MAY 2023 FREE
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Communities struggle to find new police officers INTerVieW By Bill SaNserViNO
Lawrence Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski recently sat down with the Lawrence Gazette to talk about issues impacting the township. The first part of the Q&A resulting from that interview ran in the April issue of the Gazette and addressed the future of fire and emergency services in the township. To read that article, go to communitynews.org.
This month, Nerwinski talks about the police department and difficulties facing law enforcement in 2023. One of the biggest problems facing towns is the dwindling number of people seeking jobs in law enforcement. “Law enforcement agencies across the United States are struggling to recruit and hire police officers. Though agencyspecific needs exist depending on size or locale, the difficulty with recruitment is a significant
problem that is broadly affecting the field of law enforcement—it is not simply a result of poor agency management or localized failures,” said to a report released in 2019 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police titled “A crisis for law enforcement.” That number has only gotten worse. In 2021, the N.J. State Police reported that applications dropped from 15,000 to 20,000 to just 2,130 over a oneSee NERWINSKI, Page 6
Deadly legionella bacteria once again detected in TWW system how far would you go if they were sick?
By Bill SaNserViNO
Seven cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported between last October and March in towns served by Trenton Water Works. According to the state Department of Health, the cases occurred in Trenton, Ewing, Senior Jessica Everman is pictured at a recent LHS girls’ lacrosse Lawrence Township and Hamilpractice. She is hoping to break the school’s all-time scoring ton township. Of the seven, two record. For more on Everman and the team, turn to Page 12. individuals have died. Welcome to Capital Health. The state has been conduct(Photo by Rich Fisher.) ing testing for legionella in all When someone you care about is sick, you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get the best care. And so do we.
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TWW towns since cases were first reported in late 2021. In an effort to mitigate the problem, TWW started lowvelocity flushing of water mains last month using specialized equipment throughout its 683mile water distribution system next week. Thieactivity will continue through May. TWW personnel is conducting the flushing Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Equipment used by TWW personnel may sometimes
remain in place overnight. “The goal of the low-velocity water main flushing is to mitigate conditions that promote the growth of pathogens, including legionella, by increasing and sustaining chlorine residuals,” said Sean Semple, acting director of the city’s Department of Water and Sewer, which operates Trenton Water Works. “Once we achieve this water-treatment goal, we will execute additional action steps to improve water See TWW, Page 3
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