Clinton Township Newsletter

2 m a r c h 2 0 2 2 W W W . C L I N T O N T W P N E W S L E T T E R . C O M Happy St. Patrick'S DAY! Ask Officer Raff: Dear Officer Raff, I heard that you have taken over the role of School Resource Officer at North Hunterdon High School from Detective Tom Hash – Congratulations! (And thank you for all of your years of service, Detective Hash!) Can you please tell us what that assignment entails? What do you do when there is no school, are you off? From, A Grateful Parent Dear Grateful Parent, Thank you! I have been the School Resource Officer (SRO) at North Hunterdon High School since Detective Hash retired in January 2019. I would like to join you in thanking Detective Hash for his dedicated years of service to Clinton Township and North Hunterdon High School, in addition to congratulating him on his well-deserved retirement! He was a much- loved SRO and certainly left behind some big shoes for me to fill… As the SRO, I am primarily responsible for ensuring a safe educational environment for students and staff, while reinforcing the importance of a meaningful partnership between the school and law enforcement to maintain safety both in school and within the community. I am aided in these endeavors by our four Class III Special Police Officers, who are retired law enforcement officers from various agencies that have come back to work in our high school. We work closely with school officials on a range of issues concerning students and try to help teach the students the importance of making good decisions. Of course, students are bound to make mistakes, and when they do, we try our best to divert students from formal involvement in the juvenile justice system, by use of community resources. I am very proud of the work we do at North Hunterdon High School and I am especially excited to have brought the Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence (LEAD)-Too Good for Drugs (www.LEADrugs. org) program to North Hunterdon High School. Each semester, I teach classes as part of the Junior Health Curriculum; we discuss topics such as setting and working towards goals, decision-making, positive and negative influences that surround us and many other relevant issues. In addition to my responsibilities at North Hunterdon High School, I am also the Juvenile Officer and the Domestic Violence Liaison Officer. I assist the Public Information Officer with department social media, website and press releases and the UCR/NIBRS reporting for our agency. I am involved with a number of programs offered by the Clinton Township Police, including Operation Blue Angel, the Safe Kids Child Safety Seat Technician Program, the Junior Police Academy and Citizens Academy, as well as other community outreach. As you can imagine, these additional assignments certainly keep me busy when school is not in session! Sincerely, Officer Raff n Officer Raffaella Vastola grew up locally in Kingwood Township, and has been in law enforcement for over 18 years, serving almost seven years with CTPD. She and her husband currently live in Raritan Township with their five children, two of whom serve in the military (Marine Corps and the Navy). Officer Raff thinks Clinton Township is a wonderful place to work, live and raise a family, and she is very proud to serve and protect our community with a dedicated group of men and women who help to keep it that way for everyone. n Got questions for our local Clinton Township Police Department? Ask Officer Raff by emailing: ctnl@comcast.net or: rvastola@ ctpd.org and add the words "Ask Officer Raff" in the subject line. Locally Owned and Operated by Phil & Diane Koury 185 Center St., Clinton 908.735.4499 Family Owned and Operated Over 70 Years U.S. Highway 22 E. Whitehouse NJ 08888 908•534•2125 www.vandorenoil.com e-mail: info@vandorenoil.com HEATING OIL • GASOLINE • DIESEL FUEL • BURNER SERVICE • POST-HOLE DIGGING "I sometimes wish that people would put a lile more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement." ~ Calvin Coolidge

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