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D.A.R.E.

Your local school district and local police department, in conjunction with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and the Somerset County Superintendent of Schools, are presenting the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program at your child's school.

D.A.R.E. is a collaborative effort by certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents, and community to offer an educational program in the classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth. The emphasis of the core curriculum (taught in the 5th or 6th grade) is to help students recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants or other drugs or to engage in violence.

Your child's school is included in the program because of the excellent cooperation that exists between the school district and the local police department.

For more information about Somerset County's D.A.R.E. program, please contact your local police department's D.A.R.E. officer.

Educators 

The following resources are available for educators as PowerPoint presentations:

Internship Program

Student Internships

College student internships provide the opportunity for students to learn about the criminal justice system by working with and assisting members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. Students are provided the opportunity to intern in the Legal Division, Criminal Investigation Division, Victim-Witness Unit or Administrative Division of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.  The hands-on work experience is invaluable and cannot be obtained in a classroom setting.  Internships allow students to apply their acquired knowledge to real work experience and acquaint themselves with the criminal justice field.  Interns will not carry firearms, make arrests, or be involved in potentially dangerous situations. Interns generally work in support roles for the law enforcement mission.

Legal Internships are available to law school students who have completed at least one year of law school. Law student internships primarily involve various legal research assignments to include appellate cases.  Legal interns will also be allowed to observe criminal trials and other courtroom proceedings and pursuant to R. 1:21-3 may be allowed to represent the state in certain criminal matters.

A limited number of student internships are available to college and law school students in the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Internship Application Requirements:

  • Internships are open only to college Junior and Senior students enrolled either full-time or part-time in a college, university, or comparable educational institution
  • Pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice or similar field of study
  • Students must be in good academic standing
  • Interview Process
  • Successful completion of a Background Investigation

     

    Any students interested in applying for an internship position should submit a resume, cover letter, current transcript, and completed Internship Application before the semester deadlines as listed below:

    • Summer Internship Applications – January 31st
    • Fall Internship Applications – May 31st
    • Spring Applications – September 30th

 

Applications should be mailed to:

Somerset County Prosecutor's Office
P.O. Box 3000

40 North Bridge Street

Somerville, New Jersey 08876

Attn: Student Internship Program

Internship Application

S.C.E.R.T.  

The Somerset County Emergency Response Teams were established in 1985.  The concept was developed to regionalize manpower, expertise and equipment to respond to an emergency within the county that required a specialized law enforcement response.  The teams total 65 police officers from the Prosecutor’s Office, Sheriff’s Department and municipal departments within our County.  They are divided into four sub units: the S.W.A.T. Team; Crisis Negotiation Team; the Emergency Medical Team from Somerset Medical Center and the newly formed Dive-Rescue Unit.   When a call for assistance is received, the S.C.E.R.T. Teams can be mobilized and on scene within 45 minutes, any time of day or night, seven days a week.  During the past sixteen (16) years, the S.C.E.R.T. Teams have responded to more than 100 incidents.

The S.W.A.T. Team presently consists of 29 police officers. These individuals are skilled and trained in the areas of special weapons; self defense; assault tactics; use of chemical agents; riot/crowd control; dignitary protection; first aid and heavy rescue techniques.  Many of these highly motivated people have attended an 80-hour course in S.W.A.T. procedures and tactics sponsored by the Department of Defense at Picatinny Arsenal, the Advanced Hostage Rescue course sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a week long seminar in heavy rescue techniques sponsored by the New Jersey State Police, and numerous other training courses throughout the United States.  The S.W.A.T. Team is divided into four squads (each with their own chain of command and unit specialty; i.e., snipers/scouts/assault) as well as a three-person command group.  In the instance of a hostage or barricade situation, the unit will be activated in a similar manner as the Crisis Negotiation Team, instituting the gradual response of one or more squads depending on the nature of the problem or the specialty required.  The team’s purpose at any hostage/barricade situation is to provide a visible presence of force; set up a perimeter and secure the area; secure the command post; provide security for the negotiating team; effect and arrest when appropriate; and lastly, if all else fails and a life has been taken or is in imminent danger, forcibly enter the target area and physically restrain the target individual(s).

