What follows is not news. It is not a revelation. It is simple, common sense.
Read it or don’t.
Heed it or don’t.
If you want a better city, do something about it.
Stop condoning violence through inaction. You know who has the guns, who is shooting at whom and why. Speak up. There are confidential tip lines set up to protect your identity if that is your concern.
Your silence is killing this city.
Parents, if you want a better school system and better educational opportunities for your children, get involved. Discipline your children. Teach them how to act in a productive, not disruptive, way. Show them what is acceptable behavior and standards of dress. Reinforce that learning is good and hard work is the way to a better life. Dissuade them from the flash and dazzle portrayed in popular culture by teaching them lasting values.
Do it with actions as well as words, even if it means dropping a few of your own pretences. Do you really need that Mercedes or BMW SUV when a Ford or Chevy will serve you just as well and cost you less to maintain?
And if you are worried about what your kids are doing in their spare time…get out of your chair; leave the bar and find out. We have sports leagues crying for participating children AND PARENTS! Take advantage of the opportunities to engage in positive activities with your children. Being a parent is not the same as making a baby.
Tired and frustrated by wading through the filth and garbage in our streets and lots? Clean it up! If you want others to take pride in and care of this city, you must set the example. Maintain your property to the best of your ability and help others do the same for theirs. Again, leading by example will make a difference.
Want a better, more accountable government? Get involved. Follow what is going on by reading the local papers, talking to your neighbors and the various blogs. Inform yourself on the issues. Don’t rely solely on what elected officials tell you. Take the time to research and reflect on the information available, then communicate your thoughts and opinions to the Mayor and Council.
If, after all of your input, you feel that your elected officials are not serving the best interests of the city…
…remove them from office.
Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Nothing from nothing
We have to give a nod to oft-maligned Trentonian columnist L.A. Parker. In his column this morning he takes on the Zero Tolerance issue.
In the piece, Parker appreciates the Zero Tolerance approach now being taken by law enforcement as a response to the fatal Walnut Avenue arson that cost the life of a 10 year old Qua'Dashia Hopkins. He does touch on the fact that maybe if this had been done sooner, things might not be quite as bad as they are in Trenton. To his credit, Parker does suggest this might have been more of a policy decision from the top than from the cops on the streets.
L.A. also takes up the matter of the community's responsibility for not holding to a zero tolerance level of its own. And we have to agree.
The residents can only do so much, but they can do more than many may realize.
Anyone with a knowledge of Trenton knows that there are and have always been neighborhoods where negative behaviors are tolerated less than in other places. Subsequently these areas become known as "better" or "safer" or "nicer."
All because the residents have determined what is tolerated and what is not and acted accordingly.
The police and other law enforcement officials can only work effectively in conjunction with the public.
The laws on the books are the standards that each must strive to uphold.
Both sides need to do their part if we are to rid our streets of the filth, the crime and the ultimate sadness of what is happening in Trenton.
In the piece, Parker appreciates the Zero Tolerance approach now being taken by law enforcement as a response to the fatal Walnut Avenue arson that cost the life of a 10 year old Qua'Dashia Hopkins. He does touch on the fact that maybe if this had been done sooner, things might not be quite as bad as they are in Trenton. To his credit, Parker does suggest this might have been more of a policy decision from the top than from the cops on the streets.
L.A. also takes up the matter of the community's responsibility for not holding to a zero tolerance level of its own. And we have to agree.
The residents can only do so much, but they can do more than many may realize.
Anyone with a knowledge of Trenton knows that there are and have always been neighborhoods where negative behaviors are tolerated less than in other places. Subsequently these areas become known as "better" or "safer" or "nicer."
All because the residents have determined what is tolerated and what is not and acted accordingly.
The police and other law enforcement officials can only work effectively in conjunction with the public.
The laws on the books are the standards that each must strive to uphold.
Both sides need to do their part if we are to rid our streets of the filth, the crime and the ultimate sadness of what is happening in Trenton.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Media Alert
OK, so Director Santiago has called a press conference for 2pm today in response to yesterday's article in the Trentonian in which Jack Knarr argues that crime reporting is being tweaked in favor of the "crime is down" mantra.
Well, 2pm is the perfect time for the daily news cycle, and it makes it tough for John and Joan Q. Public to attend...even though there is a big push to get "community leaders" to be at the event.
So, in case you have to miss this event, here's are the talking points that most likely spew forth from the august leaders of the the TPD and possibly even the sometimes "missing Mayor" himself:
Well, from where we sit. Crime is not down.
