Mayor Moench and Acting Police Chief Payne Announce Change to Police Schedule to Increase Police Coverage and Improve Security

BRIDGEWATER, NJ – Mayor Matthew Moench and Acting Chief Paul Payne have transitioned the Police Department from its previous scheduling model to the Pitman Scheduling Model. This new schedule dictates that each officer will work a “two-on, two-off; three-on, three-off” schedule, with each shift being 12 hours in length.

“This will allow us to put significantly more officers on the ground and on our roads,” said Mayor Moench, at the January 6^th Township Council meeting. “With the Pitman schedule, depending on what time of day you are talking about, it increases our police coverage anywhere from 25% to 63%… It is a significant increase in public safety for our residents to go to a Pitman schedule.”

“Along with the Pitman schedule, the agency will be looking to reorganize the patrol districts with the increased manpower,” said Acting Police Chief Paul Payne. “With these changes, we hope to improve response times.”

The change to schedule comes in response to calls from the prior Administration for the Township to hire twelve additional officers to address increased policing needs. The Township Council, of which Mayor Moench was a member at the time, added two officers. “The Pitman schedule allows us to increase coverage with our current manpower levels at a significantly less cost than to hire new officers. However, we will continue to look at our manpower needs to ensure that our residents are safe and secure in their homes,” added Mayor Moench.

The Pitman schedule officially took effect on Monday, January 6^th and was presented at the Township Council meeting that evening, during which Mayor Moench also swore in a new police officer, Kyle Ball. The Mayor and Council agreed to engage with the relevant stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of the new schedule at subsequent Council meetings.

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