Back to School Message from the Chief of Police

Good morning Allendale! 

The first day of school is upon us! The Allendale Police Department wishes all students a safe and happy school year full of lots of learning and positive relationships! The photo below was taken this morning just before the schools opened. As you can see, all our police cars are on patrol helping to keep your children safe, enforcing laws, directing traffic, and responding to emergencies. Even with all our officers out in the field, public safety is a team effort. It takes an all-in effort to ensure our children, pedestrians, and motorists remain safe today and every day. Our borough officials, school security staff, crossing guards, parents and drivers all play a pivotal role in safety and security. Many of our issues involve traffic; mostly speed and aggressive or distracted driving. I am asking everyone who reads this to do a quick self-assessment and really think about actions behind the wheel.

• Are you checking emails, social media, or texting while driving? 
• Do you travel above the posted speed limit? 
• Do you find yourself sometimes distracted while driving? 

If the answer is YES to any of the above questions, please take this opportunity to be more mindful while driving. I strongly urge you to make a concerted effort to focus 100% on safe driving. We can all agree that if all the drivers on the road made both personal safety and the safety of others a priority, the roadways would be much safer. It takes a village not only to raise children, but also to keep them safe. “ALL IN” in effort each and every day, no exceptions. 

Michael T. Dillon

Chief of Police, Allendale Police Department