January 1, 2011

            I would like to thank the Mayor and Council for having the faith and confidence in me and for selecting me to serve as Chief of Police.  I am honored, humbled and privileged to have the opportunity to lead such a great group of law enforcement professionals.  Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from some extremely bright and talented people and for those of you that are here today, I thank you. 

            People always ask what influenced me in becoming a police officer.  The short answer is wanting to help people, but for as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a police officer.  How could I not want a career in law enforcement.  It is in our family’s DNA: 

            Dad was a special police officers in town,  Mom was crossing guard for over 25 years and also served as a police matron, brother John spent 20 years with Dallas PD and is now the Chief of Police in Kerrville Texas,  sister Donna is a Lieutenant with the Somerville PD, sisters Margaret and Martha and niece Mary also serve as police matrons and my nephew Ed is a police officer in Springfield.  As I said law enforcement is in our DNA. 

            2010 has been quite a year for our department and for the Borough overall.  We faced funding and budget cuts like many of us never experienced.  We were faced with making decisions that were extremely difficult and challenging.  The police department was certainly not immune from this process.  Due to retirements and other leave we experienced a reduction in personnel, both sworn and civilian.  Our staffing level went from 32 sworn officers to our current level of 26 active sworn officers.       

            On May 1 I was appointed Acting Chief of Police and for the first time in 18 years the department had a new Police Chief albeit “Acting.”  There was no time to take a step back to take everything in nor was there time to celebrate.  We found ourselves in the same position as many other agencies and organizations and “Do More with Less” seemed to be the mantra.  We hit the ground running and haven’t looked back.  Our mission and task was not simply to do more with less, it was to continue to deliver the quality of police service to the citizens of Middlesex Borough that they have come to expect and deserve.  Failure is not an option for the police department.   

            We made some personnel changes and modified some of our operations to ensure that we continue to deliver quality police service.   In addition to running many of our community policing programs such as the mini police academy, DARE, and walk your child to school (to name a few), for the first time we participated in the National Night-out Program.  As a result of a grant we received, we conducted a Bias Prevention and Education program to all students in 7^th thru 12^th grades along with targeted patrol activities.  We delivered the training to over 1,000 students.  We will also be conducting pedestrian safety presentations to students and senior citizens and will continue our tradition of working in the community and staying involved.  We are committed to working with the various municipal departments and agencies to address quality of life issues.  We are very fortunate here in Middlesex to have a group of emergency service units (Police, Fire Department, OEM and Rescue Squad) who work so well together and that is a credit to the ESU commanders who also work well together and keep the lines of communication open.  

            A special thanks to the men and women of the police department.  Thank you for your service and for what you do everyday to make this community safe.  Thank you for the sacrifices that you and your families have made throughout your careers and especially this year when faced with having to make some very difficult decisions.  I am extremely proud of each of you and I look forward to working along side of you as we move forward.  During our department meeting this past summer I shared with you one my philosophies, which I am committed to.

Treat people fairly and with dignity and respect.  Give them the tools to grow. Help and guide them when they stumble or fall.  Encourage them to push themselves beyond what they thought they were capable; then share in their success. 

            To my family, thank you for your love, patience, guidance and support that you gave me throughout my entire career.  I don’t believe I would be standing here if it weren’t for you.  I am truly blessed to have such great people supporting me.

o  To my wife Pat – you have been with me from the start of my career, thru the testing process, academy and my various promotions.  I could not have asked for a more patient and supportive person to go through this process with. 

o  To my Daughters Becky and Lindsey – thank you for the sacrifices that you made with the missed birthdays and holidays and for having to deal with the issues that go along with growing up the child of police officer.  Thanks for not trampling Mom when she would hold you back from tearing into your Christmas gifts until I arrived home from work.

o  To my brother John – thank you for the support and great advice that you have given me throughout my career especially as I was going through the ranks and as I prepared for this promotion.  “Work hard, never compromise your integrity or your ethics, always do the right thing even when people are not watching you and don’t be afraid to make an unpopular decision especially if the decision is right for the organization.”  This advice has served me well and I thank you.

Before closing I would like to share a quote from Chief Bill Bratton – LAPD Retired.

Cops count - We have an obligation to public safety and must have an investment in our police departments.  Our economy is directly affected by this investment.  No more important investment to a democratic society than police.  What is the economic impact of crime?

In closing I want to again thank the Mayor and Council for selecting me to serve as Chief of Police.  There is no doubt that we will continue to face challenging times and I believe that keeping the lines of communication open and working together we can keep Middlesex Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.   

Thank you all and I wish each of you a Happy, Healthy, Safe & Prosperous New Year.

Craig S. Young

Chief of Police