Sheriff's Office gives presentation on duties in county

BY CHRIS WYMAN
VERNON — Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada and four staff members visited Vernon’s XYZ Club on March 13 to talk about their work in the county.

Hilary Manser, secretary to Sheriff Strada, detailed the various responsibilities of the department, while Sheriff’s Officer Edmund Galinski explained the department’s TRIAD program, which focuses on the needs of the county’s senior citizens.

Jail Security Specialist Terry Kelemen, although retired from law enforcement, talked about the trials and tribulations of handling the jail’s female inmate population, which often makes up about 20 percent of the facility’s total population.

Sheriff’s Officer Kieran McMorrow is the department's press officer but also acts as a canine handler. He came to the event with canine officer Atlas. The German Shepherd dog was born and raised in Germany, so rather than retrain the dog with English commands, McMorrow instead learned some German to better work with the dog. Well behaved and gentle when the need arises, Atlas received cheers after jumping through the air to retrieve dog biscuits that McMorrow bravely held between his teeth.

McMorrow and Atlas make up one of the two working K-9 teams in the department. Each dog has been specially trained and certified in accordance with guidelines established by the New Jersey Attorney General. They are deployed to perform duties such as search and rescue, narcotics and explosives detection, criminal apprehension, evidence recovery, burglaries, building searches, and tracking. The dogs are also used to prevent contraband from entering the judicial center and the jail itself.

Strada began his presentation with a historical review of his department. Established in 1753, the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office is the first and oldest established law enforcement agency in Sussex County.

Strada also touched on his responsibilities of serving court-ordered documents and enforcing court orders. He is responsible for the county’s 24-hour communications center, which is always prepared for an emergency situation. The department also supports the courts and can supply the needed transportation of prisoners to and from the county jail. According to Strada, in 2011 jail population averaged 185 inmates with total bookings of 1,671 inmates. In 2012 there was an average population of 190 inmates with total bookings of 1,687.

The Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility, or county jail, was originally built in 1978 to hold 88 inmates. It was named in honor of Walter Keogh-Dwyer, a long time Sussex County resident who served as a state assemblyman, a county freeholder, and as mayor of Vernon Township. The correctional facility also offers a multitude of inmate programs including GED preparation courses, substance abuse classes, Alcoholics Anonymous, bible study, religious services, parenting, and inmate worker programs.

Special department units include a search and rescue unit and a tactical response team. The department also offers the Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP), which provides a safe alternative to incarceration for individuals sentenced for non-violent offenses.

The Sheriff’s Work Assistance Program (SWAP) is available to sentenced inmates who are non-violent offenders and a minimum security risk. These inmates work outside of the correctional facility during the day, doing work similar to that of SLAP participants. As recently as two or three years ago, Vernon’s St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church was painted through the help of the Sheriff’s Department.

If your community organization would like to learn more about the Sheriff’s Department and what it does, contact Hilary Manser at the Sussex County Sheriff's Office by calling 973-579-0850, ext. 2114.