With an anti-drug initiative in effect, the Jersey City Police Department now boasts 657 total drug-related arrests since July, while seeing an overall reduction in crime.
But seeing the initial success has inspired the administration to add some get-tough laws that have drawn criticism from other council people.
When Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham officially launched the anti-drug initiative on Oct. 11, he promised a “holistic” approach to fighting crime that included increasing manpower in troubled areas, strengthening community/police relations, and diverting at-risk first-time offenders into job-training and drug treatment programs. Beginning with the South District, he vowed to make the streets safer and cleaner so residents could roam freely throughout the neighborhood without the fear of being harassed by the criminal drug-trafficking presence.
According to police officials, the statistics prove that the plan has been successful. “We think it’s working well,” Deputy Chief Peter Behrens said last week. For example, the number of drug-related arrests from July 1, 2000 to Feb. 20, 2001 totaled only 70. In that same period from 2001 to 2002, the police have made 657 drug-related arrests.
The sharp increase in drug-related arrests adds an unprecedented burden on the municipal courts, however. Cunningham said he wants the county to create a drug court in the former Jersey City Municipal Court on Boland Street to deal with the excess of drug-related criminal cases.
Behrens is quick to point out that these arrests were based on surveillance, unlike “sweeps” in which Police Departments attempt to boost statistics by rounding up people in an area without having sufficient evidence for a solid prosecution.
“By doing surveillance, we’re able to do those busts that stick in court,” Deputy Director Edgar Martinez said. He added that this means the drug dealers are more likely to get stiffer sentences.
The swift change from a near-dormant narcotics division to one that never sleeps has been based on adding more personnel to the division. The division has gone from 15 officers to 45.
In four months, the police have seized 2,500 bags of heroin, 400 vials of cocaine, and 15 firearms. As a result, Martinez said, there have been 202 less narcotics-related calls to the Police Department.
In the long run, the Police Department is looking to increase the overall number of patrol officers from 835 to 880, Behrens said.
Using July through February to compare the former administration and this one, the Police Department said burglaries, robberies, and arson have all shown a decrease. There were 774 robberies since July, a decrease from 803 in the previous year during that same time period.
Quality of life
Realizing that the South District’s problems go beyond arresting law-breakers, the administration has looked at quality-of-life issues as well. Abandoned vacant lots, a breeding ground for litter, have been cleared of the debris by the Jersey City Incinerator Authority, the Department of Public Works, and the Police Department. Out of the 12 lots cleaned thusfar, authorities have placed fences around five in an effort to deter the accumulation of trash again. According to police officials, fixing the decaying image of the community is part of the holistic approach to solving the crime-related issues.
“When you see a neighborhood in decay, there’s apathy involved,” said Lt. Jay Kiernan.
Also, the Police Department has taken aggressive steps to correct problems like public drinking, urinating in the streets, and other quality-of-life violations by issuing over 600 municipal summonses in the South District. “They don’t want to be hassled,” Kiernan said. “It’s been very effective.”
Second chance
In addition to cleaning up the community, the new crime-fighting plan tries to divert first-time offenders from a life of crime and into a viable career path. While the arrests have taken center stage, these initiatives have gotten off to a slow start.
Using the Office of Economic Opportunity as a starting point, five of the people arrested during the anti-drug initiative have been given jobs with the Jersey City Incinerator Authority. Kabili Tayari, head of the Office of Economic Opportunity, said that the city is in the process of entering a federal bonding program that would encourage Fortune 500 companies to accept former criminals into the workplace if they have not committed violent crimes.
The bonds ensure the companies that any financial mishaps that might happen as a result of participating in the program would be compensated for by the federal government.
Also, a mentoring program has addressed at-risk juveniles who have been caught in drug-related activity. Police officers are assigned to juveniles who have been through the court system and check up on them on a regular basis, much like a parole officer, to see that they are attending school and refraining from illegal activity. Out of the 1,526 arrests, however, only 8 percent have been juvenile offenders. Therefore, the program has not seen a large influx of participants, according to Kiernan.
Moving the war, using new ammunition
As the arrests gain momentum, the drug-trafficking naturally moves locations, police officials said. Comparing it to a war, Cunningham said that the Police Department is tracking all these movements and has already shifted some of its power from the South District to the West District.
Trying to rid open-air drug markets in one fell swoop, Cunningham has asked the state to expand the powers of an anti-loitering law so that police officers could clear street corners at will based on the area’s history of drug-trafficking activities.
This get-tough law has drawn opposition from some council people, and the request to the state passed in a 5-4 resolution. Voting against the resolution, Council President L. Harvey Smith said that such a law could be misused by racially biased police officers.
Cunningham also plans to pass a citywide ordinance that orders businesses to close at 11 p.m. that is aimed at late-night fast-food restaurants that draw crowds of people to the storefronts, increase noise pollution, and add the potential for street conflicts. Businesses with an established reputation would be able to obtain a waiver, Cunningham said.
Addressing the issue of racial profiling, Cunningham and the police officials have said that restoring the Jersey City Police Academy would enable new officers to receive sensitivity training conducive to an urban district. Police officers are trained now at the state academy.
In addition, the Police Department continues to recruit more minorities, hoping to create an understanding of cultural diversity by diversifying the makeup of the personnel. Recently, the Police Department received permission from the state academy to extend its deadline for applications to allow a blitz of television, radio, and flyer advertisements reach out to young minorities who might seek a career in law enforcement.