By:Alec Moore
A misunderstanding resulted between the Raritan and Manville police chiefs last week after Manville Chief John Petrovic was inadvertently misquoted in the Manville News as saying that his department was "better" than the Raritan department.
Raritan Chief Michael Sniscak, who heard about the chief’s remarks, was taken aback by the reference made to the Raritan Police Department.
What Chief Petrovic had actually said during the March 6 special Borough Council meeting where council approved buyout packages for three of his senior officers was:
"I am going on record, and I went on record before, that I am opposed to any reduction of any staff of the Manville Police Department. We provide a service to this community, I am saying, above and beyond the Borough of Raritan or any other community."
This came after some comparisons between the two towns were made as council and the mayor were dealing with cutting the budget.
Several days later Chief Petrovic said he had not meant any disrespect toward the Raritan Police Department in any way and added that he had been inaccurately quoted in the March 14 article. Chief Petrovic emphasized that he had never stated that the Manville police were "better" than the Raritan police.
"I would never say that we are a better police department than Raritan," Chief Petrovic said. "They’ve got a good department in their own right and it’s really not fair to compare the two. Their needs are different from ours and you really can’t compare one community’s needs to another, that isn’t fair to either community."
Chief Petrovic noted that among the more notable differences between Manville and Raritan in terms of policing needs is the fact that Manville has a high school while Raritan does not and that Raritan has three major highways running through it, while Manville’s main artery is a county road.
Although Chief Sniscak agreed with Chief Petrovic in that Manville and Raritan are distinct and different communities, he emphasized that his department offers the same services to its residents as the Manville department does. He added that while Raritan does not have a high school, there are three schools in the borough that use police services. Lastly he noted that Raritan police are responsible for responding to accidents at the Somerville Circle, where roughly 500 accidents occurred last year.
"I do realize the towns are different, but we do get our fair share of activity here," Chief Sniscak said.
"I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding," said Chief Sniscak, who noted that he could empathize with the position the chief was in at the meeting.
The discussion that preceded Chief Petrovic’s comments at the March 6 meeting involved a debate between two Manville police officers and Mayor Angelo Corradino about the impact that the loss of three officers would have on the department. Mayor Corradino argued that the loss of three officers would not have a significant impact on the department’s operations, while the two officers disagreed.
The mayor had noted that if the Raritan Police Department can serve the community of 6,338 effectively with 17 to 18 officers, then the Manville Police Department, with a community of 10,343, should have no problem operating effectively with 22.
"If another town can do it with four less, then why can’t we?" the mayor had said, referring to Raritan’s Police Department.
The Raritan Police Department had been staffed by 17 officers up until January, at which time the department received one additional officer.
