{"id":26108,"date":"2026-04-15T08:50:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T12:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=26108"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:50:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T12:50:54","slug":"brick-police-ems-both-had-record-year-for-calls-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2026\/04\/brick-police-ems-both-had-record-year-for-calls-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick Police, EMS Both Had Record Year for Calls in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brick<\/a>

Brick police and EMS vehicles. (Photos: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brick Township\u2019s police and EMS-Rescue departments both handled a record number of calls in 2025, with both beefing up their numbers as the busiest parts of 2026 approach.<\/p>\n

The staggering number of calls to which the departments responded last year were detailed Tuesday night in two presentations on their respective budgets for the coming year in preparation for the township\u2019s adoption of its annual operating budget. Last year, the police department fielded 104,101 calls for service while the EMS-Rescue department responded to 11,713 calls. In both cases, the calls were the highest in their history. Brick\u2019s EMS-Rescue squad is marking its 20th year of existence in 2026, and the police department was formed in 1972, taking over from the New Jersey State Police, which patrolled the township before it grew large enough to support its own.<\/p>\n

Both departments have underspent in recent years, with the police department in particular having come in about $2.5 million under budget over the last three years, said Deputy Chief Henry Drew. Coincidentally, the department swore in eight officers at a ceremony before Tuesday night\u2019s council meeting, which will bring staffing levels back to 147 sworn officers following a number of recent retirements. James Riccio, the former police chief who now serves as EMS director, said that department plans to add two additional supervisors to oversee its roster of 70 EMTs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adding of EMT supervisors and senior EMT positions will reduce the span of control and allow for better oversight,\u201d Riccio said, detailing the role of the busy department. \u201cIn addition to the variety of medical emergencies the division handles on a daily basis, a number of our EMS personnel are specially trained and act as tactical medics who train and respond with the police search team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the department budgeted $2,800,000 for EMS salaries and $225,000 for overtime, while in 2026 its leaders have requested $2,958,000 with $200,000 in overtime, taking into account the new supervisors and contractual pay increases for members. The EMS-Rescue budget is funded to a large extent by income, however. Last year, it generated $2,224,429 from medical billing and another $10,000 from grants and extra duty assignments. The township charges insurance providers when it responds to calls, however it does not send bills directly to patients beyond what their insurance covers.<\/p>\n

The police department experienced an increase of 732 calls in 2025 compared to the prior year, making the effort to shore up the roster of officers a top priority. The department, with the latest influx of officers, does not need to add personnel, Drew said, with the total of 147 officers reflecting the township\u2019s needs. In budgeting terms, the department requested $24,040,000 for regular salaries, and $1.15 million for overtime, totaling $25,190,000, compared to a total budget of $25,100,400 last year. The small increase in expenditures is due attributed to the latest hirings as well as purchasing equipment, the cost of which has risen, though the department has operated at about 11 percent under budget for the past three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were able to do it, saving $2.5 million under budget, why can\u2019t we run this with the same budget we had last year?\u201d asked Councilman Greg Cohen.<\/p>\n

The reason to ask for that additional money is to make sure we\u2019re covered,\u201d said Drew. \u201cHopefully, we won\u2019t spend it, but emergencies do arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic safety is something you cannot predict,\u201d said Business Administrator Joanne Bergin, explaining that one major weather event, public safety issue or investigation can quickly expend resources. \u201cYou can predict your annual salaries and wages, but you cannot possibly predict overtime. The $2.5 million was not in one year \u2013 it was over a few years. They have to have the resources to make sure they\u2019re responsive and not shorthanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drew said the hiring of the new officers increases the total number of sworn officers to 147 from 139. Between 20 and 25 cars are on the road in Brick at a given time, he said, depending on the shift.<\/p>\n

Brick is planning to adopt its 2026 operating budget after a mandatory public hearing at the April 28 council meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. at the municipal complex.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brick Township\u2019s police and EMS-Rescue departments both handled a record number of calls in 2025, with both beefing up their numbers as the busiest parts of 2026 approach. The staggering number of calls to which the departments responded last year were detailed Tuesday night in two presentations on their respective budgets for the coming year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[24,5582,129,4484],"class_list":["post-26108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","category-police-fire-courts","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-brick-township-ems-rescue","tag-brick-township-police-department","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/brick_pd_ems.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-6N6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26108"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26112,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108\/revisions\/26112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}