NJ Cops | Page 49

NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014 Members of NJ Transit Police Local 304 are psyched up and ready to go. 49 A pink robe and Despicable Me hat helped keep one of Weehawken Local 15’s plungers warm before the dip. Every member of the Monmouth County Sheriffs Maritime Emergency Response Team (MERT) was in the water during the Plunge, but unlike the 6,000 plungers, they were at work. “Everybody goes in the water to make sure that everybody gets out,” said Dive Supervisor Bill Fancher. Donning dry suits, the men and women of MERT – who have seen action during Hurricanes Floyd, Irene and Sandy – successfully defused some close calls this year. “Some people have a few too many and end up drifting out a little too far,” Fancher said. “Then we use rescue torpedoes and bring them back in to safety.”