The Rochelle Park Police Department (RPPD) currently consists of 24 sworn and 7 non-sworn personnel and we operate on a $160,000 operating expense budget. In 2023, there were 14,031 calls for service, ranging from medical aid calls, property crimes, domestic violence incidents, narcotics possession, to aggravated assaults and illegal weapons possession. (Check here for all monthly/ yearly stats: https://rochelleparkpd.org/index.php/police-activity-report/  RPPD runs its day-to-day 24/7 operations through its Patrol Operations. The Patrol Operation oversees four platoons (day and night), and it also staffs our Traffic Enforcement Division, and Community Outreach / Relations programs, Records, Firearms Investigations. The Detective Bureau oversees the Criminal Investigations and assists patrol when needed and performs other functions like Megan’s law registrations, Court Discovery Production and is the liaison to the courts and Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.  

Over the past four years of my tenure, the RPPD has become significantly more involved with the community by participating in programs that are based more on prevention, intervention, and diversion. I strongly believe that the police are active members of the community, and by engaging in a positive and proactive way they can help make the town a better place to live, work, and visit. We have continuously created and expanded our outreach programs to include National Night Out, Coffee with a Cop, Cops in Shops and Bagels and Blue. 

In recent years, a number of high-profile and controversial events around the country have underscored the need for and importance of meaningful and sustainable collaborative relationships between local police and the communities they serve. Of particular concern to me has to do with the care and wellness of our officers in a time of increased public scrutiny. Our officers are finding themselves under a growing public microscope, with demands for greater levels of accountability in the name of transparency. I believe that technology has allowed for officers to work under the assumption that their actions are being recorded on camera (whether by the public or their own body warn cameras). As officers confront cumulative stress and trauma on a daily basis, their capacity for situational awareness can become suppressed. We have been addressing this recent evolution of policing in a way that provides our officers with the support and resources they may need to help manage these challenges. We have continuously modernized our rules and regulations and the policies and procedures of the RPPD as law enforcement function has evolved. As a former resiliency officer, I have learned firsthand that proper training and providing resources to officers on dealing with the challenges and stress of the work they do will lead to a healthier environment and a higher level of service for our “customers”.