Law enforcement officials and Mayor David Roberts say Hoboken is still a relatively safe city despite an 8.2 percent increase in violent crime during the first nine months of 2002.
According to police crime statistics acquired Tuesday, from January to Sept. 30, 2002, reported robberies were up 38.2 percent over the same time last year, homicides had increased from zero to one (a second murder near the border Oct. 29 was too recent to be included), and assaults were up 2.4 percent. Hoboken Police Chief Carmen LaBruno said that there has not been a reported rape in Hoboken this year.
According to the same crime report, while the number of violent crimes has increased, the overall crime index has dropped 14.6 percent because of a significant fall in non-violent crime. Burglary was down 29.9 percent and larceny was down 7.3 percent. Motor vehicle theft was down 32.1 percent. (See chart, p. 7).
Roberts, who doubles as the city’s director of public safety, said Wednesday that Hoboken remains a safe place for its residents. “Ensuring the safety of the public is my number one priority,” said Roberts. “The city has been and remains a safe place.” He said he talks to LaBruno daily and is updated every day on all of the city’s crimes and crime statistics.
But recent incidents in different parts of town have residents concerned, and LaBruno acknowledged last week that there are three “crime clusters” in areas other than the housing projects that have a higher incidence of crime than others.
Not just the projects
As noted in a recent Reporter story, the police have been investigating recent gang activity and open-air drug deals in the federally-subsidized Hoboken Housing Authority buildings in the southwest corner of town. But despite a past perception that most of the city’s crime occurs in that area, there are residents uptown who say they have to worry about their safety also.
LaBruno confirmed Wednesday that in the last couple of months have seen at least two armed robberies in which the perpetrators actually entered people’s homes. These took place uptown in the Bloomfield/Garden/Park Avenue area, he said. He said that there have been two reported gunpoint muggings and several other purse snatchings and on-street robberies.
According to the chief, there has also been a “rash” of break-ins in which the vestibules of homes are entered and bicycles and other items were taken. LaBruno said the crimes are currently under investigation.
He said that the “crime clusters” where the most incidents have occurred cannot be revealed right now for “strategic reasons.”
Roberts said Wednesday that he has made solving these issues a priority. “In the past couple of months there have been some anomalies which have led to a series of crimes,” he said. “To this point we are doing the best we can to provide a high level of security and comfort for our residents.”
Residents expressed concerns last week.
“Personally, I think it is unsafe,” said Bloomfield Street resident Jessica Berkowitz. “You can’t leave your house for the fear that you might be attacked by someone.”
Berkowitz, who is in her 20s, has lived in Hoboken for three years and said she knows people in her neighborhood who have been attacked, as well as homes that have been broken into and robbed.
At Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, former Councilperson Stephen Hudock acknowledged that crime “is now a problem all around town.” City Councilman Tony Soares echoed the sentiment.
Several residents said that they feel they have not been fully informed of the crime situation throughout the city.
“I don’t want to live in a fairy tale world if it’s not a fairy tale,” said 13-year homeowner Theresa Minutillo Wednesday. She said that she has always been told that Hoboken is an extremely safe city, but now she is starting to wonder. “For a small town, we should know a lot more about [public safety issues],” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m being told about everything that is going on.”
LaBruno said that the police department is required by law to report every crime. “We are obligated under federal law to file comprehensive crime reports to the FBI and the state police,” he said. He added that the city’s police department is audited on a regular basis by the state police and that the city has never been cited for failing to file any reported crime.
But as for disclosure to newspapers, police are not required to alert local newspapers of a crime. They are, however, required to give details of a specific crime if asked about it. They may also cooperate with the newspapers to allow them to print regular police news, which several residents said they’d like to see.
LaBruno said that the police department welcomes calls and comments from the public. “It helps us better understand the community,” he said. The department can be contacted at (201) 420-2100.
One Bloomfield Street resident who wished to remain anonymous said last week that he was assaulted by three teenagers near the corner of Eighth and Bloomfield streets in August. The three teens were eventually caught hanging out at the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology, a fact confirmed by police officials. The man was told that his attack was similar to a series of attacks that had happened a few days previous to his own. He said that if there were more public information available, his assault might have been prevented, or precautions could have been taken.
“I think the police are doing a good job,” said the man. “But I’m finding that there is an effort by the city and police leadership to keep these crimes quiet. I think people need to know when it’s not safe.”
Why the increase?