The numbers may have been reduced, in part through reclassification of the "deviant acts" as one blogger calls them. And truth be told, in some cases such reclassification may be warranted, but not all. Still, anyone paying attention to their neighborhoods, let alone the city as a whole can tell you that "incidents" are happening all over.
As for the big bad media only reporting the negative stuff: well, when the authorities aren't forthright and forthcoming with the facts and information, that is news. Of course, we would like to see the local media apply the same rules to other local municipalities.
Have you heard about the half dozen cars stolen from the Hyatt Parking Lot on Route 1 a couple of Saturday's ago? No? Where are the papers on that one?
But back to Trenton, if what the Director has said in the past and will say again this afternoon is true and crime really is down, why aren't the weekly crime maps made public for everyone to see? Then we can compare our knowledge with what is being "reported" and see if things actually match up or not.
Yes, Director, until you are totally open and honest about the weekly crime reporting and share the information willingly with the public and the media, warts and all, people will be suspicious.
Well, 2pm is the perfect time for the daily news cycle, and it makes it tough for John and Joan Q. Public to attend...even though there is a big push to get "community leaders" to be at the event.
So, in case you have to miss this event, here's are the talking points that most likely spew forth from the august leaders of the the TPD and possibly even the sometimes "missing Mayor" himself:
Crime is down!
Media is bad. They never tell you the "good stuff" that happens here.
Crime is down!
Yes, some crimes that are reported one way are, upon further investigation, classified another way. There is nothing incorrect, illegal or wrong about this.
Sometimes a "break in" is not a burglary, but just a trespass. Doesn't get counted the same way.
Crime is down!
People have axes to grind. They can't admit that {the administration of the police department} is making a difference and crime is down.
Well, from where we sit. Crime is not down.
The numbers may have been reduced, in part through reclassification of the "deviant acts" as one blogger calls them. And truth be told, in some cases such reclassification may be warranted, but not all. Still, anyone paying attention to their neighborhoods, let alone the city as a whole can tell you that "incidents" are happening all over.
As for the big bad media only reporting the negative stuff: well, when the authorities aren't forthright and forthcoming with the facts and information, that is news. Of course, we would like to see the local media apply the same rules to other local municipalities.
Have you heard about the half dozen cars stolen from the Hyatt Parking Lot on Route 1 a couple of Saturday's ago? No? Where are the papers on that one?
But back to Trenton, if what the Director has said in the past and will say again this afternoon is true and crime really is down, why aren't the weekly crime maps made public for everyone to see? Then we can compare our knowledge with what is being "reported" and see if things actually match up or not.
Yes, Director, until you are totally open and honest about the weekly crime reporting and share the information willingly with the public and the media, warts and all, people will be suspicious.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Imagine
The Jersey Journal, newspaper of record for Jersey City, is running a series of articles about crime in the city. (available on line at NJ.com)
The series is based upon the compilation and charting, via computers, of violent crime statistics for the 19 months from January 2006 through July of this year as obtained by the Newark Star Ledger and Jersey Journal staff through Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests.
So far, there have been no great revelations in the information presented...especially to those who have been paying attention to crime discussions and statistics for awhile now.
There are very strong similarities between the description of problems (youth congregating on street corners; limited police resources; broken families; poor education systems; etc.)in Jersey City and what we hear, read and say about Trenton.
One thing that has struck this reader, so far there has been little evidence of the hyperbole so present in Trenton's "crime fighting" strategies.
For instance, in this morning's article, there is a very matter-of-fact statement by Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey regarding how his department maintains a list of the most serious repeat and violent juvenile offenders in order to help the Prosecutor's office deal with their cases.
There was no hype about this being a ground-breaking approach. We don't know from the article, but one gets the sense there was no highly-paid consultant credited with this common sense approach to law enforcement data analysis. It was held up as the next great wave in crime-fighting.
Let's hope more Trentonians read this series and can take away some good information that can be applied here.
And let's hope our Public Officials read the series and realize that reducing crime is a serious issue and not just a public relations opportunity.
Reporters, Councilpersons, or the Public shouldn't have to resort to OPRA requests for information on crime in the city.
It's time to stop playing to the cameras and the press and talk about our crime problem, real or perceived, in a very real and open way.
The series is based upon the compilation and charting, via computers, of violent crime statistics for the 19 months from January 2006 through July of this year as obtained by the Newark Star Ledger and Jersey Journal staff through Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests.
So far, there have been no great revelations in the information presented...especially to those who have been paying attention to crime discussions and statistics for awhile now.
