Police officers throughout the country have been in the news lately for various reasons. This seems like a good time to thank our Voorhees Township Police Department. Every day they work hard and risk their lives to keep our community safe.
However, their involvement and interaction with our residents, especially our children, is also worth recognizing.
Thanks to a partnership with our Boards of Education, Voorhees Township now has a police officer in every school. The presence of our men and women in blue gives our students and their parents a sense of safety and security. It also lets our young people know that our officers are on their “team.” Our children are our most valuable asset and need to be kept safe.
For more than a decade, including this year, our police officers and civilian staff have sponsored a Holiday Fund Drive to help bring smiles to the faces of deserving local families. This year, three such families were chosen to receive clothes, toys, food and gift cards. Volunteers raised money, did the shopping and all the wrapping.
In July of this year, the First Annual Voorhees Junior Police Academy was held. It was the first of its kind in our Township and taught 20 young people from the age of 12 to 15 to appreciate and respect the duties and life of a police officer. The academy also gave the participants who have dreams of becoming a police officer a taste of police life. We look forward to another successful Junior Police Academy in the summer of 2015.
On July 16 of this year, honored members of our Police Department traveled to New York City to retrieve an artifact from the World Trade Center to pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack as part of the Memorial Garden Project at our Police Headquarters. The artifact was given proper respect by being transported back to Voorhees by an entourage of police cars and, with the help of the Voorhees Township Fire Department, an American flag hung high over the entrance to the Police Headquarters as the artifact arrived.
In 2015, Police Chief Lou Bordi will oversee the building of the Memorial Garden in tribute to the victims of 9/11, including fallen law enforcement officers and fallen war veterans. He will be forming a Memorial Garden Foundation to help raise funds for the project.
In 2009, our Police Department became the first on the east coast to institute Nixle, a free service that allows residents to receive up-to-the-minute information by text or email about urgent public safety issues, local traffic updates and community events. Over 7,000 Police Departments in the United States are now using Nixle with over 1.9 million subscribers. Each month, Nixle sends out 27 million messages nationwide. You can sign up for Nixle on our website www.vorheesnj.com.
In an ongoing effort to keep our community safe, share more information and become more accessible, this past year our Police Department introduced a new website atwww.vtpd.com. The website is more user-friendly, with expanded links that will allow users to view a list of all the members of our force, including rank and badge number. There is a “Kids Corner” that allows our children to become familiar with officers and includes a description of our bicycle helmet program and our Adopt-A-Cop
Program which brings officers to our schools on a regular basis to foster trust, encourage mutual respect and build healthy relationships. The website also includes a section for updated news, a blog and important Megan’s Law information. You can also follow them on Facebook.
A particularly heartwarming story involving our Police Department unfolded on Dec. 19. A 14-year old boy named Henrique, who has a debilitating disease, has a dream of becoming a police officer. His dream came true when he was named an “Officer for a Day” by our Police Department. Henrique received a tour of the station, including the armory, a VTPD hat, t-shirt and sweatshirt, and witnessed a K-9 demonstration from the Academy Class. He was also awarded a Proclamation from our Chief declaring him an honorary Voorhees Township Police Officer. Some dreams do come true.
I believe our Police Department is the finest in South Jersey. My proudest moments as Mayor include the honor of administering the oath of office to our new men and women in blue and to those officers who receive promotions due to their loyal service.
“Protecting and serving our community!”
