Cumberland County, Bridgeton police launch HERO patrol cars to promote sober driving

Two new Ford Explorer patrol cars now carry Cumberland County’s anti-drunk-driving message onto local roads, turning everyday police visibility into a rolling warning about sober driving. Wrapped in blue and gold with the slogan Be a HERO. Be a Designated Driver, the cruisers were dedicated June 5 and became the 40th and 41st HERO patrol cars in New Jersey.

The launch tied Bridgeton and county law enforcement directly to the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, a program built to prevent drunk-driving tragedies by promoting safe and sober designated drivers. The campaign says more than 25 police and emergency-service vehicles have already been converted into rolling billboards through its patrol-car program, extending its message beyond one ceremony and into routine patrol work.

Cumberland County Sheriff Michael Donato, who began his law-enforcement career in 1994 with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and later served with Bridgeton Police from 1998 through 2005, said he was proud to work with the campaign to promote designated driving throughout the county and beyond. Bridgeton Police Chief James Battavio, who started with the department on February 1, 2000, described the Bridgeton cruiser as a traveling billboard that reminds motorists to choose a designated driver whenever alcohol is involved.

The campaign’s name carries the weight of a fatal crash near Woodstown on July 22, 2000, when Ensign John R. Elliott died two months after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. The HERO name also reflects Elliott’s role as a Human Education Resource Officer at the academy, where he was named the outstanding HERO of his graduating class.

That memory has been reinforced in South Jersey and across New Jersey. In 2017, the stretch of Route 40 where Elliott was killed was renamed the John R. Elliott Memorial Highway. In December 2024, the I-295 and Route 42 interchange was dedicated as the Ensign John R. Elliott Memorial Interchange.

The campaign says it works with law enforcement agencies, schools, colleges and universities, highway safety organizations, bars and taverns, sporting venues, and professional sports teams. It also points to New Jersey’s John’s Law, which requires police to impound the cars of drunken drivers for 12 hours. For Bridgeton and Cumberland County, the new patrol cars put that message in front of motorists every day: the safest ride home is the one taken with a sober driver.