Barnegat's Crime Reduction Unit Shows Success, Chief Says

Barneget's crime reduction had a lot of success in 2018, Chief Keith Germain said.

The CRU, which was designed to allow some of the best officers to focus on drug, gang, and high value investigations, made 125 arrests in 2018, with 79 of those arrests involving drug distribution, Germain said.

CRU seized over $80,000 in contraband, including $15,000 in heroin, $8,000 in cocaine, $12,000 in US currency, and $40,000 worth of vehicles used in the commission of a crime. CRU also executed 10 search warrants, Germain said.

In addition to the many drug charges for substances from heroin to methamphetamine, CRU investigations resulted in a wide range of non-drug charges for everything from possession of a handgun to prostitution, he said.

"CRU's impact on keeping crime at historically low levels in Barnegat cannot be understated, the chief said. "Great job by the members of CRU and Detective Rich Nowak who has done an excellent job leading the unit from its inception.

The CRU allows highly-skilled uniformed officers to focus on answering the more than 18,000 calls for service BTPD saw in 2018, the chief said.

Barnegat police photo