Crossing Guards Shortage Causes Concern In NJ

NEW JERSEY — An increasing number of municipalities across New Jersey are experiencing a shortage of school crossing guards, an expert says.

"I've heard recently, in a couple of the last few years, there are more communities having more trouble" finding people to fill these positions, said Catherine Bull, Coordinator of New Jersey's Crossing Guard Training and Resources Program.

One of those communities is West Deptford.

In an interview earlier this month, John Chambers, that town's police chief, still had a vacancy to fill on his school crossing guard's staff.

"We are almost in a little bit of a crisis mode right now," he said. "The pool of applicants is just not there."

The Moorestown Township Police Department was also still looking for one more crossing guard earlier this month to be fully staffed, according to Sgt. Craig Ruggiano.

The municipalities of Westfield, West Orange and South Brunswick are also among the communities that have experienced crossing guard shortages within the past 12 months.

The Moorestown and West Deptford police departments are obligated to assign a police officer to cover locations that do not have crossing guards, said Ruggiano and Chambers.

The downstream effect of taking this approach is potentially dangerous, Chambers acknowledged, since it takes time away from "the other responsibilities that our officers have," he said.

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