Politics & Government

Bernards Awaits Answer From Bernardsville on Offer for Shared Police Dispatch Service

Bernards seeking another town to share police dispatch after Long Hill Township announces it will end arrangement with Bernards next April.

Bernards officials have invited Bernardsville to share its police dispatch service, and have requested an answer by the end of July.

Bernards Township Administrator Bruce McArthur on Monday said Bernardsville officials were expected to further discuss the proposal on Monday night, but he was not expecting an immediate answer from the township's next-door neighbor.

The proposal has been informally discussed at previous meetings, but Bernards only last week sent Bernardsville officials a formal letter making an offer to share police dispatch services, McArthur said. He said the township is not yet releasing estimated cost figures.

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The township is seeking another partner for sharing dispatch services—located at the Bernards Township police station at 1 Collyer Lane—after Long Hill Township officials previously announced that municipality will discontinue its arrangement with Bernards as of April 2012.

Long Hill Township officials, located in Morris County, have apparently decided to rely upon Morris County communications for its dispatch service, McArthur said.

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"Bernardsville is the most logical partner for us," McArthur said.

He said the two municipalities mostly utilize the same frequency of dispatch services, which is not compatible with the low-band frequency used by Somerset County.

Relying upon Somerset County for police dispatch calls, as some neighboring towns do, would require an investment in new police equipment, McArthur said.

McArthur said some of the township's equipment is compatible with county radio services. He also said that the county has begun handling the township's 911 calls as of this month. Part of that change was because the township this year reduced its number of police dispatchers from 12 to 9, McArthur said.

Bernardsville Borough now has its own dispatch service, Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said. He said the Borough Council was expecting to discuss Bernards' offer in executive session on Monday night. However, Honecker said the governing body would likely continue examining the proposal at at least another meeting or two in July.

The two towns also provide backup services for police, McArthur said. "We feel we can [handle] Bernardsville with our current level of staff," he said.

Both McArthur and Honecker said that part of the reason that Bernardsville would not sign up for dispatch services with the county is that the borough's mountains create "dead zones" for dispatchers in certain areas.

Other neighboring municipalities, such as Bedminster Township, utilize the county's police dispatch services, McArthur said.

Honecker said borough officials would want assurance on three different points before possibly agreeing to the plan for shared dispatch services.

The Bernardsville mayor said officials want to know whether borough residents would be well served by the new dispatch center, and also to determine the age of the equipment to be used. Another goal would be to save at least $100,000 by making the switch, Honecker said.


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