There are very strong similarities between the description of problems (youth congregating on street corners; limited police resources; broken families; poor education systems; etc.)in Jersey City and what we hear, read and say about Trenton.
One thing that has struck this reader, so far there has been little evidence of the hyperbole so present in Trenton's "crime fighting" strategies.
For instance, in this morning's article, there is a very matter-of-fact statement by Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey regarding how his department maintains a list of the most serious repeat and violent juvenile offenders in order to help the Prosecutor's office deal with their cases.
There was no hype about this being a ground-breaking approach. We don't know from the article, but one gets the sense there was no highly-paid consultant credited with this common sense approach to law enforcement data analysis. It was held up as the next great wave in crime-fighting.
Let's hope more Trentonians read this series and can take away some good information that can be applied here.
And let's hope our Public Officials read the series and realize that reducing crime is a serious issue and not just a public relations opportunity.
Reporters, Councilpersons, or the Public shouldn't have to resort to OPRA requests for information on crime in the city.
It's time to stop playing to the cameras and the press and talk about our crime problem, real or perceived, in a very real and open way.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
How's That Again?
A man received a gunshot wound in a scuffle that was the result of an armed robbery just after midnight, Tuesday morning (August 21). Crime Stoppers of Greater Trenton is offering a reward for any information leading to the arrest of the individuals responsible for the crime (reportedly four youths).
A quick review of the Crime Stoppers website provided an eye opener even for this jaded soul.
The organization has listed over 50 crimes that it is offering cash rewards for. Those 50 crimes only go back five months to late March of this year! That's 10 crimes a month that are serious enough to warrant a special cash incentive to bring forward information that can help solve them.
That's an average of one violent and/or serious crime every three days!
And that's just from one source of information...the Crime Stoppers website.
Odds are there is even a greater number of serious crimes that have occurred that haven't made it onto the Crime Stoppers list. Or that haven't been reported to the Police. Or have been reported but have been classified in a less serious manner.
But let's just stick with the 50 crimes on the website. Fifty crimes in 150 days. One every three days.
If crime is down, what was the old average number of serious crimes committed in the City of Trenton?
A quick review of the Crime Stoppers website provided an eye opener even for this jaded soul.
The organization has listed over 50 crimes that it is offering cash rewards for. Those 50 crimes only go back five months to late March of this year! That's 10 crimes a month that are serious enough to warrant a special cash incentive to bring forward information that can help solve them.
That's an average of one violent and/or serious crime every three days!
And that's just from one source of information...the Crime Stoppers website.
Odds are there is even a greater number of serious crimes that have occurred that haven't made it onto the Crime Stoppers list. Or that haven't been reported to the Police. Or have been reported but have been classified in a less serious manner.
But let's just stick with the 50 crimes on the website. Fifty crimes in 150 days. One every three days.
If crime is down, what was the old average number of serious crimes committed in the City of Trenton?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Who'll Stop the Rain
Well we need it. We've been a little shy on rainfall this summer (but not for the year to date) and the extreme heat of the past couple of weeks didn't help. So we really can't complain about a couple of days of grey, wet weather. It's good for the ducks and the mushrooms.
Speaking of mushrooms...you know the old joking way of referring to people left out of the loop on decision making as mushrooms because they are "kept in the dark and fed a diet of manure." Well, sometimes I feel like Trenton is being run like a big mushroom farm.
The leadership of this city is deeply mired in the habit of tightly controlling what it wants people to know and when. And this might not be all bad in theory, but in practice, so far, it pretty much sucks.
Councilman Coston has reported on his blog that directives have been sent out stating that City Council people are not to address concerns with City Department Heads directly and, conversely, Department Heads are not to respond to City Council people directly. All communication, we're told, is to go through the Mayor's Office of Citizen Concerns.
Does that seem odd to you? If City Council people have to take Citizen Concerns through the Mayor's Office, doesn't it sort of defeat the point of electing City Council people? Readers of Mr. Coston's blog know how he feels about this, but we haven't heard anything from the rest of Council. They should be outraged at being neutralized by the Administration, yet we hear nary a peep (except from the representative of the South Ward).
And then there is the most recent round of transfers and reassignments in the Trenton Police Department. Now its always a slippery slope if management decisions are made by public consensus, but some decisions are just plain wrong and should be reconsidered. What possible reason can warrant informing someone while on vacation that he has been reassigned from a job that he thought (and a majority of people seem to agree) he was performing well, if not excelling at?
