FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Three Class III special law enforcement officers have been hired by the Township Committee to provide security at schools in Freehold Township.
During a meeting on Jan. 7, committee members appointed Joseph Lynch, William Rodriguez and Salvatore Siino on the recommendation of Police Chief George Baumann. The appointments will run through Dec. 31.
According to a resolution, the Class III officers are authorized to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of full-time police officers while they are providing security at Freehold Township schools during the hours the schools are normally in session or when the buildings are occupied by students or teachers.
While on duty in his jurisdiction, a Class III officer may respond to offenses or emergencies off school grounds if those situations occur in the officer’s presence while traveling to a school, but an officer may not otherwise be dispatched or dedicated to any assignment off a school property owned by the township.
Freehold Township has nine public schools: the Early Childhood Learning Center, C. Richard Applegate School, Joseph J. Catena School, Laura Donovan School, Marshall W. Errickson School, West Freehold School, Barkalow Middle School and Eisenhower Middle School, which comprise the Freehold Township K-8 School District; and Freehold Township High School, which is part of the Freehold Regional High School District.
In other business, Township Committee members appointed Christopher Brunner and Mark Wodell as Class II special law enforcement officers for 2022.
According to a resolution, Class II officers are limited and confined to public schools in Freehold Township; issuing summonses in fire zones, handicap parking areas and no parking zones; serving as an officer for the municipal court; traffic control in special details; serving as a communications operator; and special duties assigned by the police chief.
Class II officers will not be armed when they are off-duty, they will not be members of the police force, and their powers and duties will end at the expiration of the term for which they are appointed or upon revocation of the appointments, according to the resolution.
Finally, the committee members appointed Anthony Vecchio as municipal court prosecutor; Lorraine Nielson and Theresa McGuire as alternate municipal court prosecutors; Raymond Santiago as municipal court public defender; Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Elsasser and Andrea DiGiovanni as qualified purchasing agents; Township Clerk Sanabel Abouzeina as future assessment search officer; DiGiovanni as public agency compliance officer and community development representative; and Todd Brown as alternate community development representative, each for a one-year term.
The committee members also appointed Elsasser to a three-year term as township treasurer, from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2024.
