N.B. police officer gets MADD at drunk drivers
Erik Jacobsen receives award for highest number of DUI arrests
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

Erik Jacobsen

NORTH BRUNSWICK — North Brunswick Township Police Officer Erik Jacobsen has received the second annual Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) New Jersey Law Enforcement Recognition Award for having the highest number and highest percentage of arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) in Middlesex County for 2008.

Jacobsen was one of two officers in the county, 25 municipal officers across the state and 30 state troopers who were recognized with the award. He attended a recognition ceremony at Pierre's of South Brunswick on June 17 along with his fellow honorees, North Brunswick Deputy Chief Joseph Battaglia, college representatives and officials from Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

"It's nice to be recognized outside your department for working hard," Jacobsen said. "And it's definitely nice to know by taking one drunk off the road, hopefully you are saving someone else's life."

The patrolman said that out of a total of 5,400 arrests for drunken driving last year in New Jersey, the municipal officers were responsible for 1,200 and the state troopers were responsible for 900.

He credited his fellow officers for being "proactive" by stopping cars they notice to be erratic.

"I think it's worth getting that one person off the road. To me, it's not acceptable to operate a vehicle in that condition," he said.

"People don't realize how few drinks it takes to become legally intoxicated. Don't drink and drive. Know your limitations. Know the state law is .08. Four to five drinks could put the average person over the legal limit."

A former deputy chief of the East Franklin Fire Department in Somerset, former emergency medical technician (EMT) for Rutgers University and former Rutgers University police officer, Jacobsen was hired by his former hometown of North Brunswick in 2006 from the Department of Personnel Certification list. He has since worked the overnight shift while also earning a bachelor's degree in administration of justice from Rutgers and a master's degree in graduate studies for police administration from Seton Hall University.

He also received an award for Outstanding Scholarship, Leadership and Service from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars of Rutgers College, as well as a unit citation from the North Brunswick Police Department in 2007 for his response to an armed robbery and attempted murder of a taxicab driver.

Contact Jennifer Amato at

jamato@gmnews.com.