On June 20, I signed Executive Order 2024-54 declaring August 5-12, 2024 “Police Appreciation Week” in Robbinsville Township.
I did this for the ninth consecutive year to support our law enforcement community in the face of continued challenges across our nation.
We are very grateful for the leadership of Robbinsville Township Police Department Chief Mike Polaski and once again invite the Robbinsville community to tie blue ribbons around their mailboxes and swap out their white porch lights for blue beginning Monday, August 5.
A limited number of “We Support Law Enforcement” signs courtesy of Triangle Copy will be available at the township municipal building and police headquarters, while all township buildings will be lit up in blue.
As the director of public safety, we choose this week to honor law enforcement because it corresponds with “National Night Out,” which will be held on Tuesday, August 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the municipal complex (1117 Route 130 North).
Celebrating its 41st anniversary, “National Night Out” is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. NNO provides a wonderful opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.
Robbinsville continues to invest in the only facility in New Jersey teaching shoot/don’t shoot de-escalation techniques, while our community policing efforts, which include “Coffee with a Cop,” “Cone with a Cop,” “Cocca with a Cop,” the C.A.R.E. program, Youth Academy, the S.A.F.E. (Secure Awareness for First Encounters) registry and, coming this fall, our inaugural Citizens Police Academy.
Adult classes and demonstrations will be offered for seven consecutive Wednesday evenings beginning in mid-September with a total of 20 adults (age 21 and over) able to attend.
The academy is designed to “bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community” by providing a working knowledge and understanding of all aspects of police operations and units.
Application information will be posted at robbinsvillepd.org when available.
For more information on our NNO event, or to reserve a table, contact Lt. Tom Egan at thomase@robbinsville.net. We hope to see you there!
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On July 15 we had a very productive meeting with new Interim Schools Superintendent Jeff Gorman, Assistant Superintendent Steve Wisniewski, Business Administrator Nick Mackres and Board of Education leadership Peter Oehlberg (President) and Jeffrey Pierro (Vice President), where we reaffirmed our commitment to our mutual obligations under the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement.
The discussion included ways in which we can be effective partners in protectively combatting bullying and harassment, and how we can work together to advance the interests of the township and school communities.
We recognize our shared responsibilities and accountability in student education, civic engagement and toward the overall promotion of an educated and just community.
We wish Dr. Gorman and his team great success during his tenure as the BOE seeks a permanent replacement for Brian Betze.
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The special election held by the Robbinsville School District to raise the tax levy by $2.75 million passed 1,651 to 1,406 on March 12, and those increases will begin to hit residents’ tax bills beginning Aug. 1, 2024.
Mercer County also saw a sizeable increase in its 2024 budget. For the average home assessment in Mercer of $286,000, that amounts to an increase of $48.49, which also will be reflected beginning next month.
Robbinsville Township kept its municipal tax rate flat for the 10th time in the last 13 years in its 2024 budget to help offset those increases.
Dave Fried is the mayor of Robbinsville Township
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