion teaches that saving human life is the most sacred thing you can do. And it is from that perspective and motivation that Hatzolah operates.
Having volunteers situated strategically around the coverage area , allows for response times averaging 1-3 minutes.
Every member carries lifesaving equipment in ther own personal car and can begin administering care even before the Ambulance arrives.
And finally something to ponder.
Volunteer EMS squads across the country are struggling to recruit volunteers and yet Hatzolah has a team of 250+ volunteers (EMTs,Paramedics,Doctors and nurses) who will drop everything and help the communities they serve.
Every Hatzolah Member has full BLS equipment in his vehicile including a AED Epis Suction ETC almost like a rig learn ur facts before saying how much fast response times bother you
The way you write “flying through traffic…like on a first aid call” almost implies that it’s not a life & death emergency that Hatzolah is responding to but to a mere paper cut. How do you stay near the illegally parked vehicle & give CPR to someone inside a building?!? You sound so ignorant.
Did you know there are non Jews who specifically call Hatzolah in an emergency due to the speed they respond in? And Hatzolah comes to the calls even if the caller is non Jewish! They don’t judge. They don’t post stupid comments without verifying facts. They respond because they care.
In middle of the night. In middle of a wedding. In middle of dinner. Always.
How do you counter that?
You should never have to count the seconds of a loved one in danger. But maybe you need a wake up call to have you sing a different tune.
What is EMS response time to a call?
New Jersey actually requires drivers to yield the right of way to volunteers displaying blue lights. It is NOT a courtesy light like in New York.
Refer to NJAC 39
Let’s all calm down. The Chief needs to support his officers and show leadership to keep his department together.
If he apologizes and disciplines the cops what do you think that will do to the morale in the PD.
He is in a tough position and is trying to navigate it. If this is handled quietly it allows the tempers to cool and avoids a tit for tat situation where no one wins.
I don’t any of these fines will actually need to be paid.
What a great way to navigate it – by throwing צואה all over the place. It is definitely understood that he may be in a difficult situation but this just shows you that he doesn’t really care that much, to put it mildly.
Can everyone take a chill pill and relax?
The police chief clearly stated that he is working on it and in discussions with the captains of Hatzola.
I am sure that 90% of the commenters are not even from Jackson.
As a Jackson resident for 9 years, I personally have had only positive experiences with the PD. My children just made a carnival a week and a half ago and an officer was super courteous in helping ensure traffic move smoothly.
The officer didn’t write any tickets or bother anyone, we chatted about the carnival and the event, and he was very gracious.
A couple of bad incidents don’t reflect on the entire police department.
The chief of police was being very respectful and standing up for his department as he should do, yet also acknowledging that he is in talks with Hatzolah.
Yes, the Jackson Police do give more tickets In Jackson but at the end of the day, I am scared to speed or commit other traffic infractions In Jackson, which at the end of the day, benefits myself and everyone.
Maybe that is something that other townships can learn from Jackson.
Thank you chief for all that you do, and for taking out your time to ensure a proper outcome regarding these specific incidents. We trust you will continue to be the great leader that you are.
To the other 98% of Jackson PD: our community thanks you for all that you do to keep our community, and the entire Jackson safe.
Signed,
A proud Jackson resident and Orthodox Jew.
Y Lefkowitz
Another proud resident of Jackson here.
However, I consider Hatzolah being able to operate freely, a higher priority than my child’s carnival.
And so you feel that publicly berating and putting down a full department will help?
By calling our police chief a clown in public?
There is an issue and it’s being worked on. Let’s have some class and respect for those that put their lives on the line for us.
This isn’t something that “needs to be worked out”.
Zoning for shuls needs to be worked out.
Traffic from kids’ carnivals can be worked out.
Allowing Hatzolah to block a handicapped spot while loading a patient for transport, is NOT something that needs a discussion. Anyone who “uses his discretion” to ticket the Hatzolah member, shows a serious lack of judgment and priorities.
Such a person should be nowhere near a position of power.
I agree with you 100 percent and all those nasty comments against an entire Police department I guess we can call those guys who wrote those comments “an 🍏 apple not fresh anymore “.
2 wrongs don’t make a right.
A can call B a rotten apple and B can call A a rotten apple. Do we really think that this type of communication will help us in the long run.
“a couple of bad incidents don’t reflect on the entire department”
That is definitely correct – and the Orthodox community overwhelmingly supports Law & Order and law enforcement. However, the “bad apples” are out there and their behavior should not be excused or shoved under the rug.
Jackson resident of over 30 yrs and never had a problem with any of our officers. They do their job, and are professional. This town did just fine before hatzolah and while what they are doing is great and very appreciated, the laws must be followed fairly by all!
