By Gary Beeg Jr

The Toms River Police Department held their monthly Neighborhood Watch meeting at 7 p.m. at the police station located on Oak Avenue.

Sergeant Bachonski, Sergeant Austin and Jillian Messina, media relations specialist, all conducted the meeting.

The first item on the agenda was Operation WatchDog and the Neighbors app by Ring, the smart-doorbell company of Amazon. The app is designed to let people share, comment and view security information in their area. Operation Watchdog was designed to have residents and businesses register their home or business security systems in order to increase safety but more importantly, combat crime.

The Toms River Police Department is the first New Jersey agency to partner with Neighbors by Ring.

The meeting reviewed crimes from S.E.T that ranged from aggravated assault, heroin and marijuana possession, drunk driving and robbery.

S.E.T is an acronym for Special Enforcement Team, which is a unit within the police force in plain-clothes and unmarked vehicles conducting patrols.

Jillian Messina held the social media aspect of the meeting. She raised the concern of false public alarm such as the viral “48-Hour Challenge,” which encourages children to go missing for 48 hours. Another issue was the false alarm of human trafficking and in most cases, the adults do not contact the local authorities. The Toms River Police Department would respond via their social media accounts to eliminate these false alarms and restore calm to the public.

Messina also discussed their Coffee with a Cop program, which the TRPD has been conducting since October 2018 and is held once a month on the first Wednesday. The goal is to tighten the relationship between communities and their police department. Citizens are encouraged to come by to ask questions, voice their concerns and get to know members of their local police force.

Cookies with a Cop is a program designed for elementary school students to become familiar with a police officer. Students are given a certificate signed by the Chief of Police and are recognized by the Toms River Police Department as honorary officers.

“We want the kids to be familiar with the officer in their school,
We want them to see us as normal human beings and someone they can approach with no fear.”

Sergeant Bachonski

Attendees were plentiful and asked a multitude of questions. Their main concern seemed to be about heroin and the prescription medicine known as naloxone (Narcan). Narcan is used to block the effects of opioids, especially in the case of an overdose.

Neighborhood Watch meetings are on the first Thursday of every month.

To join the Toms River Digital Neighborhood Watch text: tomsrivernj to 555888.

www.trpolice.org