Community Oriented Policing Services

C.O.P.S

The North Plainfield Police Department has placed a Project Medicine Drop Box in the lobby of Boro Hall.  It is located just inside the front door to the Municipal Building and is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The Project Medicine Drop Box is provided by the State Division of Consumer Affairs and is an effort to safely and securely dispose of any unused prescription medications.  See picture above.  

Project Medicine Drop is an important component of the New Jersey Attorney General’s effort to stop the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs, including highly addictive opiate painkillers.

Through this initiative, the State Division of Consumer Affairs installs secure “prescription drug drop boxes” at police departments, sheriff’s offices, and State Police barracks across New Jersey, allowing citizens to safely dispose of their unused, excess, or expired prescription medications. 

Members of the public are invited to visit the Project Medicine Drop sites and drop off any unused prescription medications anonymously and with no questions asked.  Most Project Medicine Drop sites make this service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. 

By giving New Jerseyans a safe and secure method to dispose of unneeded medications, Project Medicine Drop helps prevent the abuse of these drugs.  This initiative also protects New Jersey’s environment by keeping these drugs out of landfills and out of the water supply.  More information about Project Medicine Drop, including the full list of Project Medicine Drop locations, can be found at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/meddrop.        

The Community Policing Office is a unit within the North Plainfield Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. It comes under the direction of the Lieutenant assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division.

The following units and services are provided through the Cop Shoppe: The Crime Prevention Unit, LEAD and G.R.E.A.T. programs, the School Resource Officer, the S.T.E.P. Program, and the bicycle patrol program.

The Crime Prevention Unit seeks to reduce crime through interaction with the community by means of educational seminars and presentations. The crime prevention unit is responsible for the Neighborhood Watch Program. Currently there are twelve organized Neighborhood Watch Programs throughout the Borough. Neighborhood Watches bring neighbors together to watch out for each other and notify the police of any suspicious activity. Please contact the Crime Prevention Detective if you are interested in starting or joining one. The Unit also prints and disseminates crime prevention brochures to crime victims on a daily basis in response to the police reports generated. The Unit also fingerprints children at various fairs and fun days held during the year throughout the Borough.

The duties of the Crime Prevention Office are handled by Detective Domizi.

The North Plainfield Police Department’s LEAD. Unit consists of two full time Police Officers, Detective Roberto Dejesus and Sergeant Albert Domizi. These officers are nationally certified in both LEAD, (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) and Great, (Gang Resistance, Education and Training). During the school year they are in the Borough’s schools teaching both the LEAD and GREAT programs as well as workshops on conflict resolution, responsible citizenship, and bicycle safety rodeos.

LEAD Training will GIVE KIDS THE CONFIDENCE AND SKILLS THEY NEED TO GROW INTO HAPPY HEALTHY ADULTS.

The officers teach the program to children in the fifth grade during the school year. The student’s exposure to the Officers often leads to long lasting relationships that builds a positive rapport between the police and the community. The officers also spend time with the students at lunch and on the playground.

The LEAD Officers work closely with the student’s teachers. The teachers are in the classroom during the lessons to provide supervision for the students.

The program focuses on four areas:

• Provides accurate information about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drugs
• Teaches the students decision making skills
• Shows the students how to resist peer pressure and violence
• Provides the students with positive alternatives to drug use and violence

• Establish family rules that make the use of drugs non-negotiable.
• Know your children’s friends and communicate with their parents.
• Know where your children are going and with who.
• If your child is going to a party, check to see if their will be parental supervision.
• Communicate with your child, and they will communicate with you (leave the door open).

The North Plainfield LEAD program is currently taught to all 5th graders in the North Plainfield Public School district.

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) began in 1992 through a partnership between the Phoenix Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Together with other Arizona police departments, they developed a middle school curriculum, with the goal of reducing gang involvement and youth violence.

Other programs that come out of the Community Policing Unit include bicycle safety programs taught by the Bicycle Officers, tours of borough hall and police/safety related presentations to any group that requests it.

 

The Summer Teen Evening Program (STEP) is the outcome of the combined efforts of the Community Policing Unit, Guidance personnel from the Board of Education, and the support of the North Plainfield Board of Recreation. The program runs during the Summer and provides the Borough’s youth with an alternative to hanging out on the street. Pickup basketball games and soccer are the main activities, with an end of summer picnic. The program often has as many as 70 teens in attendance.

Since September of 1999 a Police Officer has been assigned to the North Plainfield School district as a School Resource Officer and has assisted with the Borough wide school identification cards and conducted security surveys at the Borough’s schools. The majority of his time is dedicated to the High School and Middle School, where his presence has facilitated the flow of information between the Board of Education and the Police Department.

The School Resource Officer (SRO) is a certified Law Enforcement Officer who is permanently assigned to provide coverage to a school or set of schools. The SRO is a nationally recognized program involving the placement of sworn law enforcement officers in an educational environment. This represents a proactive strategy designed to bring prevention and intervention into the schools. Its emergence is due to many municipalities adopting a community oriented policing philosophy along with concerns about safety, security and order in the schools.

School Resource Officers are not licensed counselors and do not attempt to carry out the functions of a licensed counselor. The SRO’s mission is to provide information and act as a link to support services both inside and outside the school environment. A SRO is not a “Security Guard,” “Hall Monitor,” Disciplinarian,” or replacement for any school employee. The SRO is a sworn police officer whose mission is to keep the peace so students can learn and teachers can teach.

Goals and benefits of the SRO program include: emergency planning for the entire school district; providing the schools with an additional educational resource by sharing their expertise in the classroom; promoting an orderly school environment; and providing an immediate emergency response to what is often a community’s densest daytime population cluster.

We have five Class 3 Police Officers which are assigned to each of our public schools. These officers have a wealth of knowledge in law enforcement and will serve as a conduit with our students. The main purpose of these officers is to protect our children and school staff. Each Class 3 officer is also certified as a School Resource Officer. Class 3 Officers are retired law enforcement officers who are hired and trained by the local police department. The Class 3 Officers are an armed presence in the schools who will wear a uniform indicating he or she is a member of the North Plainfield Police Department. The value of having these individuals in the schools is that they are experienced, trained law enforcement officials who work in concert with the local police department and the schools