The recent Home News report that “Money woes force cops from schools” in North Brunswick is just the latest example of the failed public safety policies of the Democrats on the Town Council. 

North Brunswick’s crime rate is now 5th worst out of the 25 towns and boroughs in Middlesex. It is double that of Old Bridge, and four times worse than that of Helmetta. Since 1997, major crime in North Brunswick is up 25%, according to the annual New Jersey State Police Crime Report (major crime being defined as murder, rape, robbery, assault, and burglary).  During that same period of time, neighboring New Brunswick’s crime rate has been cut in half.  How is this possible?  There are two factors that contributed to this mess. 

First, while New Brunswick was zoning out its high-crime areas, North Brunswick was zoning them in.  Second, as the criminal element was moving into town, the Town Council not only refused to increase our police force, they cut it substantially.  Indeed, in 2000, when Councilman Carlo Socio and now-Mayor Womack won election as “Reform” Democrats, we had 84 police officers and a budget of $30 million.  Today we have a budget that is 50% higher ($45 million), our taxes are at record levels, but the police department has been cut to 78 officers.  So don’t let the Democrats tell you they don’t have the money for police officers.  The Democrats are taking and spending more money than ever, they just choose not to spend it on our safety. 

And now our kids don’t have police officers to protect them when they go to school.  As a former prosecutor who spent two years doing juvenile cases, this alarms me, because I know how dangerous North Brunswick High School has become, and anyone who tells you we do not have a gang problem there is ignoring the obvious.  But characteristically, Mayor Womack did not seem worried that public safety would be compromised by the removal of officers from the schools, saying glibly: “The primary job of the police department is patrol.”

No, the primary job of the police department is to keep us safe, and the Mayor’s idea that our kids will be equally safe in schools without police officers displays at best a complete disconnect from reality, and at worst a flippant and reckless disregard for the safety of our community. 

Hopefully, North Brunswick will not become synonymous with Columbine or Virginia Tech before voters figure this out.  It’s bad enough that North Brunswick is becoming New Brunswick.

By Jordan B. Rickards, Esq.

Republican candidate for Township Council, and former Assistant Prosecutor of Middlesex County