Police to Beef Up Presence at South Brunswick Schools Next Week

As 9,200 students in the township head back to school for a new year next week, so too will South Brunswick Police resume an annual program to ensure a safe return for those students.

"Operation Safe Schools," which begins on Sept. 9, will place officers at every school in the district at the start and end of the day, in addition to establishing zero tolerance zones around South Brunswick schools for traffic enforcement.

“We have a great partnership with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gary P. McCartney and the entire school district staff," said Chief Raymond Hayducka. "This year our collaboration has allowed us to develop additional security measures. Parents and students may notice an increased deployment of officers to all the district schools throughout the school year. The added officers combined with random patrols stopping at the schools will create another layer to the comprehensive school safety plan."

Beyond the expanded police presence during the opening days of the year, the township and district reached an agreement earlier this year to expand the School Resource Officer program. The expanded duties of the SRO will include additional authority while working in conjunction with district staff on security functions at all South Brunswick schools.

The SRO will supervise other officers on school security duty, in addition to scheduling and overseeing school security and active shooter drills with the coordination of the police department; conducting school security assessments and recommending security upgrades; overseeing security for large events; facilitating traffic and parking enforcement; and overseeing and scheduling the school security unit.  

During the first week of school, police will be at and around the 12 district schools to monitor speeding, pedestrian crossings, and parking issues.

“Motorists need to allot extra time in their morning commute to accommodate the increased bus and pedestrian traffic," Chief Hayducka said. "It will take several days for everyone to become familiar with the changes a new school year brings. Officers will be at every location to assist students and monitor traffic."

Residents should also sign up for Nixle alerts to get the latest information on traffic conditions, community alerts, and emergency information at http://www.nixle.com/ to get messages sent to their phone and email.