Further, if the whole operational premise is one of "community oriented policing" where the various officers are assigned to specific areas and meet with the people from those areas regularly, then shouldn't the people be informed of the changes directly and at the same time as the officers are?
Doesn't it make sense to inform the community that they are going to have new "partners" and provide their names and contact information so there is no lapse in communication?
Apparently not in Trenton under the current police leadership. No, the Police Director appears to practice "management at will" (or is it "management by whim?") and he seems to believe there is little to no reason to inform the public of his decisions.
And then there is the situation where Zac Chester was threatened with legal action for doing nothing more than asking for some information about development and redevelopment projects in Trenton. In what is assumed to be an attempt to silence anyone who dares question members of the City Administration, a high ranking official is suggesting he'd rather sue than answer to a city resident and taxpayer.
The underlying theme in all of this is a very strong desire to not let the public know, for fear they might scrutinize and then criticize, what the Administration is doing. The leadership is apparently fearful that the public might not react well to how it's going about the City's business.
"What they don't know can't hurt us," seems to be the mantra emanating from City Hall.
Keep them in the dark and feed them manure.
Well, its' time that the citizens of Trenton stop acting like mushrooms. We need to stand together and demand the accountability of our appointed and elected officials alike.
We need to stop this deluge of indifference to the public's right to know and shed some light on just what is really going on in Trenton.
We need to demand proper, complete and timely answers to our questions.
Speaking of mushrooms...you know the old joking way of referring to people left out of the loop on decision making as mushrooms because they are "kept in the dark and fed a diet of manure." Well, sometimes I feel like Trenton is being run like a big mushroom farm.
The leadership of this city is deeply mired in the habit of tightly controlling what it wants people to know and when. And this might not be all bad in theory, but in practice, so far, it pretty much sucks.
Councilman Coston has reported on his blog that directives have been sent out stating that City Council people are not to address concerns with City Department Heads directly and, conversely, Department Heads are not to respond to City Council people directly. All communication, we're told, is to go through the Mayor's Office of Citizen Concerns.
Does that seem odd to you? If City Council people have to take Citizen Concerns through the Mayor's Office, doesn't it sort of defeat the point of electing City Council people? Readers of Mr. Coston's blog know how he feels about this, but we haven't heard anything from the rest of Council. They should be outraged at being neutralized by the Administration, yet we hear nary a peep (except from the representative of the South Ward).
And then there is the most recent round of transfers and reassignments in the Trenton Police Department. Now its always a slippery slope if management decisions are made by public consensus, but some decisions are just plain wrong and should be reconsidered. What possible reason can warrant informing someone while on vacation that he has been reassigned from a job that he thought (and a majority of people seem to agree) he was performing well, if not excelling at?
Further, if the whole operational premise is one of "community oriented policing" where the various officers are assigned to specific areas and meet with the people from those areas regularly, then shouldn't the people be informed of the changes directly and at the same time as the officers are?
Doesn't it make sense to inform the community that they are going to have new "partners" and provide their names and contact information so there is no lapse in communication?
Apparently not in Trenton under the current police leadership. No, the Police Director appears to practice "management at will" (or is it "management by whim?") and he seems to believe there is little to no reason to inform the public of his decisions.
And then there is the situation where Zac Chester was threatened with legal action for doing nothing more than asking for some information about development and redevelopment projects in Trenton. In what is assumed to be an attempt to silence anyone who dares question members of the City Administration, a high ranking official is suggesting he'd rather sue than answer to a city resident and taxpayer.
The underlying theme in all of this is a very strong desire to not let the public know, for fear they might scrutinize and then criticize, what the Administration is doing. The leadership is apparently fearful that the public might not react well to how it's going about the City's business.
"What they don't know can't hurt us," seems to be the mantra emanating from City Hall.
Keep them in the dark and feed them manure.
Well, its' time that the citizens of Trenton stop acting like mushrooms. We need to stand together and demand the accountability of our appointed and elected officials alike.
We need to stop this deluge of indifference to the public's right to know and shed some light on just what is really going on in Trenton.
We need to demand proper, complete and timely answers to our questions.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
For your consideration
Best line of the day (so far)
Commenting on the story in this morning's Times about Mayor Palmer participating in an Esquire fashion pictorial featuring members of the Conference of Mayors a poster to the NJ.com Trenton forum said "It's a shame he takes more time picking out quality clothes than School Board members." ---Eddie353
Dressed for Excess
On that story, does it surprise anyone that Mayor Palmer would volunteer to take part in this pictorial that will just happen to hit the newsstands one month before the Conference of Mayors holds meetings in Trenton? He says in the article it's all about Trenton, but we suspect it's really all about Doug.
