League of Women Voters: Why have Bergen PD?

The League of Women Voters of Bergen County will hold a public forum next month to discuss the role of the Bergen County Police Department.

Photo Credit: *Cliffview Pilot File Photo*

Jerry DeMarco

03/29/2013 3:36 p.m.

Scheduled speakers for the April 9 event (7:30 p.m.) at Bergen County Community Service Building in Paramus will include Brian Higgins, the BCPD chief and public safety director for the county.

Higgins “will review the history and mission of the county police and explain the broad scope of services that the Department of Public Safety provides,” a release from the league this morning says.

Other panelists “will discuss the interaction between the municipal and county police; the teams of highly trained specialists who respond to special emergency situations within this county department; and the work of a school resource office, a term frequently heard in the news but not clearly understood.”

Using the motto: “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” the LWV was created nationwide in response to the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote.

The LWV in Bergen County has five chapters.

Bergen County LMV President Lucy Heller heads the Northern Valley group (lwvno.valley@gmail.com), which covers 28:

Alpine, Bergenfield, Cliffside Park, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Dumont, Edgewater, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Emerson, Fort Lee, Hackensack, Harrington Park, Haworth, Hillsdale, Leonia, Montvale, New Milford, Northvale, Norwood, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, Rockleigh, Tenafly, Washington Township, Westwood and Woodcliff Lake

The other local leagues:

Fair Lawn: Ilene Kahn, president: lwvfairlawn@gmail.com
Glen Rock, Evelyn Auerbach, contact: lwvglenrock@gmail.com
Ridgewood: Patricia Infantino, president: ridgewoodlwv@gmail.com
Teaneck: Doris Thurber, contact: lwvteaneck@gmail.com

“Membership is open to both men and women of voting age who support the organization’s mission,” the league says.

All told, the LWV has more than 800 local leagues throughout the country and is known for nonpartisanship, sponsoring candidates’ forums for local, state and national elections, holding registration drives, providing information and conducting public meetings to discuss important local issues.

Those issues range from healthcare, the environment and gun control to campaign finance reform, women’s rights, children’s welfare and U.S. drug control policy.

New Jersey’s chapters also address housing, charter schools, school funding, juvenile justice, waste management and air and water quality.

The advantages, its members say include:

help in becoming an effective voter;

a way to meet involved and informed people;

a chance to be heard and sharpen your research, writing, speaking and administrative skills;