Close the detention center

Does anyone who is paying attention doubt that the Monmouth County Sheriff's office study on the whether or not to close the Youth Detention Center will be completed miraculously in November or December when its political impact will be minimized?

The study is being delayed because it will be unpopular with county workers and county workers and their families are a significant voting block. If the study was going to recommend keeping the detention center open, it would have been released already. It won't. The detention center is a waste of money and should be closed.

The Asbury Park Press reports that the center has 70 employees and has a maximum capacity of 41 juvenile delinquents. Who needs a study for that? The center is obviously a waste of money even when operating at full capacity. The study is a waste of money.

That the question is being raised is a function of the fact that the center is not at full capacity.

According to the APP, the center is not at full capacity because, "The number of detainees has dropped significantly in recent years after Monmouth became one of the first counties in the state to adopt a program that relies on alternatives to detention of young people whose alleged offenses are not considered serious or chronic. Emphasis has been put on electronic monitoring, in-home detention, shelters and after-school reporting centers."

So the new program is working. Good. What's the point of keeping the old program in its current form? Jobs and pensions would be the point.

There are too many jobs and too many pensions throughout New Jersey's government. Monmouth County is no exception. New Jersey taxpayers know it. The employees know it and our elected officials know it. Let's stop playing make believe and tell the truth.

The time for playing political footsie with the unions is over, especially by Republicans. Stand up to them and make rational decisions. The unions members and their families will vote Democratic anyway.

Stop the nonsense.