Whew: Crime Down In The Borough Of Pine Valley

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Michael Boren profiled the Pine Valley PD and their ongoing efforts to keep America's No. 1 ranked (most years) golf club safe.

Boren writes:

The 12 residents barely outnumber the six officers. That makes Pine Valley the second-smallest municipality in New Jersey, and the smallest to have a police force.

Rauer acknowledges he and his officers encounter little crime. He told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the department averages one or two arrests a year, “maybe less.” That’s if trespassers or thieves get past the guarded entrance and the 8-foot-high chain-link fences that epitomize the deep desire for privacy everyone here appears to share.

Last year, the borough reported zero major crimes, and in 2013, three larceny-thefts - which Rauer said may have been people stealing flags from the greens.

“If anything,” said Bob Mather, 87, the friendly borough clerk who has worked there since 1969, “the police department acts as a deterrent to outsiders - outsiders that would like to come in here to do harm.”

Golf.com's Josh Sens couldn't help but imagine what the police blotter of Pine Valley looks like. Thanks reader Scott.