Lumberton, NJ – October 11, 2017 – The Lumberton Township Committee executed a shared service agreement with the Local School District (BOE) at its official meeting last evening, October 10, 2017, for the services of a full time School Resource Officer(SRO). In this agreement, the Township will provide a full time police officer to be assigned to local schools in Lumberton. The cost of this service will be initially covered 100% by Lumberton Township. This contract will run until June 30, 2021.
Mayor Sean Earlen stated, “my colleagues and I on the Township Committee know that you can never put a price tag on safety, and most especially the safety of our children here in Lumberton, which is why we are committed to providing this School Resource Officer, which will be fully funded by the Township” “I would also like to that the Board of Education and their administrative staff for working with the Township to get this initiative off the ground and we look forward to continuing to work with them into the future,” added Mayor Earlen. “Every day when I talk to parents just like me about what they want to see their tax dollars go towards, one topic always seems to be at the top of their list which is the safety and security of their children in our schools. We all know that we live in crazy times and as your elected representatives we must do everything in our power to ensure that our children are protected,” stated Mayor Earlen.
Our Township Police Department consists of 21 uniformed officers, which provides 24/7, 365 days a year protection for the residents of Lumberton Township. The department currently provides another School Resource Officer through a shared service agreement with the Burlington County Special Services School District located off of Ark Road. In addition to our Patrol Division, it also has detectives and a K-9 Officer to round out the department.
“Through responsible budgeting over the last 5 years and securing much needed grants, we have been able to overcome the financial downturn and rebuilt our Police Department to 21 officers from the a low of 13 officers when I joined the Township Committee,” stated Mayor Earlen. “With every officer we add to the force, we are able to expand our Community Policing Initiatives and with this new SRO in our Local Schools, we will not only increase security for our children but will be able to establish a natural bond between them and our Police Department so that they can develop a trust and respect for our men and women in blue,” added Mayor Earlen. “Additionally when school is not in session, our Township as a whole will benefit from this School Resource Officer because he will be assigned to one of our patrol shifts, which adds another officer policing our streets,” concluded Mayor Earlen.
