Decline in alcohol citations worries Borough

The Borough issued 89 DWI citations between Jan. 1 and Nov. 12 of this year. During the same period in 2007, it issued 124 citations.

Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz noted that the decline “points to … [a potential] issue of safety in our community.”

The decrease could be the result of having an understaffed police force, Borough Police Lt. Sharon Papp said at a Nov. 12 Borough Council meeting.

In February, Sgt. Kenneth Riley, Sgt. Kevin Creegan and Patrol Officer William Perez were suspended with pay from the force, leaving the Borough with three fewer officers and no money to hire new ones.

Riley is accused of retrieving recordings from a Mobile Vision Recorder without proper authorization and showing them to Creegan and Perez in an alleged attempt to damage another officer’s standing in the department.

Riley was indicted Sept. 12 on two counts of third-degree computer criminal activity, two counts of third-degree unlawful access and disclosure of computer data, and two counts of second-degree official misconduct. Riley was stripped of his pay following the indictment.

Borough Councilman Roger Martindell said in an October interview that he estimates each of the three officers receives an annual salary of more than $100,000.

The department has also had to pay overtime to several of its active officers to cover the staffing shortage, Koontz explained in an interview.

Koontz agreed that short staffing could have led to the decline in citations, adding that there don’t seem to be any other obvious causes.

“I don’t think it’s due to [the fact that] people are behaving better and making choices about when to get in cars,” he said.

Martindell said that the difference in numbers could just be random. “Sometimes they’re up, sometimes they’re down,” he said.

Fewer citations in the Borough could be attributed to increased enforcement activity in nearby townships, he said.

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If “all the surrounding towns are cracking down ... there are [fewer drunk drivers coming] through our town,” he said, noting that several DWIs each year are issued to Princeton Township residents driving through the Borough.

The decline in the number of citations is problematic, Koontz said.

“We need to make sure that our police [force] is adequately staffed and [is] protecting the community from people who probably shouldn’t be driving,” he said.

Papp and Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman could not be reached for comment.