Riggin Wants Sheriff to Handle More Prisoner Transports. O'Donoghue Says He Doesn't Have the Manpower

MAYS LANDING — A disagreement over who should transport prisoners is emerging as one of the clearest policy differences in the race for Atlantic County sheriff.

Democratic challenger Sean Riggin says the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office should take a greater role in transporting prisoners for municipal police departments, freeing local officers to return to patrol.

Republican incumbent Sheriff Joseph "Tokyo Joe" O'Donoghue says the idea sounds good — but the Sheriff's Office doesn't currently have enough personnel to provide the service Riggin is proposing.

"We don't," O'Donoghue said during an appearance this week on Off The Press with Scott Cronick on WOND (M-F, 4-6pm). "And it would require hiring new personnel."

Riggin: Put Local Cops Back on the Street

Riggin, a former Pleasantville police chief who now serves as Atlantic City's public safety director, has repeatedly identified prisoner transportation as one of his priorities if elected.

As South Jersey NewsBeat previously reported, Riggin argues that processing and transporting a prisoner can remove a municipal officer from patrol for hours.

"It takes a jail transport that used to take a half an hour, and now it's taking two or four or six hours," Riggin said during an earlier WOND interview.

The effect can be particularly severe in smaller departments.

"In Pleasantville, you're going to have five cops on the street," Riggin said. "You're going to lose 20% of your police force by handling that prisoner transport."

Riggin's broader campaign argument is that the county Sheriff's Office should perform functions that relieve pressure on municipal departments.

"The sheriff's office should take a burden off of every local police department and put local cops back into their neighborhoods," Riggin said previously.

O'Donoghue Calls Proposal 'Pandering'

O'Donoghue pushed back sharply when Cronick raised Riggin's proposal.

"It's pandering," O'Donoghue said. "You're pandering to what you think other chiefs want to hear."

The sheriff said similar transport initiatives have been attempted under previous administrations and encountered a basic problem: Arrests don't occur on a predictable Monday-through-Friday schedule.

"What time am I going to arrest you? I don't know what time I'm going to arrest you," O'Donoghue said. "So that means I have to have people on standby to go take you at any given time."

"There's not enough officer power there to do it," he added. "We don't have the numbers."

O'Donoghue said the Sheriff's Office already assists municipal departments with prisoner transportation when requested and when personnel are available.

"People call us all the time and say, 'I need help,'" O'Donoghue said. "I've had municipal departments call and say, 'We need help. Can you help us?' If we have available, we shoot them right down."

He also noted that Sheriff's Office personnel already perform other inmate transportation functions, including certain hospital and court transports.

Riggin Says Previous Failures Shouldn't End Discussion

Riggin has acknowledged that countywide prisoner transportation has been tried before.

"Yes, it has been tried before," Riggin said during his earlier WOND interview. "And it has worked and not worked, depending on the specifics of the time."

But he argues that previous difficulties aren't a reason to abandon an idea if municipal departments still need the service.

"If there's a thing that's needed and we didn't work, then try it again," Riggin said. "If it doesn't work that time, try it again and keep trying it until you get it right."

More recently, Riggin said prisoner transportation remains high on his list but said he wants to speak with individual municipal police chiefs rather than presume every department has the same needs.

A Question of Resources

The debate ultimately may come down to resources.

Riggin sees Sheriff's Office prisoner transportation as a way to preserve municipal police manpower.

O'Donoghue argues that expanding the service would merely shift the manpower problem to the county.

Cronick asked O'Donoghue directly whether his department currently has enough personnel to provide the level of service Riggin is discussing.

"We don't," O'Donoghue replied.

O'Donoghue said implementing a broader program would require hiring officers and creating a standby operation capable of responding when municipalities need transportation.

Riggin, meanwhile, has said he would examine how Sheriff's Office personnel are currently assigned before determining exactly how a new transport system would work.

The disagreement provides Atlantic County voters with a tangible policy choice in a sheriff's race that is expected to become increasingly competitive as Election Day approaches.

Both candidates agree municipal police departments need support.

They disagree over whether expanded county prisoner transportation is the way to provide it.