Mission: To partner with the community and create a line of communication to form a safe and secure environment.
Since the early 1990s the Somerville Police Department has created its Community Policing Unit. Over that time period the CPU has reached out to the community by creating programs for the children and coordinating events for the community. Currently, Officer Darrin DiPalma is the community policing officer. He has been assigned there since 2008.
The following are a list of the programs and events created by the CPU:
- Tour of the Somerset County Jail
- Sheriffs K-9 Demonstration
- Plus many other activities
- Annual Senior Citizen Pasta Dinner
- Host a pasta dinner for the residents, which are served by the members of the Police Department along with the help of the students and staff from the Somerville Middle School.
- We also are a participant in National Night Out, which is a national crime and drug prevention event. This event is held on exchange field in Somerville every year in August. At this event we have music, food and all kinds of entertainment for the children. This is a great chance for the town to come out, have a great time, while meeting their local law enforcement officials.
- In the summer months we have a bicycle patrol. This unit monitors all of the parks and pools in town. Also, will be a resource to the children of the community as well as the business district.
- The Somerville Police Youth Academy is offered to the children that reside in Somerville that are going into 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The cadets of this program will experience the following:
- Tour of Police Headquarters
- Child seat installations
School Programs
- D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a collaborative program, consisting of nine lessons, in which local law enforcement and local schools join together to educate students about the personal and social consequences of substance abuse and violence. This program is taught at Vanderveer School and the Immaculate Conception School. In this program we educate the children on the health effects of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. We also discuss peer pressure and ways to say "no".
- The G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance education and training) Program is a school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curriculum. With prevention as its primary objective, the program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.
- The CPU and Detective Stitley have teamed together to create a cyber-bullying/harassment program. This two-day program is taught at the Somerville Middle School and Immaculata High School. This program explores online safety as well as the consequences that are related to harassment from the internet and cellular devices.
If anyone has any questions or concerns please contact Officer Darrin DiPalma at (908) 725-0331 or email him.
