Mayor Addresses Crime Rates, Police Response In Chatham Borough

CHATHAM, NJ — In response to claims made about the safety, crime rate and activities of the police department in Chatham Borough, Mayor Thaddeus J. Kobylarz has addressed the community and said that these claims are untrue and misleading.

Over the past year, many New Jersey towns have seen an increase in vehicle thefts and theft attempts that have left communities in a state of shock, raising concerns about public safety among locals.

Theft attempts in Chatham Borough have decreased since they peaked earlier this year as a result of increased police and community cooperation, but some candidates for the Borough Council have argued that more can be done.

"For a number of weeks now, I have listened to candidates for the Borough Council make false claims about Chatham Borough’s crime rate, safety, and our police department’s set of activities. These individuals have been corrected repeatedly and publicly – not by politicians or elected officials, but by our own Police Chief," Mayor Kobylarz said.

According to the Chatham Borough police, in January 2022, the six stolen cars from Chatham Borough accounted for about 22% of all the county's stolen vehicles. The "Lock It or Lose It" instant alert campaign has since played a significant role in the decline of this number, which now stands at 7.41%.

"Nevertheless, they have continued to make these false and misleading statements. I can come to no other conclusion than that they are trying to deceive and unnecessarily frighten our residents, without regard to the fallout this will have on our police department or our residents," Mayor Kobylarz said.

Both Mayor Kobylarz and Chief Brian Gibbons have previously said that every vehicle stolen from Chatham Borough in the previous two years had been left unlocked at the time of the theft, with the key fob and important personal identification information inside.

"I must underscore that this is a crime of opportunity and residents must continue to partner with

us and assist in eliminating the opportunity. We will manage the rest! Clearly you heeded our warnings, and congratulations to the residents are in order, as your efforts to remove keys and lock vehicle doors are having the meaningful effect of markedly lowering the pace of stolen vehicles in the Borough," Gibbons said.

Chief Gibbons also reminded residents that, similar to the early 2000s Xenon headlight thefts, the 2015 rash of auto burglaries, or the 2019 spate of bicycle thefts, the police department stamps out these crime waves through community policing partnerships and synergistic police/community strategies.

"Politics can often be rough… but our municipal employees should never be collateral damage in this process. Our Chatham Borough police officers simply deserve better," Mayor Kobylarz said.