As reported by nj.com, New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, standing beside law enforcement leaders from across the state, announced the Department of Justice awarded New Jersey $5.7 million in grants that will be divided among 17 police departments to purchase various technologies ranging from gun shot detectors to closed-circuit cameras. 

“While surveillance equipment and other technologies can never be a substitute for the police officers out on the street, our experience confirms that this equipment can certainly help them, in really critical ways, in fighting crime and apprehending criminals,” she said.

Cities will receive either $250,000 or $500,000 in funding, depending on their population and violent crime statistics. Newark, Camden, Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson, and Elizabeth, which all have a population of at least 75,000 and high violent crime rates, will receive $500,000. Eleven smaller cities that also struggle with violence, including Plainfield and Atlantic City, will receive $250,000.

Police officials said advanced law enforcement technology has helped identify high-crime areas and can play critical roles in investigations. Newark Police began using a surveillance network in 2007, according to Police Director Garry McCarthy, and the cameras helped lead to the arrest and conviction of a murder suspect that same year. Evidence obtained from cameras and other surveillance methods have also developed “a record” of helping prosecutors earn convictions, said Carolyn Murray, Essex County’s acting prosecutor.

Departments can also use the grant funding to hire civilian personnel to monitor surveillance cameras and upgrade their dispatch centers to operate on a county wide or regional level. Regionalization of police forces became a hot topic in New Jersey after a slew of police layoffs in 2010. Earlier this year, Governor Chris Christie met with mayors from Newark, Trenton, and Camden to explore the idea, and Somerset County may merge its 19 municipal police departments by the end of 2013, a move Dow said she supports.

“Certainly I think we should take this further in law enforcement, and I do support studying it and examining it,” she said. “Frankly, I think we’re behind the times.”

Dow said she decided not to use the funding to rehire laid off police officers because the grant could not sustain jobs over time and could result in a second round of layoffs.

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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.