file photo by Boyd Loving
I don’t think that the police department touches the lives of residents the same way that our teachers and administrators do. A regional board of ed could lead to our children traveling further to school, no more local control and less parental input.
I do not feel the same about RPD. the officer patrolling does not know me and I do not know him/her. It really does not matter. When I visit other towns and cities their school system does not matter to me. They have police departments protecting and serving. As in Ridgewood, I do not know the oficers and it does not matter when they do their job.
Regionalization would allow a more efficient use of police officers and less administration.would save money. New Jersey has hundreds of towns and police departments.
A regional school system would save money too. Education is personal, teachers touch the lives of every child. Once a successful merger of police departments is achieved we could look to see what practices could be applied to schools.