Red lights are not allowed and I have seen them drive dangerously and recklessly on many occasions! They will run you off the road and are close to causing their own accidents. Many of them turn on their lights just to beat traffic then turn them off. Claiming antisemitism does a great injustice when actual antisemitism occurs and the word should not be used lightly! If you don’t follow the driving laws you should be held to the same standard as anyone else, this goes for all law enforcement/EMS/regular people as well as the officer going well over 90.
wow what a clueless uneducated person.. there’s a law when responding to an emergency called due regard which first responders are trained to do. So if god forbid your kid was choking I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want a first responder driving 35mph with flashing orange lights and an ice cream truck tune playing out of a loud speaker , you would want them there immediately to SAVE A LIFE , rather than being busy with politics start thinking logical. They have a license in the state for a reason all over. Get use to it. If you don’t like it .. call a therapist
Sorry but that’s a disgusting statement to say they turn on their emergency lights just to beat traffic. It’s totally untrue.
what a load of rubbish!
you pretty much parroted every salacious talking point you have ever read on social media.
“Many of them turn on their lights to beat traffic “ are you kidding me !? have you ever seen a Hatzolah member do that ? I can tell you first hand that if a member would do that he would immediately be terminated.
you write a bunch of other sensational accusations without any evidence.
its all a heap of trash and not even worth a response .
and FYI the “red lights” you talk about are for the most part not Hatzolah members who mostly use blue lights.
I pray that you can raise yourself above the lies and bigotry you’re spewing.
I’ve never seen a Hatzola member do that, but I have, on multiple occasions see a cop do that. Shameful!
What does one thing have to do with the other? Two wrongs don’t make a right. Additionally, Even if it were true that you saw a member doing something that they shouldn’t have – that’s not a reason to target others. Besides, how do you know that they were just turning on their lights to beat the traffic? Maybe they found out that they were not needed. Regardless though the point is still there. We don’t just go around and hating גוים for the fun of it. Put on somebody feels harassed – he has a right to complain about it.
You should learn the laws Red lights are allowed.
I think you know that you’re not being truthful
The only ones who turn on their lights to beat traffic are the police.
I have never seen a Hatzalah member turn on their lights to beat the traffic. I have, however, seen police officers do that on many occasions.
Did anyone claim antisemitism? Where? Show me! You just made that up, because there would be no other way to justify your nonsense.
These police are not there to protect us but rather to bring in revenue thru tickets and other harassments. The police are NOT our friends. They don’t deserve our respect.
AND don’t go to court in Jackson. Winter, I got a ticket for exceeding the speed limit. I went to court and the Judge was giving everyone a $200 fine for exceeding the speed limit. I told the judge that the roads were unsafe at that time and I was not exceeding the speed limit. The judge agreed with me and then said “obstructing traffic – $300”. I gave up and paid.
Why collectively accuse? Some policemen are good, others not so much. There is no reason to believe all policeman are ‘not your friends’ because of one story.
In my experience, the police I have interacted with were fine people.
Not sure this should be a comment or its own letter, but I was a witness to an accident this past friday in Jackson in front of the post office on Bennetts Mills Rd. A local Jew somehow lost control, banged into a pole, and his car flipped over to its side. Hatzalah came and two Jackson police officers approached and got verbally aggressive. Something about where he parked, which direction he came from, preventing him from actually going to the patient. Total disgrace. Never seen anything like that. Not sure what this babble statement is from this chief. They are obviously coordinating the hate amongst each other.
This guy’s writing skills show that he is fit for prime-time politics. To say so much and say nothing at all is a huge talent. Lavan would be proud of this guy!
Such nonsense. Speak English and connect with whomever is reading. And I’m not convinced that it’s Hatzolah, (the men who saved my husband from a staggering heart attack) that are the problem. Sounds like someone just trying to throw a cover over something….
To the Jackson Chief:
Story about a friend of mine :
About 50 years ago, he was a member of Lakewood Hatzalah
he got a call about a lady in urgent need of the hospital (having a baby); so he did speed up, etc. situation was really urgent; a police officer stopped him, issue 3-4 tickets for all violations , said all the points meant his driving license was suspended, and that he should call someone to pick him up, as he could not drive anymore; My friend called his supervisor; in a few minutes the Lakewood chief of Police showed up, slapped the officer in his face, retrieved the license, and send my friend on his way
Kind of a different approach
No reason to drive home a good point by posting a baloney story on the internet. Lakewood Hatzolah was founded 42 years ago. Only one member received a ticket back then for making an illegal u-turn. The ticket was thrown out by Judge Gertner.
In 2008 Officer John Wilson issued a ticket to a member for parking too close to a corner at an accident scene. The whole issue went bye bye when Officer Wilson got in the way of some friendly fire
you are right ; the story must have happened around 1982 or 83; But this is how it was related to me by the person who was driving the lady; He was my chavrusa for a number of years
Would love to see a statement on this from the heads of Hatzolah!!!
Their too busy with their own internal politics to respond to these events 🤣
Are the members of Hatzolah being ticketed while on a call?
The place to discuss this is not online rather Askanim should go and talk to the Chief privately.
Shtadlanus only!