The Crisis Negotiation Team presently consists of 18 police officers.  These individuals are skilled in the art of negotiating, bargaining, and mediating.  Their training includes, but is not limited to, crisis intervention and hostage negotiations.  Most of those in our unit have attended many seminars in this regard and have proven themselves to be experts in verbally bringing crisis situations to a peaceful and safe conclusion.  The Crisis Negotiation  Team is divided into three five-officer squads as well as a three-person command group.  Each five-officer squad consists of a primary negotiator, secondary negotiator, and three intelligence/communications experts.  The command group consists of a commander, an aid, and a local department liaison.  One squad and a command group will be formed and respond to any hostage or barricade incident occurring in Somerset County.  The other two squads will be notified and will remain on-call until the matter is concluded.  If the situation develops into a lengthy ordeal, the on-call squads may be used on a rotating basis to relieve the original responding squad until conclusion.

The Dive-Rescue component is comprised of 13 police officers who are trained in various aspects of water rescue to include underwater search and rescue, crime scene processing, as well as flood water and surface swift-water rescue operations.  Since its inception in mid 2000, the team members have conducted twelve training drills, have attended a three day swift-water rescue course as well as an ice dive-rescue course.

In addition to police officers, also attached to the S.C.E.R.T. Teams is a six-person team from the Somerset Medical Center’s Mobile Intensive Care Unit.  These certified paramedics and nurses, along with a doctor, train monthly with the S.C.E.R.T Teams and respond to call-outs, for purposes of providing immediate medical attention in the event of an injury.

Unlike most hostage recovery units who deal exclusively with hostage or barricade situations, the Somerset County S.C.E.R.T. Teams have been trained to deal with all types of police emergencies.  In addition to the so-called hostage barricade, we have also responded and provided dignitary protection; emergency rescue operations; assistance during natural disasters; i.e., floods/hurricanes, etc., all with precision and professionalism.

The teams train at least one (eight hour) day or night per month.  The training varies, however, usually consists of both classroom and field operations.  While in the field, the teams participate in physical training and then jointly conduct simulated hostage or barricade situations.  These drills are conducted regardless of weather conditions and are made as real as possible with the use of police officers acting as both hostages and hostage takers.  Also used during these drills are chemical agents, lights, generators, throw phones, ballistic shields and other specialized equipment that would be used during an actual situation.  More recently, several drills have involved school-related scenarios and some have occurred at school facilities.

The Somerset County Emergency Response Teams also conduct numerous community relations – based demonstrations, school faculty education programs as well as violent active incident training programs for first responding patrol officers.

Veterans Diversion Program

On December 1, 2017, P.L.2017, c.42 (C.2C:43-23 et al.), an Act concerning offenders who are veterans or service members, amending various sections of the law and supplementing Title 2C and Title 38 of the New Jersey Statutes became effective. In accordance with that law, The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office established a Veterans Diversion Program.

The purpose of the program is to divert eligible service members who have committed nonviolent offenses away from the traditional criminal justice system into appropriate case management and mental health services. If an eligible veteran/defendant is accepted into the program, upon successful completion, the defendant may have his/her charges downgraded to lesser charges, a previous recommendation of a custodial sentence amended to a recommendation of non-custodial probation or receive a dismissal of the charges. 

The program, which is administered by the SCPO in conjunction with various mental health and other service providers, endeavors to meet the specific needs of each individual defendant including mental health and substance abuse treatment. The duration of the program depends upon the number, type and severity of the defendant’s issues and his/her progress in the treatment programs. The minimum length of the Program is six months while the maximum length is two years.

If a defendant is terminated from the program for any reason prior to successful completion or withdraws from the program prior to successful completion, he/she is returned to the court’s active calendar for traditional prosecution.

To be eligible for consideration to participate in the Program, the defendant must be charged with a non-violent Petty Disorderly Persons Offense, Disorderly Persons Offense or a third or fourth degree crime. The defendant must be a Somerset County resident who is a veteran who was discharged or otherwise released from active service in the U.S. Armed Forces or any reserve component thereof. Defendant cannot have been discharged with a Dishonorable Discharge. Defendant must have a prior diagnosis of mental illness or the arresting officer or Assistant Prosecutor has a reasonable belief that the defendant has a mental illness based on behaviors and symptoms exhibited during the commission of the offense or while in custody or based on information provided by family members or associates during the investigation of the offense. Defendant must agree to all the Program requirements for admission into and successful completion of the Program. Defendant cannot be currently in another diversionary program and defendant’s current offense cannot be likely to result in a probation, parole or other supervision violation that will most likely result in a period of incarceration.

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