Despite a budget crunch, the the New Jersey State Police will get new patrol cars and added recruits they’ve been clamoring for, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. A week after saying the state had no plans to replace more aging patrol cars, acting Attorney General Peter Harvey said the Department of Law and Public Safety will do so with money from its $10 million share of a national settlement announced last Monday between securities regulators and Wall Street investment firms.
The department will buy 193 cars this fall at a cost of $7.6 million. Harvey said he would also take $5 million from various state authorities later this year to pay for the training and salaries of 100 new State Police recruits. The funds will help hold off a looming personnel shortage at the 2,700-member State Police.