Guest Column
Robert E.

Verney Sr.

Police captain’s remarks raise many questions for residents

This is a copy of a letter I recently sent to Old Bridge Township Council-woman Lucille Panos.

As I read an article ("Police, Mayor Battle Over Lack of Funding") in the Aug. 1 issue of the Suburban, I couldn’t help but be outraged by what Old Bridge police Capt. William Cerra had to say and how he went about saying it. His personal remarks, attacks aimed at the mayor and his attempt to use intimidation and scare tactics to gain his ends are not new, but they should not go without comment or scrutiny.

I wonder if the chief’s office has ever been summoned by the Township Council members to present to them the criteria for when and how often police cars are to be taken out of service and repaired or replaced. Is the replacement every two years, every three years? Who knows? Why not keep them in service for four years or longer, provided they are properly maintained with oil changes and regularly scheduled preventative maintenance.

High mileage does not qualify for replacing a patrol car, if that is the reasoning, because driving within Old Bridge does not entail constant stop-and-go driving in traffic jams that would take their toll on the vehicle’s engine and transmission. Why do we need to buy new vehicles on the say so of the chief’s office, without proof that, in fact, the vehicles are justly needed? The office should bring something to the table in the way of record-keeping to show the reasons for its demands, and then the council should make a determination based upon the facts.

Also, it appears to me that each and every time I pass the municipal complex, I see eight to 10 marked radio cars parked in the lot. Add to that the number of cars on patrol during any given shift, and it would seem to me that there are ample backup cars available should one be taken out of service for preventative maintenance or repair. How many police cars do we own, marked and unmarked, and how many are used per shift? These are questions to be asked of, and answered by Chief Jerry Palumbo’s office.

These questions do not prejudice or undermine the authority of the chief or the safety and welfare of the police officers or citizenry, even with Capt. Cerra’s continual tirades, in public forum, of how understaffed the department is and the peril that may occur because of it. No, Capt. Cerra, Chief Palumbo: No answers, no documentation, no accountability, no new cars — it’s simple. Make do with what you have to the best of your ability.

The time is long overdue for the chief’s office to be answerable for its dramatically, well-choreographed, grandstand speeches, and it must prove that it is in need of spending additional taxpayers’ money. The taxpayers of Old Bridge are not to be looked upon as a bottomless pit of overflowing monies, which if left unchecked, will be used on frivolous expenditures. They, the taxpayers, should know where and why their dollars are spent, and that the spending was just and necessary.

Scare tactics don’t impress anyone; valid record keeping and accountability do.

Robert E. Verney Sr. is a resident of Old Bridge