On Friday, County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini removed Chief Mark Emann, Lt. Michael Henderson and Cpl. Arthur Villaruz in connection with “an ongoing criminal investigation” into “the sale of township-owned property,” according to a statement issued by the county.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, Casey DeBlasio, said the alleged sale was of “moveable property” as opposed to land, adding that it “could be police [property].”
“Because of the investigation, I can’t elaborate as to specifically what type of property it was,” she said.
No criminal charges have been filed.
Most of the University is under the jurisdiction of Princeton Borough, which is encircled by the Township. But southern parts of the campus — including parts of Butler, Whitman and Forbes colleges and most athletic facilities — fall under Township jurisdiction.
Charles Davall, deputy director of Public Safety, said the shake-up would not affect on-campus emergencies in which the department might call on Township police. “Not at all,” he said.
“The way it’s designed is we make a phone call over there and ... they give us whatever resources we need. That hasn’t changed,” he said. Davall added that he has “known Mark [Emann] on a personal level for many, many years. He’s a very close friend of mine.”
The Township police department will report directly to the prosecutor’s office “until further notice,” with Chief William Straniero of the prosecutor’s office supervising the department.
“The decision to assume control of the Princeton Township Police Department was made to ensure the effective administration of police services and criminal justice within the township,” Bocchini said in the statement. “I have been assured of Princeton Township’s complete cooperation and am confident that the public will continue to be protected and served in a thorough and professional manner.”
Capt. Nicholas Sutter of the Princeton Borough Police Department said on Tuesday that the situation is not affecting Borough police operations.
Emann has served in the Township police department for 32 years, becoming chief in 2007.
The takeover is the first time in recent memory that Mercer County has superseded a chief and taken over a police department, DeBlasio said. County prosecutors, as the chief law enforcement officers in their counties, are authorized by the state constitution to supersede local departments.
In recent years, several prosecutor’s offices in other New Jersey counties have taken over local police departments.
In June, Union County took over the Springfield Police Department after town officials declined to designate its top officer as acting chief and that officer resigned, leaving the department without leadership, according to that county’s prosecutor’s office.
Monmouth County took over the Interlaken Police Department in 2007 because of a criminal investigation, according to county records. And in 2002, Monmouth County took over the Keansburg Police Department after the acting chief was heard using racial slurs on a police radio.
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