The Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office could begin patrolling western Atlantic County municipalities now if it were better managed, according to the Republican who wants to run the office.

Pleasantville police Capt. Frank Balles said that, if elected in November, he’ll have the patrols up and running early next year, without a study wanted by incumbent Democratic Atlantic County Sheriff James McGettigan.

“The sheriff is doing a lot of talking because he’s up for re-election this year and his actions are just delaying implementation of a plan to give Atlantic County towns more affordable and responsive law enforcement services,” Balles said. ‘The residents and businesses of those communities pay county taxes now, and they should be getting the services they need now, not just during the time Jim McGettigan is running for re-election.”

McGettigan contends Sheriff’s Office “assets are managed impeccably,” all sheriff’s officers are already assigned to duties and there are not enough vehicles to start police patrols.

He also said the decision to study whether the Sheriff’s Office could provide police coverage in Estell Manor, Corbin City, Weymouth Township, Buena Vista Township, Folsom, Mullica Township, Egg Harbor City and Port Republic is not driven by election-year politics.

Estell Manor, Corbin City, Weymouth Township, Buena Vista Township, Folsom and Port Republic are patrolled by State Police. Officials in those municipalities say their residents can neither afford to pay for State Police coverage nor create their own police departments, two of three choices Gov. Jon S. Corzine gave rural municipalities protected by State Police in his February budget message. The third option would be for those municipalities to contract police services with municipalities that already have police departments.

The other municipalities – Mullica Township and Egg Harbor City – are already talking about possibly combining their police departments. Those municipalities agreed to the study to determine what kind of economic impact a regional-type police department would have on their communities.

Balles said McGettigan “could start the process now if he really wanted to.”

“With the right leadership, these services can be provided today under fair and equitable interlocal service agreements between the county and the towns,” he said.

 

To e-mail Thomas Barlas at The Press:

TBarlas@pressofac.com