Bridgewater's New Police Schedule Increases Public Safety

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — It's been about 10 days since Bridgewater Township transitioned the Police Department and things have been going well.

"We are now 9 days into the implementation of the Pitman schedule and feedback from our officers has been positive," said Mayor Matthew Moench. "We will continue to monitor its effectiveness and benefits to the public safety of the community."

The department switched to the Pitman Scheduling Model on Jan. 6 to have officers working a "two-on, two-off; three-on, three-off" schedule, with each shift being 12 hours in length. Previously officers were working for four days-on, three days-off for 10.5 hours shifts.

"What that allows us to do is to put a significant amount of officers on the road," Moench said at the Jan. 6 meeting.

"With the Pitman schedule depending on what time of day it increases our police coverage from anywhere from 25 percent to 63 percent more. More manpower on the road of Bridgewater Township without hiring new officers," Moench said. "It is a significant increase in public safety for our residents."

Moench also noted how this will be beneficial with several officers retiring and others in the police academy.

The number of officers on the road at the same time was not disclosed due to safety issues, Moench said.

Additionally, Acting Police Chief Paul Payne noted the department is "looking to reorganize the patrol districts with the increased manpower. With these changes, we hope to improve response times."

This new schedule is Moench's solution to a prior discussion to hire 12 more officers last year. There had been a division on the township council over how many officers to hire. In the end two officers were added to the police force. (See Related: Bridgewater Council Divided Over Police Department Expansion)

The change to schedule comes in response to calls from the prior Administration for the Township to hire 12 additional officers to address increased policing needs. The Township Council, of which Mayor Moench was a member at the time, added two officers.

Watch Moench's statement below at the Jan. 6 meeting:

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