BORDENTOWN: City, township to study police merger options

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
Bordentown City and Bordentown Township are set to receive a $33,000 grant to study the possibility of consolidating their police forces.
    The grant, which will come from the state Department of Community Affairs, will cover the entire cost of the study, said Bordentown Township Administrator Leonard Klepner.
    An exact timeframe for the study has yet to be established, but it will be performed by Patriot Consulting of Neptune, and Mr. Klepner said it should hopefully be done in about a year.
    But for now, “It’s much too soon to project anything in terms of outcomes,” he said.
    Bordentown City Police Chief Matthew Simmons concurred, but said despite being in the early stages of the projects, he has some concerns.
    “My primary concern is that (residents) get the same quality service we provide them on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
    He said he also worries about officers who may lose their jobs should the merger go through. The existing city police facility is not large enough to house the entire staff of the other, he added.
    “I think at this time it’s a positive direction we’re heading in,” he said. “However, there’s a whole lot of logistics that would have to be worked out between the two agencies.”
    Bordentown Township William Morelli said he was pleased with the direction the two municipalities are taking.
    “I think studying the consolidation of the police forces to see if there is some economy of scale we can achieve is a noble thing,” he said.
    The township hopes the study will find a way to save both towns money, he said, but will not consider a merger if it would have even the slightest impact on the safety of residents.
    “It doesn’t matter what conditions you put on the question, the answer is no,” he said. “What we’re looking for is for it to show that in fact there’d be an enhancement of safety and some savings.
    “The other side of that is true also,” he continued. “If it were going to cost us no more money to join forces, so there wouldn’t be savings or added costs, but we would pick up enhancement of services, then that would be a good deal.”