BERKELEY – The Township Council recently accepted a grant for body worn cameras for the police officers.
This grant, in the amount of $2,640,940, will go toward updating the cameras the department already uses.
“We were the first municipality in the county and the state to have our officers wear cameras,” Mayor Carmen Amato said.
Cameras are beneficial for several reasons. When there are claims that an officer used too much force, these cameras can provide evidence in the case. The footage can prove whether an officer did something wrong. It can also prove that the officer acted appropriately and the claims against them are invalid.
New Stop Signs
In other news, new stop signs were approved recently at the following intersections:
- Lakeside Boulevard and Hayden Street
- Whitmore Drive and Cortlandt Drive
- Zeeland Drive and Cortlandt Court
Capt. George Dohn said that the stop signs will help curtail crashes at these intersections.
Bulk Pick-Up
Some residents have been complaining that bulk is left out too long for pick-up. Something like a couch would absorb rainwater and get mildewy. It also would be very heavy to put into the truck.
In certain cases, the homeowners are putting the materials out too early. They really need to put it out right before their day, officials said. However, there are some cases where their pick-up day comes and goes and the bulk is still out there.
This is because it’s difficult to determine how much bulk is going to be picked up on any given day. If several people in one neighborhood clean house, the curbs can be full of furniture and other large items.
Then, the truck has to go to Manchester to dump it and then come back, which makes it take longer, Councilman Angelo Guadagno explained.
In one instance, a garbage truck was filled after three houses, Amato said.
“We’re trying to find out what we need to do, in the eyes of the (State Department of Environmental Protection), to become a transfer station,” he said. That way, there can be roll-off containers outside the public works yard and residents can drop items off if they are able to and if they don’t want to wait for their day.
There would need to be a way to prevent contractors from dumping off construction materials, Councilman James Byrnes said.
