A police force for Wantage? Not soon

WANTAGE-Wantage won't have a police department anytime soon, Mayor Parker Space said at the April 21 committee meeting. But Deputy Mayor Jeff Parrott remarked that the Wantage population is increasing, and in the future there may be a need for police protection. The issue came up as the committee discussed the possibility that a police department would be needed in the future. If so, the township should start thinking of how to pay for it. Wantage, like Sussex Borough, which disbanded its police force in 1991, is patrolled by the N.J. State Police. One idea the board discussed was including money in current budgets to build a fund that could be used in the future to establish a department. "We don't want to get caught," Parrott said. "People have discussed this for years and years. I would rather have money sitting in the till for the future, if there is any way we can do this. Perhaps we can put a line item in next year's budget." "I don't want the public to think we are thinking about having a police department," said Committeeman William DeBoer. "Starting our own police force would involve prohibitive costs. If we need police protection as the township grows, we'd be better off paying for two state police cars to patrol around here," Michael Garofalo, township attorney, suggested that is might be possible to set up a trust fund to reserve money for future police protection. Administrator Jim Doherty said that he believes establishing such a fund might be against the law. He asked Garafalo to explore the issue in more depth.