Police in Gloucester County, NJ Get New Rules For Emergency Vehicle Operations
By David Madden
WOODBURY, N.J. (CBS) -- Police departments in Gloucester County, NJ now have uniform rules for operating their cruisers when officers are called to the scene of a crime, accident, or other emergency.
County prosecutor Sean Dalton says he issued the new rules after a young boy was struck and killed last December, while crossing Delsea Drive in Franklin Township, by an officer speeding to a non-emergency call with no siren or flashing lights.
Dalton notes that vehicle operating policies differed from town to town.
"We felt it was appropriate at this point to provide some uniformity as to when lights and sirens are to be activated when the police respond to a call for service," he tells KYW Newsradio.
The new policy requires police to turn on sirens and emergency lights when exceeding the speed limit by 20 miles per hour. (Towns can set a lower limit if they choose.)
The officer involved in December's incident in Franklin Township was doing 74mph in a 50mph zone.
The new countywide policy is set to take effect May 1st.