What keeps the police chiefs in Wayne, Mahwah, Paramus and Rockaway Township up at night?

It’s no secret suburban crime often pales next to headline-grabbing inner-city violence.

But the issues facing patrol officers in suburbia are no less serious, and their remedies no more clear. Because even though police in Mahwah, Wayne, Paramus or Rockaway are less likely to come upon a rape or a shooting, they must worry about other threats — to which the appropriate response is sometimes opaque.

This year, more questions loom.

How will traffic stops change if the state legalizes marijuana?

What do officers do if they arrest an illegal immigrant?

What happens if a man with a rifle storms a middle school?

The answers are fluid. And that uncertainty bothers local police chiefs, because time and perspective are luxuries with which officers are rarely blessed when making an arrest.

“The courts say something, and we’re left to decipher it on the road at 2 o’clock in the morning,” said James Batelli, the longtime Mahwah police chief.

Although the chiefs had varying priorities, one unifying concern was the toll that opioid and heroin addiction is taking on their respective towns.

Batelli said there are few signs the epidemic is weakening: “We don’t see it getting any better," he said.

In 2016, the township had nine overdoses and three fatalities, according to the county prosecutor. But police are fighting back through a combination of educational programs and Narcan giveaways, which gets the right weapon into the hands of those on the front lines.

“It’s great that police have [Narcan], but you need to get it out to people,” Batelli said. “The goal is to save a life.”

In Paramus, Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said heroin addiction has frustrated police with its persistence. There were four overdose fatalities in the borough last year, and two residents have already died in 2018, he said.

Ehrenberg depends on several school programs to warn kids of heroin's danger.

"We have to stop them before they do it. That's the most important thing," he said.

Paramus also participates in the county's Heroin Addiction Recovery Team, with mixed results.

"We've had some successes and we've had some that need work," he said. "There's a lot of relapses.”

James Clarke, the Wayne police chief, praised his department's two school resource officers, who help run anti-drug programs in the township schools. The department also regularly participates in anti-heroin task forces, he said.

Martin McParland, Rockaway Township's police chief, said the overprescription of addictive painkillers is to blame.

“Years ago, heroin used to be an inner-city problem because it was considered a ‘dirty drug,’ ” McParland said. “Now it’s in bedroom communities. And we see the problems.”

The department has a drug drop-off box for residents looking to ditch old prescriptions, McParland said. It’s constantly full.

Here’s what else keeps the four police chiefs up at night:

Chief James Batelli — Mahwah

Batelli, chief of the Mahwah police for the last 16 years, said opioids, cybercrime, police staffing and marijuana legalization top his list of worries.

Cybercrime

The chief said he is surprised at the hundreds of cybercrimes — from identity theft to cyberbullying — that Mahwah police are asked to investigate each year.

But Internet crime like wire fraud puts local law enforcement in a quandary — even though the victim may live in Mahwah, their bank is based elsewhere and the stolen money often filters overseas. Federal authorities pursue cases only if they involve $500,000 or more, Batelli said. But local police don’t have the connections to hunt criminals based in other countries, so the investigation ends at America's shoreline.

Borough investigators are networking with county, state and federal authorities to build a web of resources to help solve future cases, Batelli said.

“I don’t think we’re at the point where I’d like us to be” Batteli said. "Law enforcement has a long way to go. They’re making progress … but it always seems we’re a step behind.”

Marijuana legalization

Batelli said he, like many law enforcement officials, is opposed to Gov. Phil Murphy’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana. Some say it’s a new way to scrape up tax money, but Batelli has his doubts.

“If they’re looking at it as a revenue stream, I don’t know if it’s going to be the panacea they think it is,” Batelli said. “You can’t look at it with blinders on, which I think is what some of our politicians are doing.”

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He worries about a potential increase in marijuana-related traffic accidents and said there’s no scientific way to measure driver impairment. Though the department has officers trained in drug recognition, their opinion is subjective compared with a Breathalyzer’s readout.

“It’s really going to be difficult to determine impairment when you’re operating under the influence,” he said.

Chief James Clarke — Wayne

Clarke, the four-year township police chief, said traffic safety, police staffing, burglaries and drugs are Wayne’s major issues.

Traffic safety

It’s residents’ primary complaint, Clarke said, and township traffic accidents have killed 18 people in the last four years.

Distracted-driving campaigns and seat-belt enforcement help, Clarke said. So does posting officers in high-traffic areas — like the awkward intersection of Ratzer Road and Pike Drive, near John F. Kennedy Elementary School — during times at which they are busiest.

An officer controls a stoplight near the grade school each morning, Clarke said, helping lessen both the traffic and the danger.

Burglaries

Clarke worries about the potential for burglaries in Wayne, with good reason: According to the FBI, the township had 85 break-ins during 2016, the last year for which the bureau had statistics.

