Message from Police Chief Jeff Briel | January 11

Sixty seconds.

That’s the amount of time it would take you each night, before you go to bed, to make sure your house and property are secure. Use those 60 seconds to ensure your vehicles are locked, your ground-floor windows and doors are secure, your exterior lights are on and your home security system is activated.

In just those 60 seconds, you can be assured you have done everything possible to join our efforts to keep Scotch Plains safe and secure.

We are very fortunate that Scotch Plains does not have a local crime problem. But we are not always immune to factors outside of our control. For example, our officers respond to calls of stolen vehicles reported from surrounding communities that end up here. Or, there are cases of people who do not live here, but attempt to gain access into homes in Scotch Plains and steal cars, as part of efforts to quickly secure valuables and get back to wherever they live.

Most of this activity occurs late in the night, when most of our residents are sleeping. But our officers are out patrolling local streets in those overnight hours, monitoring your home and property, responding to calls of suspicious activity and doing all we can to apprehend offenders.

Those 60 seconds you take every night are critical in our never-ending efforts to make Scotch Plains as secure as possible. We need you to join in our efforts by not giving thieves easy opportunities to access your property.  (i.e. warming up your car, leaving it unattended.)

You can also help in the ongoing effort by joining the county’s “First Alert” system. It is a free service, with an easy link for you to enroll at the top of the municipal website, www.scotchplainsnj.gov. Again, it takes about 60 seconds to sign up.

This service allows you to receive notifications via phone calls, text messaging, e-mail and more about any potential threat to health and safety in Scotch Plains.  Besides any messaging from the police department, the system sends important updates regarding severe weather, flooding, gas leaks and other issues that are of importance to our community.

While many of our residents have taken advantage of the First Alert system, many have not. Sharing information is critical, as police and the public need to serve as partners in our collective effort to keep potential criminals out of town.

Residents can also be helpful by sharing their footage from Ring cameras and similar products when asked by police conducting an investigation.

Our police officers are also working with residents who want to form street or neighborhood watches. These groups, while unaffiliated with the police, serve as important eyes and ears.  For example, they post signs around their property stating that the street is being watched by neighbors and cameras.  These steps are excellent ways in which to further deter crime in our neighborhoods.

I want to reassure you that the police department continually seeks new ways in which to fight local crime, as well as secure many crime-fighting technologies, such as cameras, that have made a significant difference.  We are fortunate to have the strong support of the Township Council, which recognizes that we need electronic license plate readers, vest cameras and other devices to make our community even safer.

By implementing proactive strategies, we can all enjoy a greater sense of peace and well-being. Please remember that public safety in Scotch Plains is a collective responsibility that requires active participation and cooperation from all of us.

And those 60 seconds each night can really mean the difference.