NJ schools suspend nine security officers, hire police officer
PALISADES PARK NJ October 28 2019— Borough schools will once again have a resource officer roaming their halls after a five-year hiatus and a botched attempt to bring in armed retired security officers last year.
The council and school district entered into an agreement that will assign a police officer to the district for the remainder of the school year and will be subject to yearly renewal by the council.
Last spring, the council and school board were forced to pull back on a failed school security program after nine retired officers were removed from the schools.
The school board withdrew the Class III security officer program after a NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found that borough officials did not conduct background checks on the nine retired officers they had hired.
The investigation also found that during their police careers, several of the retired officers were accused of serious indiscretions such as aggravated assault, police brutality, lying to authorities and threatening public officials with retaliation.
The council at the time tasked now retired chief of police Mark Jackson with overseeing the program, and the school board squarely blamed him for its failure.
A school resource officer, which is an active police officer, was previously staffed in the school district but pulled about five years ago do to low staffing in the police department, David Lorenzo, borough administrator said.
“It came down to a manpower problem,” Lorenzo said. “The borough was limited and needed the officer at the time to resume his road patrol.”
The council has hired additional police officers over the last two years and are looking to hire more in the next couple of months, Lorenzo said.
“Once we staffed up and with everything that transpired throughout the country we felt the urgency to put an officer in the school,” Lorenzo said. “Even though it wasn’t at the school’s request, we felt like it was the right thing to do and necessary.”
“Any kind of offering to ensure the safety of students and staff is greatly appreciated,” Dr. Thomas Matarazzo, school board president said. “We are excited about this and are very appreciative of the mayor and council to fund something that can only enhance what we already have.”
Sgt. Marc Messing was appointed as the school resource officer and has completed all training, according to the borough.
Messing was just reappointed to the force after he was suspended without pay for five years.
Messing, 38, was acquitted by a jury in June of all charges connected to a $1,000 check he deposited into his personal checking account in 2014 that was meant for the borough treasury.
north jersey.com
