South Ward Residents Seek Solutions to Crime

They came to Weequahic High School Wednesday night with an earful of chilling stories. Two girls in grade school spoke about fellow students being mugged at bus stops. An elderly Schley Street woman told of the shootings occurring near her home in the past year. The owner of a small business asked why she should even bother replacing a broken window, given that she’s been robbed four times since last October. And many spoke about the crime along Clinton Avenue, especially near S. 11th Street, an open-air drug market that law-abiding residents try to avoid even in the daytime.

More than 100 South Ward residents attended the special neighborhood meeting to discuss the crime plaguing the area, the latest in a series of such meetings called by South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka and also attended by top law-enforcement officials.

“We’re all concerned about the level of shooting. I know folks are concerned about people loitering on front of the stores,” Baraka said. “There’s a concern about the number of police in the area.”

On paper, according to figures provided by Samuel DeMaio, director of the Newark Police Department, things are improving in the department’s 5th Precinct -- crime is down in many categories compared with the same quarter a year ago. Weequahic Park, said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, is one of the safest parks in the state. Chief of Police Sheilah Coley said the department has so far this year approved $90,000 in overtime for police working in the ward -- more than anywhere else in the city. 

But the audience Wednesday, while generally appreciative of law enforcement’s effort to combat crime, were dubious about the statistics given the persisting mayhem they live with every day of their lives. Even the law enforcement officials acknowledged that those encouraging numbers provide small comfort to embattled residents.

“We don’t want anyone to think we’re stagnant. We’re never happy with any level of crime,” DeMaio said.

Residents Wednesday repeatedly asked for more cops on the street and also demanded solutions to address the root causes of crime, but law enforcement admitted there were some areas outside their purview. Both Coley and DeMaio said that much of the city’s lawbreaking is committed by a small group of repeat offenders passing too swiftly through a revolving-door system of justice.

“We continuously arrest and re-arrest the same people over and over again, nine times out of 10 for the same offense,” Coley said.

One resident, Stephen Outing, asked about another problem: the sea of weapons that washes into Newark from well outside its borders.

“What can we do about interstate gun trafficking and the straw buyers?” Outing asked, referring to purchasers who legally procure weapons in states with less stringent gun laws on behalf of criminals here.

DeMaio, who referred to President Obama’s recent failed attempt to push through tougher federal gun legislation through Congress, said the department is laying the groundwork to staunch the flow of illegal firearms into the city.

‘We have also multiple straw purchase investigations going on right now,” he said.

Officials Wednesday also said that part of the problems in the ward stem from residents’ reluctance, whether through fear or doubts about police effectiveness, to actually make “calls for service,” which Baraka said are “low.” Baraka said police have now been asked to respond to the address where an incident is taking place, and not the address of the caller making the complaint.

“One lady told me someone kicked in her door, and no one called the police,” Baraka said. “If you see something, you have to call the police.”

“The biggest force multiplier we have is the community. We don’t want people to get in the mode of, oh, we’re not going to call, why bother,” DeMaio said.
 
DeMaio, Coley, Baraka and Fontoura outlined other crime-reduction measures being taken, including:

• Increasing police presence in the South Ward. Although there are just 1,011 uniform personnel on the force now -- a historic low -- an additional 106 will be hired soon. The department will seek to hire experienced officers who have been laid off so as to get them on the street immediately, DeMaio said. Outside agencies, like the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the State Police and the sheriff’s office will continue to bolster the department. Officers from the mounted unit will patrol in the ward at night during the summer, and helicopter patrols will also be increased.

• Urging youth not to use their cell phones on the street. Cell phone-related robberies have skyrocketed since thieves can receive up to $150 for a device from a vendor, no questions asked. Parents should advise their kids to keep the phones “in their backpacks,” Baraka said.

• Passing a new, tougher anti-loitering law. Baraka said the measure would include heavy financial penalties for repeat offenses if it’s passed by the municipal council. Once it’s approved, Baraka said, fliers would be circulated advising neighborhood residents of the law.

• Asking the sheriff’s office to resume patrols along Chancellor and Lyons avenues.