Brick PD Firing Range Upgrades In Capital Budget

The township's 2012 capital budget, introduced this week by council members, includes upgrades officials have said are necessary to ensure officer safety at the police department's firing range.

The range is located near the public works garage on Ridge Road, and in recent years has sometimes been unusable due to a buildup of spent bullets and deteriorating physical conditions.

At the current range, the used bullets are caught in a berm, meaning the lead from the bullets hasto be remediated every so often. In addition, Police Chief Nils R. Bergquist told Patch in December, the berm can become so filled with bullets that there is a safety risk in that bullets can ricochet after hitting it.

An upgraded range would have a system where bullets are trapped and can be removed at any time.

In recent years, township police officers have obtained their annual firearm qualifications at other ranges, including a state police range, but those agencies no longer have room to acommodate Brick officers.

It takes about three months to rotate the 125 officers through the annual qualification process, Business Administrator Scott Pezarras has said.

Late last year, when the subject of upgrading the range was first brought up, the estimated cost was about $650,000.

The pending bond measure sets aside $1,901,045 for buildings and grounds improvements township-wide.