HILLSBOROUGH: County police task force delays final report

   The county task force investigating the possibility of one police force for all of Somerset County has pushed back the release of it final report about one month.
   County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano and Dr. Richard Celeste, executive director of the Raritan Valley Regional Public Safety Institute, said the final report of the Prosecutor’s Task Force on Regionalized Policing will now be released on or about April 1.
   Prosecutor Soriano serves as the chairman of the task force, and Dr. Celeste serves as its vice chairman.
   While the task force’s original subcommittees have completed their reports, the report of a seventh subcommittee formed in December is finalizing its investigation.
   That committee, which is chaired by Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a Hillsborough resident, is collecting the most up-to-date financial information from municipalities and is focusing on the financial issues relating to the possible formation of a regional police department.
   The task force, which was officially constituted on Feb. 17, 2011, is the third phase of an effort by county officials to examine an opportunity for the delivery of improved municipal services at a reduced cost to taxpayers.
   Phase two, which culminated in December 2010, included a police consolidation model prepared by consultant Thomas Banker, who projected a potential savings of upwards of $18 million for a regionalized force when compared to the aggregate cost of delivering policing services through 19 separate municipal police departments in the county.
   ”While there is a slight delay, with an analysis this significant, what’s most important is that it be done right,” said Dr. Celeste, who is a retired deputy chief in the Prosecutor’s Office. “Most of the substantive work is finished, and it is anticipated that the newly formed subcommittee will complete its financial review is the upcoming weeks.”