Dear Editor:
Last Saturday, was the annual Hoboken St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone knows that the day brings thousands of young adults to our city to attend our bars and restaurants.
This year saw police respond to 382 calls for service, make 11 arrests, issue 95 city ordinance summonses, issue 34 motor vehicle summons, and send 39 individuals to hospitals. From a law enforcement perspective, the day was a success as the amount of violent crimes greatly decreased. There were no reported sexual offenses, three aggravated assaults, and no incidents which caused life threatening conditions.
I would like to thank Mayor Dawn Zimmer for her support of the police and for providing us the resources that we needed to best police the city that day. We were able to put 200 officers on the streets, who were proactive in staying in front of issues and diffusing incidents before they became serious. The Hoboken Police officers went above and beyond to professionally control the thousands who came into town that day and to protect all the residents and visitors. Two officers, Lt. Mike DeTrizio and Sgt. Steve Aguiar performed heroically, in immediately addressing a situation where a male set himself on fire, risking injury to themselves, in knocking the man down and getting the fire extinguished, preventing serious injuries.
I would also like to thank the many people who assisted the Hoboken Police Department in the handling of the event. From a law enforcement side, I would first like to thank Public Safety Director Jon Tooke, who approved the plan that Capt. Tory Pasculli and I presented. Further I would like to extend my appreciation to: Hudson County Prosecutor Gaetano Gregory and First Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino who afforded us the Hudson County Rapid Deployment Force under the command of Brian Duval, New Jersey Transit Police, Port Authority Police, Stevens Police under Chief Tim Griffin, Westfield Police, and Chiefs Bob Dowd of North Bergen and Rich Molinari of Union City who both offered additional assistance.
We also received great assistance from non-law enforcement agencies that include: Hoboken Fire Department under Chief Richard Blohm and Capt. Steve DiVincent, Hoboken OEM, Hoboken CERT, Hoboken Parking Utilities, Hoboken Traffic and Signal, Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and Hoboken Environmental Services.
I further would like to thank HPU Director John Morgan for his assistance in our planning, Communications Director Juan Melli for his assistance with the press releases prior to and after the event, and David Jacey from the Hoboken Hospitality Association who organized a meeting between my staff and I and the bar owners which led to a day where the police department received great cooperation from the bars.
We will continue to analyze the statistics and trends from this day so that we can put forth the best plan possible next year to better keep our city safe.
Sincerely,
Kenneth F. Ferrante
Chief Of Police
Hoboken Police Department