Blake Nelson
NJ Advance Media Group
MONMOUTH COUNTY, N.J. — New police recruits are continuing to train as departments throughout New Jersey grapple with policing in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re trying to get them through in case we do need reinforcements,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said.
On Wednesday, Farwood’s mayor announced that a cop was self-isolating after testing positive, raising the specter of more first responders being taken off the front lines.
Departments are limiting face-to-face contact, and the state attorney general recently told police to lean on other towns and “Special Law Enforcement Officers” if quarantines leave patrols in any particular town short-staffed. Special officers are sometimes cops pulled out of retirement, and are often stationed at schools.
Dozens of special officers are currently training outdoors with the Monmouth County Police Academy, Golden said. An additional 18 new recruits are scheduled to graduate in May.
Locker rooms were closed, he said, and all physical training is happening at the end of the day so recruits can shower at home. Everyone has a tablet to learn remotely if necessary, Golden added, and no illnesses had been reported.
In Atlantic County, 41 are slated to graduate in June, according to county spokesperson Linda Gilmore. Training had not been changed because of the virus at this time, she said.
Further north, 75 people finished the Essex County Public Safety Academy March 5 and are now on patrol with supervisors, according to Newark police spokesperson Catherine Adams.
Some training has stopped. The Law and Public Safety Institute in Bergen, the county with the most cases, suspended all training at their academy.