After receiving numerous complaints from Union City residents, the Union City Police Department has begun an aggressive quality-of-life campaign that seeks to create more parking spaces for residents and address the growing problem of school zone speeding.
"We’ve received numerous complaints from residents about taxi stands, whose cabs block sidewalks and double-park," said Union City Captain Joseph Blaettler. "We’ve also gotten complaints about car washes, auto detailing businesses and car dealerships that park cars on sidewalks. We get a lot of complaints about these things. So we decided to institute a campaign to try to rid the city of this problem."
According to an internal Union City police memo written by Union City Police Sergeant Emilio Gonzalez, "Some of the areas of major concern were taxi cabs and stands, auto body shops and car dealerships, commuter vans, abandoned vehicles and car wash establishments blocking the public roadway." The memo goes on, "As per [Captain Blaettler’s] request, I immediately launched a major quality-of-life campaign in an attempt to address the aforementioned issues as quickly and effectively as possible."
According to Blaettler, "I assigned Sgt. Gonzalez to this. What we did was go out and warn all the businesses that we were beginning this campaign and that we expected full compliance. We gave them the reasons why we were doing this. Those who didn’t comply got summonses." Blaettler also stated that they police received very little resistance, and most businesses complied. Added Blaettler, "We’re not trying to bust anyone here, but the businesses need to understand that we are serious about this."
Abandoned vehicles
According to Blaettler, in the last 30 days, Union City has towed approximately 60 cars that were considered "abandoned." As stated by New Jersey State Law statutes, any car left unattended in one spot on a public street or property for over 48 hours without notification of the local police department is considered "abandoned" and is subject to towing.
In a suburban setting, this wouldn’t most likely even be an issue. However, in an extremely densely populated city like Union City, every inch counts. And when scores of abandoned cars dot the city streets, the working man who just came off a 12-hour shift at the factory and has to drive around for an hour looking for a spot is the one who suffers.
Said Blaettler, "Obviously, in a densely populated area like Union City, when you tow 60 cars, that opens up a lot of space."
If the owners of the abandoned cars cannot be reached or contacted, the title of the car is legally turned over to the towing company who towed the car and, in most cases, the cars are sold at auction or for junk, depending on their condition.
Speeding in school zones
A growing problem in Union City over the past few months has been cars speeding through school zones. Again, after numerous complaints from parents and residents alike, the Union City Police Department stepped up patrols around those areas. Said Captain Blaettler, "Another thing we’ve targeted is speeding in school zones. We’ve designated a radar car in each of these zones from 7a.m. to 3 p.m. In fact, we’ve already seen a reduction in speeding and not just in school zones, but all around town."
This may have to do with the 196 speeding tickets given out within the last month.
"Remember," said Blaettler, "the speed limit in Union City is 25 miles per hour."
Unregistered vehicles, etc.
Police officers Robert Gaeta and Glen Gaston are partners and act as the eyes that seek out abandoned or unregistered vehicles that take up needless space in a town that can ill afford it.
Said Gaston last week, "We towed five cars already today. We had one woman that told us to ‘hold on a minute’ when we knocked on her door to alert her to her car being past its registration date. She came back and just said ‘give me the summons. I don’t care."
Added Gaeta, "You know what it is? This town is so congested. There’s just no room to have abandoned cars taking up space."
Officer Gaston then added, "Union City has so many good working-class people that work six days a week, 12 hours a day, and when they come home, there’s no place to park. Hopefully, we’ll make a difference in the town."