School Board Approves New Positions; Changes Governance Style
News reports stated that Trenton's School Board voted to create three new positions and to do away with the four year old process that held the Board more to an advisory position than hands-on management. As someone who sat through the presentations explaining the process, I thought it made sense and held promise for our failing school system. As an outsider it is hard to say for sure, but one wonders if the process failed because it was inherently flawed or if it wasn't followed. That is, was it too difficult for members of the School Board to keep their hands off and did their meddling get in the way of education professionals doing better?
Good Sense
Mill Hill resident Dan Dodson has posted some thoughts about the recent vandalism and crime in general in Trenton.
He's absolutely correct that these kids and/or their parents or whatever adult is responsible for them should be held accountable for their misdeeds. Monetary restitution (a lot of City resources went into the cleanup effort not to mention the police work in identifying and capturing the suspects), community service, and a face-to-face apology to those whose property was damaged are in order.
The kids should have the opportunity to learn that there are consequences to their actions and that when they act responsibly they will be treated fairly and given second chances.
More Blue
Trenton's Police Academy will graduate 24 officers this month. Among them will be the son of a current TPD Detective. If the son is half as good a cop as his father, we will all benefit.
Assuming all 24 graduates stay with Trenton, it should help ease the manpower crunch and hopefully ease the mandatory overtime that has been exhausting and demoralizing patrols. Of course, the new officers will need seasoning (we often overlook the significance of losing years of experience when our officers retire or transfer to other departments) but the feet on the ground will help.
Further word, mainly through Councilman Coston's blog, is that the new class starting in November will have 50 members. We may be on our way to having a full compliment of officers in the TPD once again.
Kudos to all the individuals and groups who spoke up and contacted the administration and elected representatives about the Police manpower issue. It would appear your voices were heard.
Anybody Home?
Well it is August and there still doesn't seem to be anyone living in the Broad Street Bank building.
What's the holdup now?
Commenting on the story in this morning's Times about Mayor Palmer participating in an Esquire fashion pictorial featuring members of the Conference of Mayors a poster to the NJ.com Trenton forum said "It's a shame he takes more time picking out quality clothes than School Board members." ---Eddie353
Dressed for Excess
On that story, does it surprise anyone that Mayor Palmer would volunteer to take part in this pictorial that will just happen to hit the newsstands one month before the Conference of Mayors holds meetings in Trenton? He says in the article it's all about Trenton, but we suspect it's really all about Doug.
School Board Approves New Positions; Changes Governance Style
News reports stated that Trenton's School Board voted to create three new positions and to do away with the four year old process that held the Board more to an advisory position than hands-on management. As someone who sat through the presentations explaining the process, I thought it made sense and held promise for our failing school system. As an outsider it is hard to say for sure, but one wonders if the process failed because it was inherently flawed or if it wasn't followed. That is, was it too difficult for members of the School Board to keep their hands off and did their meddling get in the way of education professionals doing better?
Good Sense
Mill Hill resident Dan Dodson has posted some thoughts about the recent vandalism and crime in general in Trenton.
He's absolutely correct that these kids and/or their parents or whatever adult is responsible for them should be held accountable for their misdeeds. Monetary restitution (a lot of City resources went into the cleanup effort not to mention the police work in identifying and capturing the suspects), community service, and a face-to-face apology to those whose property was damaged are in order.
The kids should have the opportunity to learn that there are consequences to their actions and that when they act responsibly they will be treated fairly and given second chances.
More Blue
Trenton's Police Academy will graduate 24 officers this month. Among them will be the son of a current TPD Detective. If the son is half as good a cop as his father, we will all benefit.
Assuming all 24 graduates stay with Trenton, it should help ease the manpower crunch and hopefully ease the mandatory overtime that has been exhausting and demoralizing patrols. Of course, the new officers will need seasoning (we often overlook the significance of losing years of experience when our officers retire or transfer to other departments) but the feet on the ground will help.
Further word, mainly through Councilman Coston's blog, is that the new class starting in November will have 50 members. We may be on our way to having a full compliment of officers in the TPD once again.
Kudos to all the individuals and groups who spoke up and contacted the administration and elected representatives about the Police manpower issue. It would appear your voices were heard.
Anybody Home?
Well it is August and there still doesn't seem to be anyone living in the Broad Street Bank building.
What's the holdup now?
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