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The proposal must be approved by the borough Council, after which it would go to the county freeholders before a deal is officially signed.
Bergen County Police can begin the work as early as September, Donovan said. It would mark a return, of sorts, to old stomping grounds for Brian Higgins, Bergen County’s Public Safety Director Brian Higgins, who once was a Carlstadt cop.
“With caps what they are, towns are having more trouble these days funding adequate public safety programs,” a source directly involved in the proposal told CLIFFVIEW PILOT for a report earlier today. “Carlstadt will continue to patrol the residential section of town, and county police will cover the industrial section.”
That area includes a warehouse where a crew of working and retired New York City police officers burst in, tied up employees and made off with $600,000 worth of high-end perfumes and fragrances. All were eventually caught and federally prosecuted, but not before one Carlstadt officer had his jaw broken by a fleeing suspect.
Opponents of the move privately said the cost of having five officers dividing up 24 hours seven days a week will top $1 million annually for the county.
It’s unclear what impact the agreement, and any future deals, will have on a consultant’s recommendation that the Bergen County Police Department be virtually gutted, with various functions given to the county sheriff and prosecutor.
New York-based Guidepost Solutions LLC, which conducted the $600,000 study for the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, met with the county freeholder board in Hackensack this afternoon before the matter is discussed publicly tonight.
One of the reasons cited in the Bergen County Law Enforcement Consolidation Study is that county police do very little patrolling. That dynamic appears about to change. (For more on the study, go to: Study says Bergen County police should be axed.)
County authorities wouldn’t say who else was approached, but CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned they include Wallington and Washington Township, who initially have resisted.
In fact, Donovan said today: “We believe that we will be seeing more of our [m]unicipalities looking at shared service options with the [c]ounty, and we are actively working with other municipalities on cost saving initiatives [involving county police].”
Route 17 divides Carlstadt, with warehouses, factories, offices and other businesses to the east and mostly residential properties on the west side.
“This is very beneficial to the town, as it will free up our police to be able to better patrol our residential neighborhoods, while maintaining the integrity of the Carlstadt Police Department,” Roseman said.
Roseman said the borough “anticipates net savings to the taxpayers of approximately $480,000 per year for the life of the contract.”
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