Dubious Complaints Wasting Police Manpower: East Brunswick Mayor

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – Several email complaints about trucks violating traffic rules and cars speeding on Sunburst Drive seem to be unsubstantiated, leading to the police and municipality wasting resources and manpower, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen said.

Sunburst Drive is an arterial connector road between Old Bridge Turnpike and River Road. There are no residents that live on Sunburst.

Over the past five months, the township’s Public Safety Department has been receiving several emails regarding issues on Sunburst Drive, according to officials.

“The complaints have mostly been about trucks over four tons traversing the road when that’s clearly prohibited and speeding cars. All the emails have come from an untraceable email account,” Cohen said.

“In every instance, we have responded to the complaint asking the writer to come in and talk to public safety.”

In response to the complaints, the East Brunswick Police Department employed “hundreds of hours” of manpower to monitor Sunburst Drive. During that time, police have stopped only a few cars for speeding and only found one truck, Cohen said.

Email complaints containing photos of trucks were followed up by police and the truck companies were asked to comply with township ordinances.

Some of the emails stated that trucks were speeding at 80 miles per hour, “a virtual impossibility,” said Cohen. The complaints also stated that the signs were knocked down and trucks were driving past school buses while students were getting on and off. None of the claims were substantiated.

“Our township police cannot be everywhere. I’m sure there are many roads where drivers go above the speed limit or where trucks may travel on roads where they are prohibited,” Cohen said.

“But the difference between those streets and Sunburst Drive is that people actually live there.”

Cohen said the police department will continue to do the best they can to enforce traffic laws, but the township will not deploy resources to one road “despite the barrage of complaints.”

Following up on each email complaint has led to the loss of manpower and money over the past few months, Cohen said. “This deployment of manpower means either we have to pay overtime hours or divert police from areas where we know crime is more likely,” he said.

As a solution, the township would either ignore all emails concerning Sunburst Drive or close off the River Road and Sunburst intersection to any traffic.

Authorities have asked the complainant to come forward so they can properly investigate the claims. The unsubstantiated complaints are posing a risk to the community as it diverts police attention, officials said.

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