July 2,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, on Facebook ,Glen Rock Mayor Bruce Packer reminds residents that no one is looking to stop you from exercising your free speech rights but these events cost taxpayers in police overtime and municipal services.
Packer said, “At the council work session this past Wednesday, some time was spent talking about rallies at Borough Hall, particularly the ‘Rally for Humanity’ that is occurring this evening at 7:30PM on the front steps of Borough Hall.
The entire council was in agreement that no local governing body should attempt to prevent residents from exercising their First Amendment rights by following the example of those who built this country by speaking out and rallying.
The point was made, though, that residents should know that there is a cost to all of us, as residents, when there are rallies such as this.
When a group of several hundred people gathers in one place, it is necessary to have a police presence and the police personnel that are present, do represent a cost to all of us. It is important to point out that ANY Borough event held in town, that requires police presence has that same cost.
We budget for police overtime each year with the expectation that there will be times when extra coverage is needed. Each year, the amount that is budgeted is determined based on an assessment of how many events are anticipated in the coming year where police overtime will be necessary as well as OTHER possible times when such a cost may be incurred.
As there was at least one grassroots rally at Borough Hall in 2017, this year’s budget was done with the knowledge that there is an increasing likelihood of gatherings that might necessitate a police presence.
While budgeting for overtime is never an exact science, we feel that we did a good job of covering our bases in this year’s budget and, as always, will continue to reassess as we move forward.”
