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South River council advances plan to place a police officer at each school

SOUTH RIVER – The Borough Council has adopted an ordinance authorizing the South River Police Department to hire Class III police officers and to assign them to South River School District schools.

“The borough placed funding in the 2018 [municipal] budget for the salaries of four Class III officers with the anticipation that the school district will share in the cost for this endeavor,” Borough Administrator Jack Layne Jr. said.

With a unanimous vote, council members adopted the ordinance on May 29.

Police Chief Mark Tinitigan said the police department conducts an annual audit to evaluate safety at the borough’s four schools. A recent audit concluded the front door area at each school was a safety concern because no one was stationed at that location to check the identification of individuals entering the building.

In March, student leaders at South River High School hosted a town hall assembly during which municipal officials, members of the Board of Education and representatives of the police department listened to students’ and staff members’ concerns about school safety and security.

Afterward, Tinitigan said a teacher “was concerned about having to check someone at the front door and said it wasn’t her job to have to check people into the school.”

After hearing the concerns and reading the results of the safety audit, Tinitigan said he recommended to the school board and the council that Class III officers be hired and placed at the front door of each school.

A Class III special law enforcement officer is a recently retired law enforcement officer who is permitted to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of a permanent, regularly appointed full-time police officer while providing security at a public or nonpublic school on the school premises during hours when the school is normally in session or when it is occupied by students or teachers, according to the council’s agenda.

The Class III officers will be trained by the police department and work under the umbrella of the police department, according to Tinitigan, who said the officers are expected to be in place by the fall.

Layne said the Class III officers will be paid between $25 and $30 per hour.

Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.

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