Hoboken Top Cop Blasts ‘False Narrative’ On Undercover Dog Patrol

HOBOKEN, NJ — Is an undercover “dog poop patrol” prowling the streets of Hoboken? Nope, the city’s police chief says.

Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante recently spoke to Patch about the social media controversy that began broiling after city inspectors with the Department of Environmental Services – aided by a HPD officer – launched a campaign to enforce local laws for dog owners in March.

Some of the bad behavior officials sought to tackle included unleashed dogs, unscooped poop and unlicensed pets. But in the wake of the campaign, things began to take a life of their own on social media, according to Ferrante.

Here are five “false narratives” Ferrante said he hopes to dispel.

WHAT’S THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT?

According to Ferrante, the campaign has ties to the dismantling of the NJSPCA last year.

As one of his final acts as governor, Chris Christie signed a bill that disbanded the New Jersey SPCA after it was rocked by an ongoing series of complaints. The new law required the designation of a municipal humane law enforcement officer in each municipality with an existing police department.

In Hoboken, that duty eventually fell on the shoulders of officer Bernardo Munoz, a veteran cop with experience investigating animal cruelty and the needed certifications for the job.

When city officials recently decided to create a quality of life task force – including Hoboken police officers among its ranks – its members began to poll residents about their most common gripes. It turned out that offenses such as dogs peeing on the grass and pet owners not leashing their pooches topped the list, Ferrante said.

A campaign to educate local dog owners and residents about the city’s existing laws kicked off weeks before a ticket was ever handed out. “We never start with summonses,” Ferrante emphasized.

Last month, inspectors with the Department of Environmental Services and Munoz began writing warnings and summonses for dog-related offenses. Sometimes the city’s inspectors – who also have the authority to write summonses – have been confused for police personnel, Ferrante stated.

He pointed out that the HPD has had a “great relationship” with the city’s Department of Environmental Services inspectors.

“It’s not about hammering dog owners or any other pet owners,” Ferrante insisted. “It’s about making sure that animals aren’t being mistreated, or that people’s carelessness isn’t injuring anyone.”

• See related article: Hoboken Council Passes Dog Poop Law, Increases Fines

HOW MANY OFFICERS ARE INVOLVED?

One of the most infuriating “false narratives” hitting social media is that the HPD is devoting large chunks of its resources to the dog enforcement campaign, Ferrante said.

Case in point, out of 166 total officers on the force, only one – Munoz – is involved with the task force, he stated.

“Having one person in plainclothes is not an undercover operation,” Ferrante said. “We would never do that for such a minor, trivial complaint.”

Ferrante said that the HPD mainly does undercover operations to combat drug sales, gun sales, sexual assaults and liquor establishment violations “because people can die from that kind of stuff.”

• See related article: Hoboken Cops Continue Undercover Traffic Busts, Tickets Adding Up

HOW MANY TICKETS HAVE BEEN GIVEN OUT?

In the month following the campaign’s launch, officer Munoz gave out hundreds of warnings to local dog owners. But only five pet owners actually got summonses: two for dogs on grass, and three for unleashed dogs.

It’s hardly reason for a huge outcry, according to Ferrante, who said that the HPD doesn’t have any “zero tolerance” policies or mandate its officers to issue a quota of summonses.

“This poor officer issues five summonses in a month and they’re talking about him [online] like he’s the most terrible person in Hoboken,” Ferrante said.

TOO HARSH (OR TOO FRIENDLY)

Sometimes it seems like no matter how the issue of dog enforcement is tackled, the HPD can’t win, Ferrante said.

The chief recalled one pet owner who called out Munoz on social media for petting his dog as he wrote a ticket.

“If he acts like a military soldier and gives the summons while being very direct, he gets a complaint about being too harsh and not personable,” Ferrante said. “If he pets the dog and starts having dialogue with the person because they violated the law, then that’s not good either… it’s a Catch-22.”

POLICE PRIORITIES

Perhaps most infuriating of all is the notion that the Hoboken Police Department is wasting its resources on dog-related enforcements, Ferrante said.

“Let’s look at our crime numbers,” he told Patch last week. “We have possibly the highest apprehension rate in the state of New Jersey. We’re the only city in Hudson County that can say we haven’t had a fatal vehicle accident in 2.5 years with all the traffic enforcement initiatives that we’re doing. Our crime rate is plummeting in the area of violent crime.”

But it took only a handful of tickets to kick off a major social media outcry that the HPD is “draconian” and engaging in “rogue policing,” Ferrante said.

“It’s a false narrative,” he added.

• See related article: Violent Crime, Thefts Trending Down In Hoboken, Police Chief Says

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