3 N.J. Towns To Look Into Police Dept. Mergers

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. (WCBS 880) -- The people of Bergen County have spoken.

Three towns are now looking into merging police departments as a money-saving measure after residents emphatically approved a ballot question calling for discussion of the topic, as WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.

Citizens of Norwood, Northvale and Harrington Park approved the idea by a 3 to 1 margin.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Sean Adams Reports

After seeing the overwhelming response, Norwood Mayor James Barsa is getting to work on it right away.

"I do not know at this point in time if we will be able to save money or not," the mayor said. "I do know that we want to look into this because one of the major concerns people have, as you can see from results like this, is that they want us to save money and taxes. They don't want to pay the high taxes anymore.

Mayor Barsa stressed that the police will be involved in the study. He said public safety is the first priority – it is up to them to see if they can balance that with fiscal prudence.

Northvale Mayor Peter Perretti has expressed similar sentiments.