Point Pleasant Beach Hiring Cops For 'Rising' Crime, Violations

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Police Chief Joseph Michigan said the town is hiring officers and devising a plan to address a rise in crime and other violations in Point Beach.

Michigan said the department has promoted two officers and hired four officers, bringing the force back to where it was in 2011.

Michigan said the promotions and hirings come as a "critical time" in Point Pleasant Beach's history. The summer of 2020 is proving to be one of the busiest summers yet, he said, and that's based on the numbers of arrests and ordinance violations issued during the month of June.

Since June 1, the police department has issued 264 ordinance violations for various quality-of-life of issues verses 98 that were issued during the same period in 2019. The police department has arrested 61 people for various criminal offenses.

Starting this past weekend, several plain clothes officers were hitting the streets to assist uniform patrol. The plain clothes officers also blended in with the crowds to quickly address issues.

The plan also called for the police to employ a zero-tolerance strategy of enforcement to target individual disorderly behavior.

"I firmly believe by consistently focusing on this disorderly behavior, we will ultimately improve the quality of life of our residents and restore our reputation as a family oriented vacation destination," he said.