Murder and auto theft are down over the last six months, while robberies, burglaries and assaults are up, according to numbers released by the Jersey City Police Department Thursday.
The police also said that teen “wolfpacks” have been committing robberies when bored, and law enforcement has set up “Operation Little Rascal” to cut down on these incidents (see sidebar).
The crime comparison was made between Jan. 1 and May 31 of this year and the same dates last year.
According to Paul Wolleon, the department’s crime analyst, there were 688 robberies so far this year, an average of 31 per week. This is up from 649 at this time last year.
There were 800 burglaries, up from 770 last year; 16 arson incidents, down from last year’s 35; and 649 car thefts, down from 748.
There were 1,679 assaults this year, up slightly from 1,655 last year.
As of May 31, 12 murders had occurred, six fewer than at this time last year – a 33 percent decrease. Recently, the 13th homicide occurred when on June 4 an East Orange resident, Osmond Dixon, was shot dead in a confrontation on Kennedy Boulevard (see sidebar for more on this homicide).
The announcement was made before the Police Department held their biweekly COMPSTAT meeting where Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Police Chief Robert Troy, and Police Director Samuel Jefferson were in attendance to hear commanders from the city’s North and East Districts and various task forces discuss criminal hotspots in the city.Meet to look at hot spots
COMPSTAT is a police management system created in 1994 by the New York City Police Department. The system utilizes the latest tracking technology along with constant meetings between police top brass and precinct commanders to focus on crime problems in each area.
COMPSTAT has been in operation in the Jersey City Police Department since March. Since then, the commanders of the city’s four districts have met with Chief Troy and other top brass, with two districts alternating every two weeks.
At the Thursday meeting, commanders of the North and East districts addressed the various problems within their respective districts. Credit for keeping the numbers down has been given to the utilization of COMPSTAT, as it has created greater cooperation between the various police units both within the department and with other police departments and law enforcement agencies outside the city.
“The one thing this COMPSTAT is accomplishing is a great synergy throughout the department and actually a synergy from the outside agencies,” said Internal Affairs Division Commander Hugh Donaghue.
After the meeting, Troy said COMPSTAT will take time for police officers to adjust to, but he sees it as the way to fight crime most effectively.
Among the technologies employed to help police with their crime fighting are video monitors installed in their police cars, with one person driving and one observing the monitor. Watch your Palm Pilots and laptops
While there have been fewer larceny incidents than last year as of May 31, the concern still prevails. This is especially true for the top police in the East District, which serves downtown Jersey City.
Captain Brian McDonough, commander for the East District, said during a break in the meeting that many of the 429 larceny incidents in his district have been a result of theft from auto, in order to steal expensive technology such as laptop computers, Palm Pilots and global positioning systems.
But he plans to combat that theft.
“[The police] have met with many community groups and organizations, and we are in the process of composing a poster to be distributed with crime prevention information,” said McDonough. “Most specifically, to the households in a certain area of the city to educate the general public as to the vehicles most likely stolen, the types of items these individuals seek out, and how these crimes are committed.”
When asked if those who are victimized being complacent by leaving those items in their vehicles, McDonough conceded as much, but also said that it was a case of “new residents moving into the neighborhood” and they “lead very busy lives.”
But he also took responsibility, saying police had to be more “proactive in their policing.” Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com. Sidebar ‘Operation Little Rascal’
Are Jersey City’s versions of Spanky and Alfalfa running around looking to rob people because they’re bored?
One of the pressing problems discussed at Thursday’s police meeting was juvenile crime. Internal Affairs Division Commander Hugh Donaghue said “wolfpacks of kids” have been committing robberies throughout the city, among them a group known as the “White T-Shirt Gang.”
“They are random, organized, not organized,” said Donaghue. “It’s kind of crazy because when we were kids, we would try to schedule a baseball game. It seems these kids are just looking for prey.”
Donaghue said that “Operation Little Rascal” was set up recently to crack down on juvenile crime, and said vans have been provided to each of the city’s four police districts to pick up curfew violators. Curfew in Jersey City is between the hours of 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. for youths 17 years of age and under.
Also, Dickinson High School on Palisade Avenue was cited for the disruptive behavior of many of its students, especially when all 3,000-plus students are dismissed at once during lunchtime.
This is an ongoing problem that has caused nearby residents to complain to Schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps and the police at community meetings in recent months.
As Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach put it, “The kids come out and all hell breaks loose.”
Nalbach then complained to Mayor Healy about trying to solve the problem at Dickinson High School with only a seven-man force. He also complained about the difficulty of contacting Epps about the problem. Sidebar 2 Killed before court appearance
Last Sunday, June 4, an East Orange man was shot dead on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City after a confrontation.
According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, Osmond Dixon, 20, was killed after an apparent confrontation at Kennedy Boulevard and Oxford Avenue when the person he was arguing with fired shots from a semi-automatic pistol, hitting Dixon in the chest.
DeFazio said Dixon was found sprawled on the ground by police patrolling near the crime scene, and was taken to Jersey City Medical Center. He was pronounced dead on arrival around 2:40 a.m.
DeFazio said Dixon and three other men had driven to Jersey City in a Pontiac GrandAm, which fled the scene before police arrived.
DeFazio said the investigation is ongoing, but authorities are looking to speak with Tyshawn Hines, 20, of East Orange, who was with Mr. Dixon on the night of his death.
DeFazio also said that in a bit of irony, one of the police officers on the scene after Dixon was killed was also the police officer who was in a police car last year that Dixon allegedly tried to ram into while fleeing from the police.
Dixon had originally been scheduled to appear in criminal court in Jersey City two days before his death to face charges in the incident, but the case was adjourned. – RK