The Business of Night Patrol at the Newark Police Department
Here's a look at the companies that provide the uniforms, safety partitions, dispatch software, and handcuffs that make night patrol in Newark, Delaware, possible.
Kevin Cooley
Vehicle safety partitions
Corporal Jeffrey Schwagel (foreground) and Master Corporal Gerald Bryda (rear car) have driven plenty of perps to the station during their combined 23 years on the Newark force. Steel and polycarbonate window partitions made by Pro-gard Products of Indianapolis help keep the officers safe en route. Founded in 1968 by Ed Bernard, Pro-gard changed hands several times before private equity firm Castleray bought it in 2008. General manager Michael Navarro runs the company, which supplies a variety of equipment, including window armor and in-vehicle gun racks, to more than 18,000 public-safety agencies worldwide.
Uniforms
Newark's 68 police officers wear uniforms made by Red the Uniform Tailor in Lakewood, New Jersey. Designed to withstand extra wear and tear, the pants have double-stitched seams, and the shirts have double elbows. Julio Carnavale, a red-haired tailor who got his start making military dress uniforms, founded the company in 1959. Current president Harvey Klein bought the business in 1979. Now, it has 100 employees and provides uniforms to law-enforcement agencies and hospitality businesses nationwide, including Walt Disney World.
Dispatch software
Last year, the department's dispatch center received 45,562 calls. To relay information to officers in the field, dispatchers type relevant details, including call location and suspect description, into a software program made by New World Systems of Troy, Michigan. Officers can access the information on mobile computers mounted in patrol cars. President Larry D. Leinweber founded New World Systems in 1981. The $100 million company has more than 400 employees and supplies software to public-sector companies, government agencies, and public-safety organizations across the country.
Handcuffs
The Newark Police Department made 2,277 arrests last year. When necessary, officers use carbon-steel handcuffs made by Peerless Handcuff Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, to keep suspects under control. Springfield police chief James Milton Gill founded Peerless in 1914, after purchasing the patent for a new "swing through" handcuff design. Now the industry standard, the design allows officers to slap cuffs on a suspect with one hand. Today, Gill's great-grandson, Christopher Gill, runs the 25-employee company, which supplies cuffs to hundreds of police departments and military agencies worldwide.
