Aberdeen court, jail now linked by video system ABERDEEN - The township has become the 24th municipality to participate in the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office Video Conferencing Program. Aberdeen Municipal Court Judge Robert Blum inaugurated the program in Aberdeen with a video conference at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 8. The use of the video conferencing system by municipal courts eliminates the need for municipal police officers to transport inmates from the county jail to municipal courts for judicial conferences, saving hours in law enforcement transportation expenses. Video conferencing began at Monmouth County jail in 2001 with state hearings and interviews. The program was expanded in 2003 to include municipal video conferencing with Freehold Township as the first municipality to participate. There are now 24 towns participating in the program. Upper Freehold Township is scheduled to join the program as the 25th municipality before the end of the year. There are three video conferencing booths at the jail: one for state hearings, one for Monmouth County municipalities and one for Monmouth County nonsupport hearings. Inmates are brought to the appropriate video conferencing booth at prescheduled times, have their conference, and are then returned to their cells, having never left the jail. Both inmates and judges have audio and visual contact with each other during the video conference. "Video conferencing reduces municipal law enforcement manpower costs by substantially reducing the need to transport inmates to and from a municipal court from the county jail," Sheriff Joseph Oxley said in a press release. "The result is cost reductions for participating municipalities and elimination of security risks in inmate transportation." Municipalities participating in video conferencing include Aberdeen, Asbury Park, Belmar, Bradley Beach, Brielle, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Township, Hazlet, Holmdel, Howell, Keansburg, Lake Como, Long Branch, Manasquan, Middletown, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury, Tinton Falls, Wall and West Long Branch. During the month of September, there were 338 municipal and 276 nonsupport teleconferences.