Hightstown Dissolves Police Subcommittee

After a second closed session Monday evening, the Hightstown Borough Council voted 4-1 to dissolve its three-member Police Subcommittee, which had been examining staffing and the possibility of hiring part-time officers.

The report the subcommittee produced earlier this year has gone before the council in other closed sessions, but has not been released to the public.

Democrat, Council President and now-former subcommittee member Isabel McGinty cast the dissenting vote, while the other Democrat on the panel, Dimitri Musing, recused himself from the meeting and did not attend the closed session. The third member, Republican Skye Gilmartin, voted with the rest of the council in favor of dissolution.

On Wednesday, McGinty said she was unsatisfied with the lack of transparency in the move.

“The Police Committee addressed issues of police staffing, overtime, costs, oversight, and part-time officers,” she said. “Residents have been asking when and whether the council as a whole would be addressing those issues. If council members made the decision to dissolve the Police Committee because they were prepared, as a whole, to take on these issues, that would seem important information to disseminate to the public prior to the vote. That did not happen, and so I voted against the resolution. I would welcome the full council's energized attention to these issues, given their importance to our whole community.

“Questions have been raised, including during public comment sessions, as to whether and when the police committee report (in whole, in part, or with personal or personnel information redacted) will be released for public reading and discussion,” she continued. “The council has also not addressed those questions, to date.”