Is there any hope that Manville or Hillsborough would take a bold step and earnestly work toward combining police forces with any neighbor?
Neither governing body said no this month when faced with the deadline to respond to a months-long study on the regionalization of local police into one county department.
Neither said yes, either.
Manville officials passed a resolution that said they might be interested in learning more about merging forces, but they didn’t like the proposal to join in a precinct with Hillsborough and Montgomery. Manville’s said it might be interested in working with a nearby municipality with “similar demographics” — a denser, diverse, more middle class, downtown-centered town. That might be Raritan or Somerville or even Bridgewater.
Hillsborough more or less defaulted on a decision after hearing the idea was “dead on arrival,” Mayor Carl Suraci said. The impression was that the study was predicated on 100 percent municipal acceptance, he said, and that wasn’t happening.
Hillsborough might explore the idea, on a smaller scale, he said.
To us, it seems like Montgomery and Hillsborough might be a natural match that’s worth exploring.
Going for the whole enchilada and suggesting one countywide police force, divided into five precincts, was probably too far a reach for cautious local officials to swallow at one time. The organizers of the study probably knew that, and, behind the back of their hand, would offer hopes that smaller combinations of policing units might be prompted by the report.
Somerset County’s study seemed to hold promise. The county is generally fairly homogeneous — with a wide income disparity, to be sure — and most municipalities have their own force and don’t rely on State Police.
Manville could expect a savings of $2.4 million, and Hillsborough $3.7 million, over 10 years, the study projected. That’s a nice bit of change, especially in these days of high property taxes.
Will Manville or Hillsborough act to keep the momentum rolling?

