Bernardsville Latest Town to Reject Regional Cop Plan

Bernardsville officials have joined the ranks of Somerset County to decline an invitation to join a regional police department that would be under the auspices of a countywide board, and a county freeholder who lives in the borough said an overall lack of support leaves little future for the proposal.

"It's really up to the municipalities to make the decision," said Peter Palmer, a longtime Somerset County Freeholder who also is a resident and former official in Bernardsville.

"If all of them are opting against it, then there isn't really any place to go," Palmer said on Sunday evening.

Palmer said there have been no "yes" answers from Somerset County's 21 municipalities to a proposal, presented by the Somerset County Prosecutor's office, to consolidate individual police departments into a regional force that would be based in five "precincts." The proposal, released earlier this year, estimated that overall the

The county had asked for a response by Aug. 1. Palmer said some municipalities had shown some interest, even if none were willing to sign on at this time. And he said he has heard of some discussions of smaller departments possibly merging, after considering some of the advantages of consolidation that were pointed out in the study.

Bernardsville filed its response in a letter dated Aug. 1, following a special meeting of the Borough Council on July 31.

Under the plan, Bernardsville would have been grouped with other Somerset Hills towns — including Bernards Township, Far Hills, Bedminster and Peapack-Gladstone — in a precinct that would have operated from a new centrally located facility.

However, the letter from Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker noted that the other towns in that subset of northern Somerset County do not seem to be in favor of the idea, anyway.

The One major objection, other with concern that Bernards would have only one vote on a regional board, was the Township Committe's consensus that cost estimates of projected savings of $1.4 million over 10 years were likely inaccurate.

The answer approved by Bernardsville officials also said expressed disagreement with the study's estimate for savings of $983,417 following a decade of joining a consolidated force.

Bernardsville officials also expressed the concern that service to residents might suffer by giving up an individual police department.

Bernardsville, in northern Somerset County, within the past year decided it did not even want to join the county's regional dispatching service. One of the reasons was given was concern that the county's communications system, which may not reach areas on Bernardsville Mountain.

Another advantage of staying with local dispatchers at that time was seen as the ability of borough dispatchers, seated in the borough hall, to work closely with all emergency responders as well as interfacing with the public.

However, after Long Hill Township declined to renew a joint dispatching system between the two towns. Bernardsville also declined an invitation to consider a joint dispatching service with Bernards.

Palmer said the county continues to offer municipalities an opportunity to join a county emergency services dispatch center. The county does not charge for that service, and does not have any plans to do so, Palmer said.

Palmer said he believed the county had spent about $100,000 on conducting the study to look at the potential advantages of a regionalized police force.