Bridgewater's Continued Efforts To Improve Community Policing

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Years before the viral video of a Black teen being handcuffed at the mall came to light, the township had already begun improving its police-community relations. Now it plans to continue that effort.

Patch sat down with Mayor Matthew Moench and Police Chief Paul Payne to discuss what the township has done prior to the investigation and what it plans to do afterward.

Growing up in Bridgewater and prior to being elected as Mayor, Moench said he wanted to improve the police-community relationship to the days when officers would stop in small businesses, patrol smaller streets more frequently, host events, and just be a part of the community.

"We knew the direction the mayor wanted to go. We knew it was more community-oriented. That was his philosophy... We wanted to do the same as well. Let's get back to the community," said Payne. "We kind of got away from that."

Once elected as Mayor, Moench and the council appointed Payne as chief in July 2020 since their philosophies aligned. In October 2020, Bridgewater introduced an ordinance to create a Police Chaplain position.

The unpaid volunteer Chaplain would be a member of the clergy who will help the police department in a number of ways, such as counseling officers with personal problems or notifying families receiving a serious injury or upon death. Read More: Bridgewater To Create Police Chaplin Position

The faith-based clergy program included officers who went through formal training to help officers and residents.

"They were meeting monthly with every representative in every religious institution in Bridgewater," said Moench.

At those meetings, Payne said topics such as use of force and how internal affairs investigations are handled were discussed.

In November 2020, the township unanimously passed a resolution to pay $25,000 for the new Street Smart VR (Virtual Reality) System to train township police officers in real-life scenarios.

The system, which was developed by former first responders and military personnel, provides hundreds of training scenarios, created by using real-life body-worn camera footage, to put officers through real-life situations. Read More: Bridgewater Goes High-Tech, Uses Virtual Reality To Train Police

The equipment is portable and can be set up almost anywhere. The training session is recorded which allows for a playback critique session with the officers from multiple angles and in-depth reference points.

Due to COVID, the new system was not available for the public to try out. Now that restrictions have lifted Moench and Payne are planning to make host events for the public to give it a try.

In July 2021, Bridgewater teamed up with Somerset County to launch a pilot program where a social worker will work with township police to help residents who are struggling with mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence and more. Read More: Bridgewater, Somerset County To Help Struggling Residents

The Community Police Alliance program is geared towards supporting individuals and families in the community who have been identified by police, whether because they appear to have acute unmet needs, or have a pattern of behaviors requiring law enforcement intervention.

Moench said drug and alcohol issues have always been important to him so bringing this program to the township was a priority.

"We are talking about the program right now because of the mall and racial, social justice issues but this program has been devoted to helping people every day on a whole host of issues. It's not just the mall social justice component to it. Real families have been impacted by a lot of issues," said Moench.

The program specifically works with Community Police Liasion Dameon Stackhouse, who is also an activist, to go and work with residents in need and get them the help they need. Thus in return, Payne said the department has seen a decrease in repeat calls to residents' homes.

Moving Forward

Police officers were planning on getting out into the community more in March but after the mall incident, they took a step back.

Payne said they will renew this initiative in April.

"We want to see more police officers in neighborhoods. Yes, it's great to stop speeders on [Route] 22, but as a resident who lives here with kids. I would rather see a police officer driving down my street knowing they are just there. Keeping my kids safe, my house safe, my neighborhood safe as opposed to parked on the highway looking for speeding tickets," said Moench.

Officers will also begin stopping in local small businesses to say hi and introduce themselves.

"My goal and the goal for all of us is to go in there. Introduce themself, let them get to know the officer, the officer gets to know that shop owner and learn the habit of what is going on with that business," said Payne.

Events such as Coffee with a Cop will also be launched for community members to meet with Payne and other officers.

Community Conversation

After the video gained national attention, Bridgewater held a Community Conversation on March 3 for residents to speak with Moench, Somerset County Commissioner Director Shanel Robinson, Payne, Pastor David Hobbs of Macedonia Baptist Church, New Brunswick NAACP President Bruce Morgan, Community Police Liasion Dameon Stackhouse, former Bridgewater Police Sgt. Art Atkins, and Pittman. Read More: Bridgewater To Turn Viral Mall Video Into Racial Justice Lesson

The meeting was to allow residents an opportunity to discuss a viral video showing Bridgewater Police's handling of a teen mall fight that raised questions of racial disparity.

During the meeting, it was discussed that the township and Somerset County officials make it their mission to use this as a platform to make positive changes and serve as an example for other communities in dealing with social justice.

"Bridgewater you are international. But you can use this opportunity to be international for a totally different reason. You can take this leap forward and show all the police departments that you can recover from this," said Community Activist Tormel Pittman.

Outside Consultant

Currently, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office is helping Bridgewater in investigating the incident at the mall where a teen was handcuffed while on video. The investigation will strictly adhere to the New Jersey Attorney General's Internal Affairs Directive. The SCPO has 45 days to complete the investigation. Read More: Murphy 'Disturbed' By Bridgewater Cops' Handling Of Mall Fight

Despite the outcome of the investigation, Moench said the township will hire an outside consultant to evaluate the police department.

"We want to make sure at the end of the day our officers are trained. That the public knows, in light of the Bridgewater mall incident — separate from that — the public has confidence we are doing all the right things, trying to do all the right things. We are correcting issues when we find them. Making sure we get the public that confidence in light of everything that happened so they know, hey we are not blowing it off — we are taking it seriously," said Moench. "We want to make sure we've identified anything we can do going forward regardless of what the prosecutor's office comes back with."

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