Lavallette Police Regains Control Of Department

By Chris Lundy LAVALLETTE

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The work fixes. Some were deeper, including officers who weren’t given thorough background checks or fitness tests, two officers who failed the psychiatric test, the radios being down so cops would call each other on cell phones, and “meddling” from the governing body. However, leaders of the police and the borough said that what the Prosecutor called “meddling” was actually advocating for their town in the face of governmental overreach.

Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office had run the Lavallette Police Department for 10 months but they have now turned it over to Chief Christian LaCicero.

When the county took it over, there was little information released.

Personnel and sensitive matters like that are generally not for public consumption. Now that the department is back under local control, the Prosecutor’s Office detailed the issues in a 23-page statement.

By Alyssa Riccardi LONG BRANCH –

Some of problems required simple paper-

The Prosecutor’s Office gave an overview of what deficiencies (Police - See Page 4)

Rally Draws Trump Supporters

(Trash - See Page 6)

(Inset):

County Hospitals To Join Medicaid Reimbursement Program

By Bob Vosseller OCEAN COUNTY –

Members of the Board of Ocean County Commissioners introduced an ordinance during their last meeting, that would establish the New Jersey County Option Hospital Fee program to aid low-income residents.

This will help increase funding for hospitals in the County. Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Joseph H. Vicari said prior to the meeting that he was excited about the effort to aid low-income residents in consistently receiving proper medical care and services at Ocean County hospitals.

“It will be very beneficial,” Vicari said. “The greatest benefit of this program will be to the critically vulnerable population. This will provide the funds for essential health programs and services to mothers and children, the elderly and all those who are low income and worry about getting important medical care.”

It makes hospitals eligible for matching federal funds. Through a series of steps with the state and federal governments, the program returns almost double the funds to the hospitals to help assure Medicaid patients reliably receive treatment and other health care services.

While not present during that Board meeting, Ocean County Commissioner Virginia (Medicaid - See Page 10)

By Bob Vosseller TOMS RIVER

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For-

mer President Donald Trump urged his supporters to protest his pending arrest related to an investigation by the Manhattan Dis - trict Attorney’s Office. While his arrest turned out to be nothing more than a rumor, supporters still came out in response to that plea in front of the Let’s Go (Trump - See Page 7)

Includes: arrangement conference, removal from place of death, alternative container Batesville ccbmdfc, transfer to crematory, crematory fee

“We are dedicated to exceeding expectations and delivering a standard of service that is 100% guaranteed.”

Police: Continued From Page

Lavallette had and how the county corrected them.

1. The governing body appointed LaCicero as chief on October 31, 2022 with no formal police chief training. The Prosecutor’s Office set up training with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.

2. The governing body appointed Sgt. Michael Monica as the Lavallette internal affairs officer without training. The Prosecutor’s Office provided training for him, Sgt. Frank White and Chief LaCicero under the Attorney General’s Office Course for Internal Affairs Investigators.

3. Information and messaging systems were not updated or being used to full potential. “The system had not been fully utilized and the dissemination of numerous Standard Operating Procedures had not occurred.” Now, staff are trained and the system is updated.

4. Regarding radio communications failures, there was a defective antenna and a battery back-up system failure. These were replaced. “The officers had been using personal cell phones for communication; this practice has been stopped.”

5. Officers should update their shared database with information about locations or individuals so that a future officer knows what kind of situation they are getting into when arriving. This is to keep everyone safe. This was not being done consistently but it will be now.

6. All of the paperwork forms such as Miranda Warnings, Evidence Receipts, Victim and Defendant Statement Forms were updated to “ensure proper content, uniformity and consistency.”

7. Four of the 13 total police officers didn’t have a thorough background check. This has been completed.

8. “The department lacked consistency in obtaining psychological assessments for all police personnel. Two officers were disqualified from continued employment or entrance to the Police Academy based upon a negative Fit for Duty Evaluation.”

9. Implemented a Field Training Officer Program that is now mandatory; each newly hired law enforcement officer must go through the program and shadow and work with an experienced officer.

10. Police officers weren’t always wearing bullet proof vests. Now, they will be required to.

11. Two officers minimum will now be assigned per shift. It is unclear what the standard was before.

12. A community policing plan was implemented where officers should walk the business sections of the borough when they have time to introduce themselves and meet the public on good terms instead of when it’s an emergency.

13. A bi-annual employee evaluation policy was started.

14. The Evidence Room was audited; instituted a plan to document and deposit money in a bank account operated by the Chief Financial Officer pending return to owners. The monies had been commingled with evidence.

15. A plan was implemented to coordinate police and Citizen Emergency Response Team for large gatherings.

16. Radar units were not in the patrol vehicles and officers were not certified or not current on their certification. Now radar units were installed and personnel were certified.

17. A patrol vehicle checklist created for safety and equipment.

18. They changed pepper spray from oil-based to water-based. That’s because if a Taser is used, it could cause a fire with an oil-based spray. Lavallette doesn’t use tasers but neighboring departments do.

19. Got keys/fobs for the Lavallette Elementary School in case of an emergency or active shooter.

20. Increased police presence at school and provided periodic security checks to make sure doors are secured.

21. Upgraded/added a panic button on an exterior sally port; audio recording in that area; and the door interlock system.

22. Cured deficiencies of the NJ Juvenile Justice Commission inspection regarding the detention of juvenile offenders.

23. Updated the website to include “Promoting Diversity in Law Enforcement Recruiting and Hiring” which is required by the state.

24. Created a Lavallette Police Facebook page.

25. Privacy film was added to dispatch and records room glass dividers to prevent the public from taking photos or videos of police records and other sensitive materials.

The Prosecutor’s Office also shared orders that were handed down and when they were issued. For example, residents were calling police officers directly to request enforcement rather than going through the appropriate means. There was an order that stopped that.

Officers were not necessarily updating the new shift coming in about what happened during their shift. A plan was put into place to maintain consistency and share intelligence.

There are still goals to be met. One of which is to create an executive command staff to give the chief time to be proactive and get more done.

They currently have no detective. The Prosecutor’s Office said there should be at least one officer assigned to conduct investigations.

Officers should be trained and equipped with Tasers, they said. Patrol vehicles should have a long gun mounted and locked in the front pas -

(Police - See Page 5)

Police