FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – The Township Committee has authorized the execution of a shared services agreement among eight police departments in western Monmouth County to implement the Western Monmouth Active Shooter Training Group.
On July 24, committee members authorized the agreement among the Allentown, Colts Neck, Englishtown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro police departments. According to the resolution, Freehold Township will be the lead agency and the provider in the shared services agreement.
The eight police departments that comprise the group all neighbor each other in the western region of the county.
The resolution states the agreement would be beneficial to each police department in the training group by allowing interagency standardization of active shooter response protocols and facilitating a rapid response and coordination in the event that officers from multiple agencies may be the first responders in neighboring communities for active shooter incidents.
In February, the inaugural training session for the group was held at the Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold Township alongside the Southern Monmouth Active Shooter Training Group, the FBI Crisis Management Team, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department Mobile Command/Communications Unit and the Freehold Raceway Mall Security Department.
More than 100 officers participated in the drill as participants or as trainers and the officers were initially trained on police tactical maneuvers and then participated in scenarios in which they put to use the tactics they had learned, according to Freehold Township Police Lt. Daniel Pasquinucci.
The southern training group consists of the Asbury Park, Avon by the Sea, Belmar, Bradley Beach, Brielle, Manasquan, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights and Wall Township police departments; the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office; and the Neptune Township Emergency Medical Services Rescue Task Force, a tactical emergency medical response team.
According to Pasquinucci, the police departments that comprise the training groups are committed to planning, practicing and preparing for any threats their communities may face.
In other business on July 24, the committee reappointed Francis Boutote as a Class II special officer (schools assistance officer) for the 2018-19 school year. According to a resolution, the Class II special officer’s duties are limited and confined to the Freehold Township K-8 School District and special duties assigned by Police Chief Ernest Schriefer.