SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The 2017 South Brunswick Township Police Department Annual Report is compiled to capture the department’s efforts as an agency in serving the 45,664 residents who call the community home, and the nearly 100,000 who work and travel through the community daily.
There are 84 sworn men and women along with 25 civilian staff who handled 79,624 calls for assistance last year, according to information provided by Chief Raymond Hayducka.
“Our collaborative approach to addressing community issues led us to work with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the South Brunswick Transportation Advisory Committee to improve traffic congestion on Route 1. The innovative idea allowed motorists to use the roadway shoulder for travel during peak commuting times. Officers enforced the new traffic patterns and commuting times were reduced in half,” Hayducka said in a prepared statement.
Community engagement efforts expanded with new programs addressing special needs residents and an additional school resource officer (SRO). The Special Needs Registry came out of the agency identifying nearly one-third of all residents reported missing in the township in 2016 as having special needs such as dementia or autism. The program allows officers to quickly access a photograph and vital information about the missing person. The SRO program expanded to add another Class III officer. The school resource officer program is in its 19th year and represents the longstanding partnership with the South Brunswick Board of Education and private schools, Hayducka said.
In 2017, officers used naloxone 30 times to save lives due to opioid overdoses. The department have partnered with SOBA College Recovery to provide families and victims with resources to create long-term solutions to addiction issues.
“Our community is facing the same challenges as the rest of the country in addressing the growing opium crisis. We have trained and equipped our officers to meet these challenges,” Hayducka said.
“I am proud of our agency continuing to meet the highest standard in the nation for law enforcement. We hold both national accreditation from CALEA and state accreditation from NJSACOP. Our department will stay at the forefront of emerging training and trends to address quality of life issues and crime in our community,” Hayducka said in the statement.