The Birth of the South Brunswick Police Department

"I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.”--Calvin Coolidge

Before South Brunswick became a township, before South Brunswick was the South Ward, and before the American Revolution, this area was a series of Lenape Indian trails.

The North-South Indian trail became known as the Lincoln Highway and today is known as Route 27. One of the most traveled routes of its time, this was the main thoroughfare from Philadelphia and New York.  

This important route immediately raised the need for a solid law enforcement presence.  Starting with the Revolution and continuing past, local citizens would do the police work.

Night watches were created to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and fires. Vigilant societies were created to keep the peace and a Justice of the Peace conducted official and legal documentation.

People basically had to protect themselves throughout rural South Brunswick. Pioneer Grange #1 was created in 1872 to sell product and also protect the farmers from livestock thievery, which was on the rise.

By the turn of the century, vigilante societies' main purpose was to organize local citizens and empower them to pursue those suspected of stealing horses, mules, livestock, wagons and other personal property.

Loss of this property could devastate and bankrupt the small farmer. Dues were paid for advertisement and rewards to those who could return the horses or chickens that were stolen.  By the 1940s, the automobile changed the need from vigilante society to police departments.