JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND – Hours after angry residents demanded that the city step up efforts to combat violent crime, Mayor Jerramiah Healy announced that the city will hold a gun buyback program on July 16 and 23 from noon until 4 p.m.
The program, named Operation Lifesaver II, will be held in conjunction with the Jersey City Police Department and the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance and will be similar to a gun buy-back effort held in 2005. Healy said the 2005 program took nearly 900 guns off the city’s streets.
Healy announced the program after several residents publicly questioned official accounts that the crime rate in Jersey City is down after a night of violence claimed three lives on July 11.
According to several reports, all three victims – who were male – were shot to death. These murders have left residents wondering if more needs to be done to address violent crime on Jersey City streets.
There has been debate on whether crime in the city is increasing or not.
Earlier this year during his State of the City address, Healy stated, “While many other cities have seen crime surge during these tough economic times, Jersey City has been fortunate to see a drop in most categories in the past year.”
The mayor stated that there had been an overall 2 percent drop in violent crime from 2009 to 2010, which included a 14 percent decrease in homicides alone.
One resident said, “No matter how you tout your statistics Jersey City Residents do not feel safe.”