Police Help Parsippany Residents Create Neighborhood Watch

PARSIPPANY, NJ — In response to several commercial burglaries and an uptick in car burglaries earlier this summer, some Parsippany residents have decided to band together and form a neighborhood watch.

The topic, which was brought up by two township residents during the July 25 town council meeting, centered around concerns about public safety in Parsippany.

Stacey Richards, a resident who had her car's catalytic converter stolen this summer, said that she did not feel safe in Parsippany anymore, through no fault of the police department, and that she and her husband were going to be joining a neighborhood watch program.

"I have no complaints about the police department. My complaint or concern is about the staffing," Richards said.

The township has frequently labeled the Parsippany Police Department as understaffed as a result of a hiring freeze enforced by the previous administration, which reduced the town to 81 deployable officers from more than 100 five years ago.

According to Mayor James Barberio, the municipality employed 14 police officers in the previous year, although some of those recruits were just replacements rather than additions to the force.

There have been ongoing efforts to hire more police, but budgetary constraints have made the process more difficult.

While planning for the 2023-24 budget, Barberio noted that some of the budgeting pressure was going to be applied to the local police department,

Officers who retire within the next year, according to Barberio, will be able to be replaced, but no additional staff members will be budgeted for.

"I spoke to the CFO, and he said right now, the money is not in the budget that we would be able to do this next year and hire. With that, we will be restructuring certain areas of the police department," Barberio said.

According to Richard Pantina, Parsippany's police chief, the police department has made some changes in order to reallocate the department's "manpower" to where it is most needed to help combat any crime trends.

"I appreciate everything that you do, but I want you to know that right now, I don't feel safe in this town," Richards said.

The neighborhood watch is being started by another resident, Karen Wenz, who said that she felt the need to do something to help protect her family and her neighbors.

"I've been in the town for 24 years, and I do not feel safe. I don't open my windows because I don't know who is going to come through them. I'm watching my cameras, and I'm not sleeping anyway, so I figured I'd do a neighborhood watch," Wenz said.

Despite the stereotype, Wenz added, the watch will not be comprised of residents seeking violence, saying that she does not want to "stoop to their level," but rather just protect her community and her property.

"This is ridiculous... and we're adding more people by these large developments that we're going to be putting in, and adding just a few more police officers is not going to cut it. We need to do something, and that's either move, be a victim, or stand up for ourselves," Wenz said.

According to officials, all neighborhood watch programs in Parsippany are held in partnership with the Parsippany Police Department and with the assistance of Community Relations Officer Remo D’Alessandro.

Just last month, D’Alessandro and Barberio hosted a neighborhood watch program presentation for residents of the Mazdabrook neighborhood.

"The class was excellent, focusing on a group of residents from Mazdabrook who want to make their neighborhood safer by working together and in conjunction with our Parsippany Police Department," Barberio said on social media.

Anyone who is interested in starting a neighborhood watch in their community is asked to contact Officer D’Alessandro at socialmedia@parpolice.com.