What was Officer Gilligan doing making this arrest? "Everyone" knows all Washington PD personnel do nothing but sit on Route 46 to make traffic stops on innocent drivers who are only driving 15-25mph over the posted speed limit. (The second sentence is sarcasm for those who can't recognize it.) Let's try something New for 2013 and show some respect for our Police.

A population which is constantly being harassed by police using "gestapo tactics" has a right to be annoyed at them. Being tailgated at night, being followed for no reason, being accused of things. Nazi Germany was a police state also. Horray horray someone did their job this time and they caught someone. Now if they could get the professionalism down for the rest of the time, we taxpayers would have less to complain about. Police here are paid way too for lackluster performance. I have a friend who is a state trooper in MD, he started at 32k. A cop in NJ starts at 76k If im not mistaken. Thats too much money. We need some residency requirements as well in this town for police. It will strengthen our community. One can drive through the entire state before they see police cars hidden in bushes, thats just embarrassing folks! Whats next? Camo'd Washington Township Police cars!? I thought Police Cars were supposed to be clearly marked so that in an emergency citizens could find the Police to get aid or help. What are they scared of? Imagine if State Troopers or Newark cops were hiding in bushes at the bottom of every hill

It's very stressful and I agree totally Yankel. it can be downright scary to be followed late at night on these country roads. Especially when you have no idea who is behind you. When I was younger and in high school my immediate instinct was to speed up, which is exactly what I did and was ticketed for it. Another time I was tailgated for miles down rt. 513 in a blizzard. A deep jumped out infront of me and I had to make a panic stop. The officer:s close proximity to my bumper didnt help and he nearly rear ended me, missing me only by feet. All of my friends and I, and my parents have been followed like this through Twekesbury,Chester,and Long Valley. It must be a Morris County thing for police with nothing to do but try to justify thier jobs and salaries. I have witnessed this type of behavior for years and years and they must be trained to do this. It happens too much to be merely coincidence. I take great offense to this because this is not the soviet union. People in the Soviet Union had to report thier comings and goings to the police. We as a society are supposed to be better than that. I would also like to say, back up to a garage window or store window and check your brake and turn signal lights frequently. With no state safety inspection anymore and this many aggressive police forces in the area waiting for people to step on a crack in the sidewalk we should all be vigilant and reduce our speed or any bulb failure tickets ect.

Abraham and Yankel, if you don't like it here, move out of mom and dad's house. You sound like nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats. Just wait until you need those cops for help.

Our police do their jobs, when needed thay are there, but I have to agree we seem to have an exaggerated ideal of ''enforcement''. It's more like the police force is a threat rather than your helper or protection. This situation is not nearly as intense as it was a year or two back. We have a smaller force now and the over bearing surveillance on the road, like radar etc, has diminshed to a degree. Still, we all should not be ''guilty before proven innocent'' for merely being on the road at night, it's hard enough to watch for the damn deer let alone being followed for ''whatever''. We as citizens, have brought some of this on ourselves, with silly laws like ''open container'' ! WHAT does it matter and why are we FINED for ''open container'' if you ARE NOT OVER the LIMIT ? If they wanna fine you for open container, and you ARE over the limit, then go ahead and double the penalty ! I am not referring to sucking on the bottle or can while driving either, but 08 is point .08 open can, sipping it, or not and .08 is what should be the defining thing. People can and have been fined or a random can or bottle that was empty for months or more. It would be nice once again to look at our police department as ''user friendly'' like the days in the distant past. A few more ''warnings'' and less summonses would help public / police relations indeed.

What exactly is it that the WT officers do to or do not for our town that people dislike so much? I wouldn't necessarily want to be followed either but at 1am, I can honestly understand them following a car to make sure the person isn't drinking and driving. Fortunately, Yankel you weren't so you had nothing to worry about. But really...we live in a country town and not an inner city. Would they be offered more respect if we read of deadly shootings and/or them busting drug cartels in our town? This topic gets as old as the political rants do.

Roger
I get monthly PD reports for WashingtonTownship and warnings far exceed tickets, close to 10 to 1 in a lot of cases. Open container of ALCOHOLIC beverages in a motor vehicle is a violation of NJ State Motor Vehicle law, regardless of your blood/alcohol level at the time of the stop. (Who is to say the person doesn't keep "taking a sip" for the next few miles until they go over the limit?) If someone is obeying the traffic laws why do they care if a PD vehicle is following them? I think some of the other protestors on this blog are either paranoid about Police "deliberately following them" or exaggerating. I have had police cars behind me for miles in several towns and all it did was keep me aware of how fast I was going. Random license plate look ups regularly pick up people driving with suspended or revoked licenses, outstanding warrants, etc. I am more annoyed that there never seems to be a police car around when people cross the double yellow to pass, blaze by at 20 over the speed limit, drive w/o headlights at night, etc.

Here’s what the police do Stacie (and many town cops do this, so I’m not picking on WT cops specifically). If you’re driving late at night, they’ll follow you very closely, even though you’re driving safely and well within the speed limit. You can either tolerate them being right on your bumper for miles, or you can pull over to let them by. The problem is; when you pull over, they won’t go by, they’ll pull over behind you and hit their lights. They will then question why you pulled over, along with where you’ve been, where you’re going, etc. So by using this tactic, they can question you to see if you’re intoxicated, even though they have no cause at all to pull you over.