Fourth Ward Councilman Christopher Campos said Friday that there isn’t one single reason for increased violent crime. “There is not a simple solution because there is a myriad of reasons,” he said. He said the economy and a high unemployment rate are part of the problem. He also said that there are not nearly enough after-school programs, job placement programs and recreational activities for teens. And, he said, there is a decrease in police presence in the Housing Authority that “gives way to more daring criminal opportunists.”
Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director E. Troy Washington recently speculated that the increase in crime, where it comes to gang activity, is related to the economy. He said recently that because low-end jobs are the first to be cut when the economy goes soft, people in low-income housing are the most dramatically affected in a bad economy.
The Jersey City factor
LaBruno said that one factor in the recent outbreak of local talk about violent crimes is the sudden increase in crimes in Jersey City. “We’re getting the spillover effect,” said LaBruno.
There have been several high-profile homicides in Jersey City this year. As of July there were already 12 reported murders there, including seven shooting deaths, while there were 10 for all of 2001, according to the county prosecutor’s office. Among those murders was the July killing of David DiFranco, a local bounty hunter who suffered from blunt force trauma while pursuing a suspect in the Greenville section of Jersey City, and the fatal stabbings of three members of a family that lived off West Side Avenue.
In the last two weeks in Jersey City, two bodies were found in a burning car at the foot of Duncan Avenue, allegedly as a result of a business deal gone bad. In the same week, an unidentified 15-year-old student allegedly shot a second 15-year-old student in the basement of Lincoln High School. Then, at Synder High, three juveniles were injured in a drive-by shooting.
Two weeks ago, the state Attorney General’s office announced the indictments of 41 people alleged to be members of the “Latin Kings” gang in New Jersey. Five are residents of Jersey City.
“There are some serious problems in Jersey City,” said 5th Ward Councilman Michael Cricco. “We have to do what ever we can to keep their problems from manifesting in our community.”
Murder before Halloween
Early on the morning of Sunday Oct. 27, a 15-year-old boy from the Hoboken Housing Authority projects allegedly stabbed 20-year-old Jose Pacheco of Jersey City to death just over the border between Hoboken and Jersey City. Pacheco, an employee of the Mile Square Grill in Hoboken, was walking home from work. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said last week that the speculation is still that the murder was a robbery gone bad. On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the teenager was charged with the murder and is currently being held in detention.
That and other crimes resulted in a wave of rumors throughout the city in the days leading up to Halloween, a time of year usually known for added mischief – and often regarded as the time of year for gang initiations.
LaBruno said that several specific rumors about events in Hoboken were untrue.
According to LaBruno, there was a rumor of a gang rape at the Sinatra Park restrooms. There were also rumors that two people were shot as revenge for the Pacheco stabbing; that there were multiple gunpoint muggings at Church Square Park; that schools were closed because of an in-school shooting initiated by local gangs; and that a shooting was planned for the Ragamuffin Parade on Halloween. There was also a rumor that random women would be slashed as part of a gang initiation.
LaBruno emphatically stated Wednesday that none of these events happened.
“These rumors are without foundation,” said LaBruno. “I have heard that everything from shooting to gang rapes to muggings happened last week, but there isn’t any truth to any of those rumors. Hoboken is absolutely safe.”
The rumor mill became so pronounced that Roberts sent a letter out dated Oct. 31 to the parents of Hoboken children in an attempt to alleviate some of their fears.
“There have been numerous rumors spreading throughout our city regarding gang violence in Hoboken,” Roberts wrote. “I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that there have been no such accounts of any violent gang activities against any Hoboken schoolchildren.”
The letter also stated that the police chief had assigned over 40 police officers to foot patrol throughout the city streets, particularly focusing on the areas in and around the schools.
Fifth Ward Councilman Michael Cricco said that he had received more than 40 e-mails and calls in the last two weeks from residents concerned about the rumors. “The rumor mill began, and the police chief took the appropriate steps and assigned extra officers,” Cricco said. “Hoboken is a safe community, but as in any community, you can never be too cautious.”
More police, and where?
LaBruno said Wednesday that he wants to hire more police. According to his figures, there are now 147 officers on the force. He said the number needs to be closer to 175. (For comparison, Jersey City, 14.8 times Hoboken’s size, has 875 sworn-in officers.)
According to LaBruno, the city has not hired a single police officer since 1999, and since that time 27 have either left the force, transferred, or gone on disability. He said that since 1999, the city has had enough federal grant money to hire 15 to 17 police officers and pay 75 percent of their salaries for three years. The grants are part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) program. The catch is that they expire after three years, and the city then has to absorb the entire salary of the new officers. Another catch is that the grants expire this Dec. 1, so the City Council must act quickly or the grants will no longer be valid.
