Ad proposal doesn’t fly with area police chiefs

Department heads chide North Brunswick mayor
for police car ad idea

By jennifer dome
Staff Writer

Ad proposal doesn’t fly
with area police chiefs
Department heads chide North Brunswick mayor
for police car ad idea
By jennifer dome
Staff Writer

A proposal from North Brunswick Mayor David Spaulding to place advertisements on police vehicles has become a joking matter among police chiefs in other municipalities.

The idea originated with a North Carolina-based company, Government Acquisitions Inc., which has only been in operation for two months. Ken Allison, a managing partner with the business, said the company would donate a fully outfitted police vehicle for every officer in the department and replace it every three years for $1, in return for allowing advertising to be placed on the vehicles. There are currently a total of 18 police cars in the North Brunswick department, and they are replaced on a rotating basis of three a year. If the company provided one for each of the department’s 84 officers, it would mean a huge increase in rolling stock for very little cash outlay.

The three-year contract must be renewed in order for the agencies to keep the cars, according to the company. If the contract is not renewed, the cars go back.

Sponsors of the program would require recognition on all of the vehicles, according to the company’s Web site. The participating municipality would have a say about what ads would be placed on the vehicles, Allison said.

"If your local law enforcement (and other emergency service) agencies have not received enough government funding for homeland security, or if your tax base is insufficient to provide the vehicles your department needs to protect and serve, your local government may be a candidate for this program," Government Acquisitions states on its Web site.

North Brunswick residents voiced their opposition to the idea during Monday night’s Township Council meeting at the municipal building on Hermann Road.

"I don’t think the ads are a good idea. When I was a councilman, Dave (Spaulding) didn’t want signs on things like garbage trucks and park benches because it made the town look like hell. It would be a disgrace for him to put ads on the cars," former Councilman Paul Pappas said.

"We should be proud of our Police Department and not degrade them for a couple of bucks and put ads on their cars," resident Joe DiGloria said.

One resident felt that the mayor should put an ad on his own vehicle.

"I think it would look tacky to put ads on police cars. Mr. Spaulding, why don’t you let them put the ads on the township trucks or your own private car," resident Mary Pinkham said.

Township Attorney Tom Cafferty said that the plan had not yet been discussed by the governing body.

While Spaulding thinks the idea has promise, his may be the lone voice in the law enforcement wilderness. In other local sectors, the proposal was universally panned — with "ridiculous" and "tacky" some of the more colorful descriptions of the notion.

"It’s a ridiculous idea," Milltown Police Chief Ray Geipel said Tuesday.

That view was echoed by Sayreville Police Chief John Garbowski.

"I’m not in favor of it," Garbowski said. "I don’t think a police car should be put on display for commercial purposes."

Garbowski and Geipel both said advertising on police vehicles would promote a lack of professionalism.

"There’s no place for advertisements on police cars," Geipel said.

East Brunswick Director of Public Safety Tom Finn agreed.

"I am vehemently opposed," Finn said. "To do that takes away the professionalism and dignity a fully marked police car carries. It is tacky and undignified."

South River Police Chief Wesley Bomba said that advertisements on police vehicles would give the impression that the business is being given special treatment.

"To each his own," Bomba added. "I just think it’s in poor taste."

"It is a bad idea. It will open a can of worms," South Bruns-wick Police Chief Michael Paquette said.

Paquette said that the image of police officers is very important to the towns they represent. The first impression one re-ceives when an officer arrives on the scene should be professional, he said.

"They must be in charge," Paquette said about police officers, adding that the professionalism of the officers could be threatened by an advertising logo appearing on their vehicles.

Old Bridge Police Capt. William Cerra said he finds the notion of commercial advertising on police cars a bit amusing, but believes it could undermine the credibility of the officers driving the vehicles.

"I don’t think police cars were meant to be advertised on," Cerra said Tuesday.

Unless a nonprofit organization such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) or DARE pays for the advertising on the vehicles, promotion would be inappropriate, Cerra added.

Unfortunately those organizations, as nonprofits, cannot afford the advertising in question, Cerra said.

Should liquor or cigarette manufacturers outbid other vendors for the advertising, Cerra foresees a major problem with credibility, particularly among youth.

Members of the North Brunswick Police Department did not comment on the proposal made by their mayor.

Spaulding said in an Associated Press interview that the "idea could save the township an estimated $250,000 on its 18 marked police cars."

"The real question is, will the money saved outweigh the overall morale of the police department," North Brunswick Township Council Vice President Carlo Socio said in a North/South Brunswick Sentinel article last week.

"Personally, I think the ads look tacky."