If you really want to feel the ole' fashion sense of community....go visit the Stalag PD station on the mountain. You are treated as if you were visiting the US Embassy in Pakistan. Better community policing/outreach can be done.

While I do have respect for some police officers, I do have to agree that many of them do hide in the bushes at speed traps and tailgate to harass and give them a reason to pull someone over. The police should be out there catching idiots rather than hiding out in speed traps and pulling normal folk over. Most of the cops I have encountered are down right bullies. I have to say that some of the younger guys I have come across are darn handsome and are respectful.

This article is outright misleading, by the way. The shotgun was in the house not the car as the article makes a reader believe. More scare tactics from our lovely media! The media causes so much trouble and harm it's ridiculous!

"consented to a search.."

That was dumb.

Domino

Please come to the Township Committee meeting on Monday January 31 and I will bring a copy of the Monthly Police Department report to the Committee. If you want to come before the start of the meeting, let me know what time and I will be there.

mrwilson

Actually, having an illegal sawed off shot gun is what was really dumb!

I have been stopped by Police in New York, New Jersey (4 towns other than Washington Township), Pennsylvania and Texas. Either I am very lucky or some people are overly sensitive, as yet I have not met the bullying, rude, over bearing police officers many of you seem to encounter at every turn. I don't think I look so intimidating that PD officers treat me extra nice.

Yankel
If I were you, I would contact the Police Chiefs of Chester Townnship? and the Mendhams and provide this information with date, location and approximate time. I know that Chief Bailey in WT is always willing to follow up and get back residents who contact him. The Chiefs referenced may be able to provide you with some information. In any case, if they don't know about a problem they can't do anything about it.

Peace
The officer conducted a thorough investigation/search leading to the confiscation of an illegal weapon. Why do you consider that a media scare tactic? Would you rather the weapon be found during a traffic stop or at an accident scene?

Domino
Sorry for the typing error. I meant to invite you to meet me at the Monday January 14 Township Committee meeting.

Domino
I'm having a "bad typing day". The meeting is on Monday January 21. I'm going to stop typing and lie down with a cool towel on my forehead.

Mr. Tobin, thank you for that 1st post. Problem is most people don't have respect for anyone these days, and I believe some posters here just spew hate to intentionally 'crank' people up. What is the problem if an officer is 'following' you at 1am? Would you rather they pull behind a building and go to sleep?

In appx. 10 years of living in LV I've had the pleasure of dealing with the PD several times, all of the officers were extremely professional. I love the fact that these men and women are out enforcing the law at all times of the day and night. Keep up the good work I say!

Abraham
Police officers in Washington Township start at $50,659, not $76k. Salaries and benefits are the result of contract negotiations, heavily impacted by State mandated rules. Only since Christie took office has some of the imbalance in negotiations been corrected. There is still a long way to go, and it remains to be seen if the Legislature can keep it's fingers out of contract negotiations and let the economy set wage and benefits bargaining.

Mr Tobin: Please re-read my post and read the article header. Where do you see in my post that I want the shotgun to be found in the car or at an accident site? Wow!?!?!

What does it say about our community and our surrounding communities when we let our civil liberties get trampled on like this. Citizenry should not be bullied like this. I don't know why we have put up with this for so long! The tailgating by the local police forces has been going on for more than a decade in this area. Educating ourselves and friends/family of our rights as citizens is a good start. Memorizing the headlight and turn signal configuration of the crown vics and other police cars is also a good idea. Now when someone is on my bumper at starting at 10pm I automatically assume it is a cop. They were able to blindside the population here with this kind of behavior but they are only able to bully cars to speed for so long. Some of us work long hours and are on the road due to work, the same reason that the police are on the road. Not all of us are retirees who receive love letters monthly from the police department. If we are doing nothing wrong then we don't deserve this distracting and dangerous behaviour from those sworn "to serve and protect us". Having lived and commuted all over the state, this is not how other police forces behave. Especially historic well established towns. We should not fear our own police force just because they are desperate to ticket thier own citizenry. We pay thier salaries. Congratulations Mr. Tobin on learning to use a computer, many people you're age have difficulty learning to use computers.

The majority of the police work in this town is devoted to traffic tickets. I heard this directly from the chief of police at a town meeting. I also asked the woman who collects fines how much they averaged in ticket revenue per week. Her answer was 24,000 to 26,000 dollars! That was several years ago, if all the police have to do is write tickets, then one could see why they would be aggressively trying to make people speed by tailgating at night. If it is a 5 point ticket for a motorist to tailgate then why are they above the law and encouraged to do this dangerous act? If you are insane enough to attack me for my spelling than you are obviously a fool. Go jump in a lake, spelling nazi. Bullying and belittling someone for being a concerned citizen and taxpayer is very childish. Perhaps you are showing early signs of alzheimers? I may have just done you a huge favor, since early detection is important for your safety and the safety of others. And arrangements for you to be put in an old folks home could be made. Thank me later! I did need the police when I was outside tending to my horses and my family was in danger from a deranged gunman in a field nearby. They lied to the population and said it was a missing person.

Some of us are concered about not just ourselves but everyone in our community. People in Nazi Germany turned a blind eye to what Hitler and his "police state" was doing until it was too late. They weren't allowed to have guns, or dogs and were killed for speaking out against a currupt and un-just government. This is what some people in our town obviously would like. But being a member of the Sons of The American Revolution, I do not. And am also entitled to my opinion.

Tailgating from police is downright entrapment!

Thats not what you're mom said Kenny.