RUMSON – The Rumson Borough Council and the Rumson School District Board of Education have entered into an agreement through which the borough will provide a Class III Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO III) at two public schools in the community.
The agreement will run from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The borough will provide and pay the SLEO III salary and employee benefits. The school board will reimburse the borough for 100% of the costs associated with the employment and assignment of the officer.
The program will be managed by the Rumson Police Department. The officer will be an employee of the borough and will be supervised and controlled by the police department.
School district administrators and municipal officials said the goals and objectives of the agreement are:
• To provide for occupant safety and building security;
• To work in conjunction with school district and building administration to develop a schedule for the officer to attend activities held at schools, while on duty, such as parent group meetings, athletic events and concerts;
• To act swiftly and cooperatively when responding to major disruptions and flagrant criminal offenses at school, such as disorderly conduct by trespassers, the possession and use of weapons on campus, the illegal sale and/or distribution of controlled dangerous substances, and riots;
• To report serious crimes that occur on campus and to cooperate with other law enforcement officials in their investigation of crimes that occur at school;
• To cooperate with other law enforcement officials in their investigation of criminal offenses that occur off campus.
According to the agreement:
• The officer will work about 40 hours per week under a schedule to be mutually developed by the police chief and the superintendent of schools;
• The officer is responsible for security in the assigned schools. The officer will work in
cooperation with school officials and with the school district’s administrator;
• The officer assignments will cover the Forrestdale School and the Deane Porter School, each school’s security needs, and each school’s event schedule;
• The officer will be responsible for conducting security assessments and vulnerability studies as directed by the police chief and in consultation with the school principals.