Woodbridge PD Booking Seniors!

That’s right readers, the Woodbridge Police Department (WPD) has been booking seniors at a rate of about 75 at a clip.  To date, they have bagged around 73 or so.  No, not for crimes or misdemeanors, but for the WPD’s wonderful Senior Police Academy program!

The program was initiated and is run by Officer Joelle Slossberg, who became Detective Slossberg this past May. Credit must also be given to Police Director Robert Hubner for his approving and supporting the implementation of the program.

So is this Police Academy like the one Steve Guttenberg attended back in 1984 (see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087928/), not hardly.  The program offers some real insights into the daily activities of the WPD and the fine men and woman that serve and protect our community.  It sure isn’t all coffee and donuts for them!

The program takes one (1) class per week to complete, over a period of five (5) weeks.  The first class starts with a quick course (not a certification course) in CPR, the Heimlich maneuver and cardiac defribrillation.  Then there is a presentation about senior ‘scams’ which is very informative.

The second class gave the senior recruits a tour of police headquarters, which included, the holding cells (no bars, steel doors), the courtroom, the booking room and the dispatcher’s operation center.  There were also presentations in the police dayroom by the head of the Woodbridge Traffic Enforcement and two of the department’s undercover officers.  Both presentations were highly interesting and very informative.

Week three, class three, had the recruits at the Middlesex County/ Woodbridge PD firing range in Keasbey.  The range is open air and sits behind the Woodbridge Public Works Dept.  The recruits met several members of WPD Swat Team, who put on a live-fire demonstration. A word of advice to the bad guys, drop the knife or the gun and don’t get in their sights!  The recruits were also given the opportunity to handle, but not to fire, several of the weapons the WPD currently employ or have previously employed in their SWAT operations.  The fully “auto” rifle with a suppressor was, in my opinion, the coolest of the weaponry!   Sure wish the township would keep its all but forgotten promise and restore the “public” shooting range,  that was torn down to make room for Wegmans and Lowe’s!

Week four, class four, had the recruits (after an unintended extended bus tour of Route 130) at the Middlesex County Correctional Facility (jail) in New Brunswick.  What a facility.  And like the WPD holding cells, this is another place that’s okay for a tour, but you never want to have a space ‘booked’ for you at either of these locations.  Our tour guides (guards) both female and male, were highly informative, jovial and did a good job about telling us about the facility.  The recruits were given a tour of the different parts of the facility and we were allowed into both the lower and higher security areas of the facility.  The ‘population’ in the those areas appeared to be less curious about us, than we were about them.  I suppose we were just one more tour group to them.  One interesting fact the guards shared with us was that the population in the facility was down from over 1,300+ to the mid 700 range. That was the good news.  The bad was that about 70% of the current population are gang members!   

Before going to week five, class five, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that each recruit was given the opportunity to ride with an officer on patrol for about 2 hours.  Each ride, according to the recruits that took the opportunity to do a ride, was, as might be expected, different.  No one knows, especially the officers, what will occur while on patrol.  While no one had any harrowing experiences, everyone came away from the experience with new insights about what the routine, or at least part of it, is like for Woodbridge’s finest.  To a person, everyone that took the ride was glad they did.   As I mentioned earlier, it isn’t all coffee and donuts, or even close to it.

Okay, week five, class five,  Graduation has arrived.  The ceremonies were held at the Woodbridge Community Center.  The Mayor made a short appearance to start the ceremony, but had to leave on other business.  The recruits were presented with their Certificate of Completion by Police Director Hubner and Deputy Director Nisky. The recruits were honored with a Citation from the NJ Legislature, which were presented by our District 19 Assemblyman, the Honorable Craig J. Coughlin, Esq.

While the Senior Police Academy program is a terrific way for seniors to gain further insights into their police department and the justice system, and in so doing, develop a greater appreciation of Woodbridge’s finest, it must be noted there is also a Junior Police Academy.  That program is, in my opinion,  an invaluable tool in the WPD’s efforts to reach out to our young residents.  But, be it for the Seniors or the Juniors, it is hoped all the residents of the township will continue to support the efforts of our police department to promote community safety and awareness.

Thank you Detective Slossberg and Director Hubner for these programs.