Still, Clarke said Wayne is fortunate not to have experienced a run of break-ins recently.

“There may be one here and there … but not where we’re going out on a daily basis and taking reports,” he said, speaking about the difficulty in arresting burglars. “There’s nothing more frustrating than that. The plainclothes guys will go out there, [but] you’ve got to get lucky.”

To combat this, township police two years ago started a Community ShareCam program that lets residents share with police access to private surveillance footage whenever a crime occurs in their neighborhood, Clarke said.

Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg — Paramus

Ehrenberg, the four-year chief of the Paramus Police Department, listed opioid addiction, active shooters, burglaries and car theft as the top concerns for his 91-officer department.

Active shooters

Because of this chronic concern in mall-laden Paramus, the department counters by directing officers to get out of their patrol cars daily and into vulnerable buildings like stores and schools to talk to customers, tenants, store owners, teachers and students.

It’s a show of force, Ehrenberg said. And sometimes officers pick up tips theyotherwise would have missed.

“It’s a great community policing thing,” he said.

The department has also increased the number of officers in its emergency services unit, which is equipped with the heavier armaments needed to deal with an active shooter or terrorist.

With Westfield Garden State Plaza able to hold 40,000 people — about 13,000 more than live in the borough — the potential for disaster is great.

The mall, which is the state’s largest, already had a brush with disaster in November 2013, when Richard Shoop of Teaneck began firing a rifle inside the building. No one was hurt, and authorities later found Shoop dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“If there’s going to be something that keeps me up at night, that’s the one that scares me,” he said. “There’s no warning.”

Burglaries

Even though Ehrenberg said burglaries are down 21 percent — from 37 in 2016 to 29 last year — they still weigh heavily on residents’ minds.

“It’s a violation of their home space; it’s a violation of their rights,” Ehrenberg said. “A home burglary is personal.”

Ehrenberg said increased intelligence sharing and collaboration with local departments and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office has led to authorities' capturing more would-be serial burglars.

“The burglar who’s doing Morris County … a lot of times is the same burglar who’s in Paramus,” Ehrenberg said. “It’s smarter police work.”

Car theft

Ehrenberg’s most recent crusade has been to warn residents about car theft, which he said is on the rise because people continually leave their keys in their cars overnight.

Car thefts rose 130 percent last year, Ehrenberg said. But nearly all were preventable — key fobs were left in 29 of the 30 reported stolen cars.

“The people who come to steal these cars, they are able to determine — without getting out of their car — which car the key fob is in,” Ehrenberg said. “They get out of their car, they get into your car, they push the button and your car is gone.”

Ehrenberg is trying to get the message out through social media. And again, he begged residents in the 10-square-mile town to remember to take their key fobs inside at night.

Chief Martin McParland — Rockaway Township

McParland, the three-year chief of the Rockaway Township police, said opioids, active shooters, marijuana legalization and immigration are his foremost concerns in the sprawling 45-square-mile township.

Active shooters

At the township’s schools, police are moving past simple lockdown drills that rely on students' turning off lights, clearing the windows, barring the door and waiting for help, McParland said. Authorities now teach a protocol dubbed “ALICE” — Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate — which prioritizes active resistance and escape.

“It’s more of a proactive approach as opposed to just doing a lockdown and having the kids become sitting targets,” McParland said. “What’s worked in the past, we try to build upon and improve.”

Police are also teaching students and faculty to watch for people who shouldn’t be in the building, McParland said.

Marijuana legalization

McParland is concerned about proposed changes to state marijuana laws and the uncertainty it could create for his 49-officer department — especially when they find an impaired driver in a traffic stop.

“What are the laws going to mandate? Is it that there’s something in your system? Is there going to have be a certain level of THC? Nobody knows,” McParland said.

The department has only one drug recognition expert, McParland said. More will be needed if legalization passes, meaning higher training costs.

The chief also worries that legalization will conflict with the township’s anti-drug programs, which tells kids to avoid all drugs.

“Are we shooting ourselves in the foot?” he asked. “Are we sending the wrong message?”

Immigration

McParland thinks law enforcement could be caught in a no man’s land in the battle between towns, states and the federal government over how to deal with illegal immigrants. Gov. Phil Murphy will further complicate the situation if he declares New Jersey a sanctuary state, he said.

Why does this pose a problem?

Because police are sworn to uphold both state and federal laws, McParland said. And if the state and federal governments give opposing directions, which set do local authorities listen to?

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“We’re being told by the president and the federal agencies: ‘You’re to assist us in enforcing the immigration laws,’ ” McParland said. “But on the other hand, you’re going to have the governor and possibly our mayors and our county freeholders telling us: ‘No, you’re not going to enforce those laws.’ It’s putting the Police Department in the middle.”

Email: Janoski@northjersey.com