The Evesham Police Department operates at a very high level of efficiency. In fact, it may be one of the best values for your dollar you will ever get. The Township crime rate is one of the lowest crimes rates of any municipality of comparable size in South Jersey and is well below the average crime rate of New Jersey, Burlington County and all other South Jersey county crime rates.

The Department’s crime clearance rate (crimes solved) is significantly above the clearance rates for the State of New Jersey, Burlington County and every other county in South Jersey.

What makes these statistics so impressive is the fact that the Evesham Township Police Department operates with the fewest officers per capita of any municipality in South Jersey and is supported by only 3 ½% of the total property tax bill! The citizens of Evesham get a professional, full service police department, working holidays, nights and weekends, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year for only three and a half percent of their property tax bill!

The Department is able to achieve this remarkable level of efficiency for the following reasons:

1. Every effort is made to hire only top quality personnel. The Township Manager and Police Chief take the hiring of police officers very seriously, realizing no management techniques will completely overcome the problems presented by poor quality personnel. The hiring of honest, capable, empathetic people with a strong work ethic, who will give a fair days work for a fair days pay and who are willing and capable of following orders in a paramilitary organization is an essential first step in building a top quality police force. We have great officers who work extremely hard every day to keep our citizens safe.

2. Today’s police work requires a great deal in the way of administration and specialized assignments. But, the patrol bureau is the frontline against crime, the first responder to emergencies and the backbone of any police department. The Evesham Police Department assigns the maximum number of officers possible to the patrol bureau. The most commonly recommended staffing level for a patrol bureau is 65% of the sworn personnel. That is the number targeted for when departments are trying to increase efficiency. The Evesham Police Department assigns 80% of its sworn officers to the patrol bureau.

3. Our patrol supervisors are highly competent professionals who do an excellent job of instantly prioritizing calls, shifting personnel to where they are most needed and making split second decisions in directing personnel under their supervision. The Township has set forth a rigorous promotional procedure to ensure that the best, brightest and most dedicated personnel are promoted to supervisory positions. Our supervisors do an outstanding job of motivating and directing personnel and ensuring that the township is adequately protected at all times.

4. Effective investigation of crime is essential to any police department. However, the department can only afford to take a very small number officers from the patrol bureau and therefore must have only the most competent and highly motivated officers in the detective bureau. Detectives are selected based on demonstrated investigative ability, ability to work as part of a team and the willingness to go the extra mile. See “Investigative Bureau” for specific information on this outstanding unit.

5. The Department utilizes the most efficient work schedule possible. The institution of permanent 8 ½ hour shifts allows the department to assign officers to shifts based on the actual demand for service during that shift. Each shift is tailored to the activity level for that time of day eliminating as much as possible, instances of either too many or too few officers working. Rotating shifts and longer work days which are very popular with police departments, do not allow the same level of precision in targeting the busiest times to have the largest number of officers scheduled to work. The half-hour overlap between shifts provides for an organized roll-call with daily intelligence briefings and short training updates without losing police presence on the street or hampering our ability to respond to calls.

6. The department assigns patrol officers to patrol sectors and requires them to remain in their assigned sector as much as possible. They leave those sectors only when necessary and with the permission of their supervisor. Officers remain in the field, in their assigned sector when completing reports, making calls and meeting with supervisors and other officers to share information. These tasks formerly handled at police HQ are now done in the field to keep officers ready for a rapid response to emergency calls. Laptop computers, email, cell phones, on-line access to department directives, and data bases along with the traditional police radio make this possible. So when you see an officer parked along side a road or off road in a field, and assume he is unoccupied, idle or resting – chances are you are wrong. He or she is completing work that must be done in today’s policing: documenting, communicating and information sharing.

As a general rule, the Police Department is the only local government agency open and accessible on a 24 hour a day basis to solve community problems. Patrol officer’s account for the vast majority of citizen contacts in their role as first responders. An additional but equally important part of the patrol function includes reducing the opportunity for crime and misconduct as a result of routine patrolling. Some of the major responsibilities of patrol officers are as follows:

Responding to calls for service
High visibilty preventive patrol
Business and property security
Animal control
Traffic control and enforcement
Preliminary Investigations
Arrest of offenders
Report writing
Courtroom testimony

Community Oriented Policing

While the reactive role of the police department cannot be eliminated, the traditional methods of addressing issues of crime, fear of crime, drugs, disorder and neighborhood decay must be modified to allow those directly affected by the conditions to actively participate in the strategies for remediation. In fact, involving residents and businesses in the development of strategies intended to abate identified problematic situations within the community is a cornerstone of the community policing philosophy.

Critical to this process is understanding that problems negatively impacting the quality of life in a particular community must be promptly identified and corrected in order to encourage community members to actively participate in the process. To facilitate this process, the lines of communication between the police department and the community must remain open and unencumbered. To that end the police department continues to solicit input from community based organizations and homeowner’s groups. In addition, groups or individuals are encouraged to provide information on areas of concern and feedback on services rendered. This information sharing can occur by way of personal contact, telephone, letter or electronic submission via this website. Agency representative are available to attend meetings of community-based organizations. Meeting attendance can be coordinated by contacting the Administrative Division Captain at police headquarters (856) 983-1116 or by e-mailing locantoref@evesham-nj.gov.