State Police to increase service
By: Jake Uitti
ROCKY HILL A year-long renewal of the police service agreement between Rocky Hill and the South Bound Brook Police Department was unanimously approved Monday by the Borough Council, despite a heartfelt plea by Princeton resident Dr. Ronnie Davidson not to renew the pact.
Councilman Jared Witt was not present at the meeting.
In a related development, State Police coverage of the borough is expected to increase this summer.
The agreement, which is similar to the contract that has been in place between the two boroughs for the last three years, stipulates 50 hours of service by South Bound Brook police officers per month, plus an additional 50 hours during the year for special details. The contract states that South Bound Brook police will continue to serve exclusively for traffic enforcement, but in the event of an emergency in the borough, officers will respond and take action until the State Police can arrive.
The contract extends to May 6, 2007.
Dr. Davidson questioned the effectiveness of the South Bound Brook Police Department, however, asserting that a South Bound Brook officer did not come to the aid of her husband, 86-year-old Sol Davidson, who was assaulted and had his car stolen near the intersection of Route 518 and Kingston-Rocky Hill Road in Franklin Township in December.
Dr. Davidson claimed the officer, who was writing a traffic ticket for a violation in Rocky Hill, was approached by witnesses who saw the carjacking take place, but the office said he was "busy" writing a ticket and that the incident was out of his jurisdiction.
Since the incident, Mr. Davidson died from a stroke resulting from a blood infection, his wife said.
"This could happen to you or your family," Dr. Davidson said to the council Monday. "What kind of a police force is this?"
In response, Mayor George Morren said, "We’ve taken what you have to say very seriously. Some people actually held (South Bound Brook Police Chief) Robert Verry’s feet to the fire, probing not only the incident, but its implications for their service to Rocky Hill."
Borough Councilman Brad Merritt, who questioned Chief Verry at length during the council’s April 17 meeting, said, despite the carjacking incident, voting against the interlocal agreement would not be beneficial to the borough. Mr. Merritt noted that having no police force would not be a good solution to the problem.
Former Councilwoman Peggy Harris, who was in attendance Monday and who had worked to form the agreement between the boroughs while on the council, said, "The whole town is concerned about what happened and how it happened, but what we went through prior to having South Bound Brook in town was unacceptable. We worked hard to accomplish what we accomplished with South Bound Brook."
Mayor Morren said if the borough ever wanted to terminate the contract, it would have to put South Bound Brook on notice that there is a problem, and the department would then have 30 days to remedy the problem before other action could take place.
Regarding State Police coverage, Mayor Morren and Councilman Ed Zimmerman said they met with State Police officials April 25 and learned that no sooner than June 1 and no later than July 1, the State Police will increase coverage in Rocky Hill.
Starting in the summer, the State Police will patrol Rocky Hill full time, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, Mr. Zimmerman said.
"They will be doing foot patrols, car patrols, park patrols and normal investigative work, as well as traffic enforcement," Mr. Zimmerman added. "The officers will also have a station in Borough Hall to write reports."

