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HILLSBOROUGH: Five ‘special’ officers are thanked for service

   Hillsborough’s Township Committee saluted five men who served as special police officers and pitched in to help law enforcement and with crowd control when situations cried out for it.
   In former days, with smaller police forces and a more rural township, the specials were paid by the hour to conduct proactive patrols, especially around Halloween time.
   They also were on duty providing traffic control during natural disasters, fires, serious traffic incidents, parades and fireworks displays. Some of those duties have been picked up by fire companies’ traffic control.
   The five are Daniel Panucci, with 28 years of service; Bruce Knolmayer, with 38; George Mariasz (31); and Randy Johnson and Christopher Thompson, 16 years each.
   With a larger police force and more imperatives for professionalism, Police Chief Paul Kaminsky said in May that it was taking more hours to train the men than they actually were called upon to perform duties.
   He worried the officers were often put in harm’s way without the power and resources to react adequately, he said.
   The proclamations thanked the men for carrying out their duties “with the professionalism and dedication expected of the position of special police officer.”