Franklin mom proposes 'Matthew's Rule' for police

FRANKLIN TWP. – Michelle Harding admits she was shocked Tuesday when Gloucester County's prosecutor announced protocol updates for all police in the county, requiring officers to activate warning lights and sirens when exceeding the speed limit by 20 miles an hour or more.

In the three months since her son Matthew McCloskey, 10, was struck and killed by a police car responding at 74 miles per hour to a non-emergency call, the Franklin Township mother pressed officials to review police policies — or she'd sue.

"Any change, I'm happy with," said Harding, who learned of the update through a Facebook post.

But Prosecutor Sean Dalton's county-wide measure may not be enough, she said.

Harding could launch a campaign to extend the new protocols to every town in the state, calling it "Matthew's Rule."

Matthew was struck crossing Delsea Drive, a half-mile from a school in a mixed residential and commercial-zoned area of the highway.

After 7 p.m. on Dec. 28, the fifth-grader and two neighborhood boys attempted to cross the road. One boy made it across safely.

Matthew ran into the roadway and turned toward the oncoming cruiser, the prosecutor's office described in a January report on the crash.

Franklin Township Ptl. Nicholas Locilento, who has been a full-time officer since November, applied his brakes, but was "unable to avoid impacting the child," according to the prosecutor.

While Locilento drove 24 miles per hour over the speed limit without lights or sirens activated to the non-emergency call, Dalton determined the officer did not demonstrate reckless behavior.

Locilento, under the care of a doctor, has not returned to duty, according to Franklin Township Chief Michael Rock.

Dalton vowed in January to review police protocol after Matthew's death to establish uniformity among police policies concerning the activation of lights and sirens when officers respond to calls.

Dalton called the issue "critical" for public and officer safety.

His office identified variations in a town-by-town review of police rules concerning cruiser warning systems.

The directive issued to Gloucester County police chiefs, and the county's Sheriffs and Corrections departments, requires all police officers to activate warning systems when exceeding the speed limit by 20 miles per hour or more, and clarifies levels of call priority.

The new measures must be implemented in all Gloucester County law enforcement agencies by May 1.

Rock said his department is fully prepared to comply.

"Prosecutor Dalton made some reasonable changes that will make things safer for everybody," Rock said Friday.

"I don't think this should be looked at as any kind of indictment on any particular policy."

A county-wide policing policy change is unique, the chief said.

But evolving standards are nothing new for police administrators, he noted.

"Policies are a work in progress. You can never write a policy that covers every potential situation," Rock said.

Franklin Township police intend to abide by the warning system directives, but Rock hasn't decided if the department would set a lower speed threshold, as Dalton's mandate allows.

"It's something on the drawing board," he said.

Rock wouldn't say if lights and sirens activating on Locilento's car could have saved Matthew's life.

"I don't think anybody knows the answer to that."

Harding, who's channeling her grief into advocacy efforts, is "very glad" for Dalton's mandate of uniformity in the county.

"This is only the beginning of a bigger change that is needed and I am hoping this is the start of a statewide initiative," she said in a statement Friday, adding Franklin's standard for warning equipment was unclear, leaving light and siren use to the officer's discretion.

"For the safety of the community, this antiquated and outdated policy needed to be changed," she said.

The mother has initiated legal action against the township, filing a tort claim notice against the police department, the chief reported.

"Whatever the outcome is of the lawsuit, the point is not for me to make money off my son. It's to do good in his name for others," she said.

Harding, her daughter Alexis — Matthew's older sister — and Melanie Beasley, whose stepsons witnessed the boy's death, have started Matthew's Miracles, a nonprofit funded by the Matthew McCloskey Memorial Fund at PNC Bank.

The foundation will provide assistance to families who've lost a child and child witnesses to tragedies.

"I realized it's hard to get help," Harding said.

In the aftermath of Matthew's death, she was blindsided by burial costs, while the parents of the boy's friends who witnessed the accident struggled to find and pay for counseling for their children.

"I intend to continue to keep Matt's memory alive any way I can as he would love nothing more than to help others."

Reach Carly Q. Romalino at (856) 486-2476 and cromalino@courierpostonline.com. Follow @CarlyQRomalino on Twitter.