“It’s ridiculous that they have had these grants since 1999 and haven’t filled them yet,” said LaBruno. “It’s unconscionable. These are the same [council members] who want increased deployment in the projects.”
Roberts said Wednesday that while budgetary issues are a concern, he is considering advising the council to use the grants. “This is a big issue,” he said. “We acknowledge that police numbers are lower than they have been in a several years. We need to maintain a high level of police presence.”
He said that one condition of any new hiring will be that the officers be used for work in the field and out on the streets.
“Having a visible police presence is what the public wants,” said Roberts. “People want to be able to see patrolmen in their neighborhoods. As long as that happens, we have every intention of taking advantage [of the grants].”
For the last couple of months, there has been a tense three-way tug-of-war between the police department, City Hall, and the Housing Authority administration over how to patrol the projects.
According to LaBruno, in May a $200,000 per-year contract between the Hoboken Police Department and the Housing Authority expired. The two-year contract provided for a special force of eight city officers to be assigned exclusively to the Housing Authority.
LaBruno pointed sharp criticism toward HHA Executive Director Troy Washington. Recently, the Housing Authority signed a contract valued at over $1 million annually with a private security firm. In Washington’s defense, there was a court ruling by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Arthur D’Italia earlier in the year that compelled the Housing Authority to hire the security firm after an extended controversy over a “Request for Proposal” created by the Housing Authority’s seven-member volunteer Board of Commissioners. But Washington had advocated hiring the firm from the beginning.
LaBruno contends that the security force is a waste of money because they do not have the authority to make arrests, nor the same amount of training as a full-time police officer. He has offered to give additional protection, but only if the Housing Authority is willing to pay.
Under the union’s current contract, off-duty officers must be hired at $40 an hour. LaBruno said the union has agreed to a reduced pay plan where officers would work for $200 for a seven-hour shift, an almost $12-per-hour discounted rate.
LaBruno also said that the Housing Authority is already getting regular patrols and has its own private security, so he is against giving a third layer of protection without compensation. Especially, he said, since the projects don’t even have the highest crime rate in the city.
Washington has consistently stated that he does not believe the Housing Authority is getting the same amount of protection from the Hoboken Police Department as the rest of the city. He said that the police department should provide that protection before he considers paying for extra officers.
Resident comments
Uptown resident Lucile Haack, who is already concerned about crime in her neighborhood, said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting that it was the Housing Authority’s decision to hire the security firm, so police uptown shouldn’t be taken away. “They can’t arrest anyone, so they are basically useless,” said Haack about the security firm. “The taxpayers shouldn’t be taxed twice for his bad decision. I don’t think there is an adequate number of police to handle both problems right now.”
Campos, who represents the area of town where most of the city’s subsidized housing is located, said, “Troy Washington made a horrible decision, but the fact of the matter is that there is increased gang activity and the police are needed.”
Campos said that the gang problem in the projects is “festering” and drug dealing and incidents of stabbings and shootings have increased dramatically. Over the last three months, there has been a fatal stabbing and a near-fatal shooting in the projects. In fact, the gang problem in New Jersey is getting regional media attention. On Wednesday night, NBC News Channel 4 interviewed and featured a 9-year-old Hoboken boy who lives in the projects for a piece about the growing influence of gangs in New Jersey. In the interview the boy said he is scared of guns and violence at the Hoboken Housing Authority.
Campos said that the crime numbers might be misleading because while there might be larger numbers of crimes elsewhere, the majority of “major” crimes such as murder, assault, and drug dealing occur in the projects.
A resident from the senior complex on Jackson Street said last week that he has observed a lot of recent drug activity. He spoke on terms of anonymity because of fear for his safety. “If I had enough money for a bulletproof vest, I would go out and buy one,” he said, “because I’ll be goddamned if I’m killed out in front of my own place.”
He also said the drug dealing goes on outside in public.
“There’re there all the time,” he said. “They’re across the street riding their bicycles, and the cops don’t do anything. I’m really freaked out.”
Finding out the validity of rumors
There are several means that the public has at its disposal to find out about the validity of a crime. They can call the Hoboken Police Department at (201) 420-2100, or the mayor’s office at (201) 420-2222 or (201) 420-2013. Residents may also call their councilperson. Councilpeople’s names are listed in the phone book.
Residents who have already reported such an event to the police and also would like the newspaper to know may call (201) 798-7800, ext. 406, or e-mail editorial@hudsonreporter.com.
According the mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Campbell, because of recent public safety concerns, the city will be holding a town meeting to discuss issues relating to crime and safety. The date of that meeting is still yet to be determined, but updates will be published in future issues of the Hoboken Reporter.