to sniff out drug
connections, deals
in two communities
Police investigative team takes
time to mark important efforts
JIT continues
to sniff out drug
connections, deals
in two communities
By clare marie celano
Staff Writer
Members of the Freehold Borough and Freehold Township Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had a chance to kick back and relax on June 18, at least for a little while.
The 17-member specially trained police team, which includes nine Freehold Borough police officers and eight Freehold Township police officers, gathered at the American Legion Hall on West Main Street, Freehold Borough, to honor each other for a job well done as they celebrated their first awards dinner.
The "guys" even managed to drop their guard momentarily to poke a little fun at each other and to enjoy some great food, as part of the evening’s events.
The event began with a welcome speech by Freehold Borough Patrolman Chris Otlowski, who told members and guests they were invited to the dinner because "they all had a unique part in helping the JIT team in one way or another."
He reminded those in attendance how the team was formed four years ago. According to Otlowski, he and Police Officer Joe Cicero of Freehold Township had been "begging" to have meetings with the administration of both police departments to work on setting up a joint team, specifically to fight narcotics traffic in their respective towns.
"We were arresting the same people; we all had the same [confidential informants[," Otlowski explained.
Finally, with the OK from former Freehold Borough Police Chief William Burlew and former Freehold Township Police Chief William Alexander, and Freehold Borough Lt. Mitch Roth (then a sergeant), who helped get the unit off the ground, JIT was created in 1999 and has become very successful, according to officials.
Members of JIT now have jurisdiction in both municipalities, according to the officer.
Otlowski thanked all who were involved in starting up the unit and he thanked Freehold Borough Police Chief Michael Beierschmitt, Freehold Township Police Chief Ernest Schriefer and all those who have continued to help keep the unit the functioning asset to the two municipalities that those involved with the team believe it is.
"There comes a time when a job is too big for us, when there are just too many things to handle," Otlowski said. "This is when we bring in a force that can’t be beat. Whenever we’ve asked the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office or the New Jersey State Police for assistance their response has always been, ‘Where do you need us?’ There are no political power trips here," he said. "And we always get the job done."
Otlowski said employing the additional manpower of law enforcement officers from the sheriff’s office and the state police, "makes us a force to be reckoned with. The drug dealers are afraid of us and the innocent people love us."
Otlowski spoke of the difficulty of the nature of the job itself and mentioned the fact that JIT members are only part-time and must put in comp time to work on the team, leaving families they’d like to be with, which is very difficult. In addition, the job holds more than its share of danger.
"Only certain persons can do narcotics and no-knock entries. It makes you nervous. It’s not the best feeling in the world when you’re at the door of a crack house and when there may be guns behind that door, but we do it. They do it," Otlowski said, referring to all those in the audience. "Someone has to do it. Everyone should be proud of the job we’ve done."
Otlowski said team members have arrested 300 suspects, seized 31 pounds of cocaine, 10 kilograms marijuana (22 pounds), 1,500 Ecstasy pills, three bricks of heroin, 25 vehicles used in the commission of a crime, 10 guns and $92,370 in drug money.
He thanked the administrators of both police departments for their support. Beierschmitt and Schriefer were each presented with a "Founding Father" award.
Beierschmitt told the audience there is now "an important bond between the Freehold Borough and Freehold Township police departments, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the New Jersey State Police."
Freehold Township Lt. Lawrence Loos, the JIT commander, began his moving speech with the question, "Why do we do this?" He then expounded on the reasoning behind doing the job the officers do.
"I know I’m in a profession where we are destined to fail. We have to fail because none of us are perfect. So, why do we do this?" he asked.
Referring to the story of Don Quixote, Loos responded to his own question by reading several passages from the play Man of La Mancha.
"When life seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness, to surrender dreams, this may be madness. To see treasure where there is only trash, too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."
Those in attendance sat quietly, reflecting on their own reasons for joining up with the unit as they listened to the words Loos was reading.
Referring to the song from that play, "The Impossible Dream," Loos said Otlowski exemplified the spirit of Don Quixote more than any member of the team because he did see life as it should be and not merely as it is.
"He is the heart and soul of the team," the commander said as he presented Otlowski with the first "Man of La Mancha" award in recognition of Otlowski’s "hard work, integrity and commitment to the cause in spite of the odds—and for his attempts to reach that unreachable star."