By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
For West Windsor police Lt. Robert Garofalo, it all came down to this – did he want to spend his life sitting in a darkened room staring at a computer screen, or did he want to be out-of-doors helping people in need., There wasn’t exactly an “a-ha” moment when the future police officer, who was a Monmouth University student, decided to switch his college major from computer science to criminal justice., “It just clicked,” Lt. Garofalo said. “I like to help people and I thought I could go out there and make a difference. I enjoy computer programming, but not the isolation of it.”, And that’s why Lt. Garofalo – soon to be Chief of Police Garofalo – joined the West Windsor Township Police Department 28 years ago. It is a decision that the Monroe Township native has never regretted., Lt. Garofalo is poised to take over command of the West Windsor Township Police Department on July 1, succeeding Chief of Police Joseph Pica. The current police chief is retiring on June 30, capping a 43-year career as a police officer in the township., “I never really thought about the next step in my career until there was an opening. I was just happy to be working this job, so there was no thought of being police chief,” said Lt. Garofalo, who rose through the ranks from patrolman to sergeant to lieutenant., When he joined the West Windsor Township Police Department in 1989, it was a very different community. It was mostly farmland, and the criminal activity was different, he said., “It was dead quiet at 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning. It’s not so quiet now,” Lt. Garofalo said. Police officers respond to calls around the clock, and the phone never stops ringing., In 1989, 911 did not exist as an emergency phone number, he said. People called the main phone number and explained what they needed to the dispatcher. Then as now, he said, the civilian dispatchers formed the “concrete foundation” for the Police Department., Lt. Garofalo began his career riding around the township in a patrol car, but he soon began to climb the career ladder. After six years, he was made the administrative officer and assigned to help coordinate the Police Department’s transition into the computer age., He parlayed his interest in computer science into designing and programming database programs and spreadsheets for the Police Department. He was responsible for all computer systems related to police work, and also took classes in computer crime and computer investigation., During the early years when Facebook and other social media platforms were first introduced, it occurred to Lt. Garofalo that perhaps social media could be used by the Police Department to communicate with residents., Lt. Garofalo said he approached Chief Pica with the proposal to incorporate social media into the Police Department’s tool box. It was also around the time that Hurricane Irene struck New Jersey in 2011, causing flooding and extensive damage., Although Chief Pica was not familiar with Facebook, he gave the go-ahead to Lt. Garofalo., “We tried it, and we got it going and we got 150 ‘likes.’ We were on Facebook 24 hours a day when Hurricane Irene hit. We let people know which streets were flooded and the conditions around town. The residents responded back,” Lt. Garofalo said., “We got people from India and Russia who wanted to know what was happening because they had family in West Windsor. We put pictures up (of the conditions during Hurricane Irene). We got national attention. Social media was a new concept for us,” he said., Today’s “Operation Lighthouse” grew out of those early efforts, he said. It is an extension of the Police Department’s efforts to reach residents through social media and to allow for direct communication between the police and the residents., Social media now is an integral part of the Police Department’s efforts to connect with the residents. There are 6,000 Facebook users, 3,500 Twitter followers and nearly 14,000 Nixle users, Lt. Garofalo said., Looking ahead to his imminent promotion to Chief of Police, Lt. Garofalo said he wants to continue Chief Pica’s legacy – “doing the right thing” for the Police Department and the residents it serves. It includes on-going training for police officers, as well as increasing the size of the department to meet the community’s needs., “We want to help and be there for the community,” Lt. Garofalo said.
