Local 600 endorses Monmouth
County Sheriff Golden
On Aug. 30, I had the
pleasure of being invited to
Freehold, county seat of Monmouth County, where Sheriff
Shaun Golden and Undersheriff
Fred Deickmann guided Local
600 President Tom Lombardi
and me around the most techJIM
nologically advanced, multiTOMA
functional police/fire/emergency services building in New
Jersey.
The facility was a dream of Sheriff Golden
that became a reality through his perseverance
and the belief in him placed by Monmouth
County officials and taxpayers.
The facility houses the Sheriff’s Office, communications for all police, fire and emergency
management, an operations center for natural
disasters and emergency services, operations of
the police academy and corrections.
As amazing as the tour was, the highlight of the
day was sitting down with the Sheriff, who is running for re-election in November, and listening to
him lay out his vision and its effect on active, as
well as retired, law enforcement professionals.
Impressively, the Sheriff is a career-aw enforcement member – With a career spanning the Colts
Neck PD and Toms River PD and now as Sheriff,
he understands our issues, needs and feelings.
Sheriff Golden is also the Republican County
Chair, but that has not stopped him from being
an independent thinker, and standing up for
what’s right at the risk of alienating fellow Republicans. He believes strongly in the sanctity of our
pension system and the funding of that system,
and he expressed to us that the idea of separating
the pensions due to the strength of PFRS seems
like the logical choice.
Golden is also strongly in favor of reinstituting
COLA, perhaps on a tiered system taking care of
the most needy retired members first. And most
importantly, he believes that all parties affected
should be part of the solution, working together
to come up with ideas about how to strengthen
our pension so that eventually it will be there for
all who served.
I found the Sheriff to be someone who serves
and governs through the eyes of law
enforcement, but also through compassion.
Serving his community as a paramedic,
volunteer firefighter and EMT gave him the
opportunity to see people who were in need,
whether through sickness or tragedy. He
expressed how that experience instilled within
him the desire to give back.
He has developed programs for special needs
residents, and started a registry throughout the
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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SEPTEMBER 2016
Local 600 State Delegate Jim Toma (left) shakes hands
with Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden alongside Local 600 President Tom Lombardi during an Aug.
30 tour.
county so all special needs residents are able to
get help and support in a time of emergency, or
during interactions with law enforcement, fire or
EMS.
The Sheriff has hired a veterans coordinator to
assist those county residents who have served,
and is supportive of his employees who have
served.
Sheriff Golden also explained his two-pronged
approach to the ever-growing drug (specifically,
heroin) problem not only in his county, but
throughout the state as well. He speaks to schools
and PTAs throughout the county to discuss education programs on awareness and prevention,
emphasizing family awareness of prescription
medication abuse.
He is also pursuing enforcement-strong interaction with all county departments, assigning
manpower to assist narcotics task forces, and he
is working with drug treatment facilities to provide rehabilitation and recovery.
The Office has also worked closely with the
Office on Aging with Project Lifesaver Program,
which provides electronic location systems for
memory-impaired seniors and children with
autism.
Sheriff Golden currently is directly responsible
for eight county facilities and, through his insistence, they are secured by retired law enforcement personnel, providing employment for
many of our members (50 to 60 at last count). He
was determined to not allow low-paid security
guards to be responsible for the safety of his
employees, while at the same time provide jobs
for retired members.
After spending the day with Sheriff Golden and
listening to his beliefs and vision, the NJ State
PBA Local 600 fully endorses Sheriff Golden in his
bid for re-election in November. I ask all
members and their families in Monmouth County to support the Sheriff. d