ALLENTOWN – Allentown municipal officials will pay $132 in a shared services agreement that involves eight police departments in western Monmouth County and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
During a meeting on July 6, Borough Council members authorized the renewal of the agreement for the Western Monmouth Active Shooter Training Group. The Allentown Police Department will have six officers participating in the training.
The participating law enforcement agencies are the Allentown, Colts Neck, Englishtown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro police departments, and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
This will be the fourth year the training group will be in effect. The initial agreement was authorized for 2018-19, with Freehold Township serving as the lead agency and provider. Freehold Township will continue to serve as the lead agency and provider for 2021-22.
The Borough Council’s resolution states the agreement among the law enforcement agencies “would be beneficial to the respective communities, allowing interagency standardization of active shooter protocols, and facilitating a rapid response and coordination in the likely event that officers from multiple agencies may be the first responders in neighboring communities for these types of incidents.”
According to the resolution, 523 officers will participate and the nine law enforcement agencies will pay a combined cost of $6,518.
Allentown will pay $132 for six police officers. For the remaining agencies, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department will have 120 officers and pay $1,000; Howell will have 112 officers and pay $1,000; Marlboro will have 83 officers and pay $1,000; Freehold Township will have 70 officers and pay $1,000; Manalapan will have 61 officers and pay $1,000; Colts Neck will have 23 officers and pay $506; Englishtown will have 10 officers and pay $220; and Freehold Borough will have 30 officers and pay $660.