Downtown Resource Center Is Police Mini-Precinct -- And Much More

Officials gathered in downtown Newark early Wednesday for the official grand opening of the Police Community Resource Center, a police mini-precinct that also offers services to everyone from merchants to visitors to the homeless.

“This is not just a building, this is a community resource,” said Anthony McMillan, the head of the Newark Downtown District, one of the organizations that helped get the center off the ground.

Located at 189 Market St., just blocks from the city’s commercial crossroads at Broad Street, the center serves as a police substation manned seven days a week by officers who patrol the business district and the East Ward. Police Director Samuel DeMaio credited the facility with helping bring about a 17 percent reduction in crime.

The center, which actually began operations a year ago, is funded through a 36-month pilot program and is modeled on a facility in downtown Philadelphia that combines law enforcement and community outreach, said Anthony Santiago, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Cory Booker.

The city has several mini-precincts, which are designed to bolster the police presence in the neighborhood and to strengthen ties between the community and law enforcement.

But because of its location in the heart of the city, the Market Street center offers a much broader range of services. Working with city agencies, the center also serves as a base from which to assist the homeless. Police can also monitor quality-of-life crimes affecting the business community, including illegal street vendors. Within the brick-walled center -- which has more of the feel of an upscale office than a traditional police precinct -- there’s a conference room open to business owners looking for a meeting space.

The center is also the base of operations for a small squad of “community ambassadors,” employees of the central business district who patrol a 60-block area mounted on Segway scooters. The ambassadors perform a variety of functions, including assisting visitors to the area and tipping off police with regards to minor crimes.