A-Infos (en) New Jersey Cop Watch No. 6

[ErnstLynch <ErnstLynch@aol.com>]

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State police expand campaign against aggressive drivers

Synopsis:  Police use federal grant to saturate local roads, shakedown drivers
for  petty motor vehicle offenses, feed human product into the criminal
injustice system, while greatly increasing their yearly salaries with over-
time pay and creating a financial boom for local municipalities with windfall
income from fines.  They ask for public support and participation in turning
in your fellow workers.
     
Full News Copy:
By Terri Somers 
Law Enforcement Writer
The Asbury Park Press (Apr. 9, 1998)

If it seemed like there were more state troopers anad other police officers
patrolling the road during your commute yesterday, you weren't imagining it.
Be prepared for more of the same today.
     Yesterday state police expanded their year-old campaign against
aggressive drivers on commuter roadways to include Routes 18 and 1.  They
urged municipal police to assist in their zero tolerance for drivers who
speed, tailgate and change lanes without warning.
     The results of the year-old campaign and details of how it will continue
and grow, will be discussed at a news conference this morning at the state
police barracks on Route 1 in Plainsboro Township.
     It started a year ago with the commitment of 50 local police departments
in Monmouth, Middlesex and eight other counties to increase patrols along the
commuter roads and a $450,000 federal grant to offset overtime.  
     Police also set up two telephone numbers for motorists to report
aggressive drivers: 1-888-SAF-ROAD (723-7623) and *77 for cellular telephone
users.
     Through the program's first six months, police received more than 11,800
calls reporting aggressive driving.  By Jan.1, participating departments
issued more than 35,000 summones, including more than 7,000 for failure to
wear seat belts.  Eighty-one people were arrested for drug possession and
other criminal offenses.
     The program has concentrated on six counties: Monmouth, Middlesex,
Atlantic, Burlington, Essex and Bergen.
     In five of those counties, total highway fatalities dropped from 167 to
128 compared with the same period the previous year - a 23.4 percent decline.
     In Monmouth County, however, highway fatalities rose from 29 to 30, which
police attribute to several accidents with multiple fatalities.

                            Copyright - The Asbury Park Press 1998
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Police ponder need for added security

Synopsis:  Cops fearing for their safety from public reprisals have begun
fortifying their station houses with bricks, mortar, and bullet proof glass.
  
Full News Copy:  The Associated Press - Hackensack - They're sworn to protect
and serve the public, but police departments across the state are evaluating
whether the stations where they work are secure enough to protect them.
     A recent incident in Jersey City, in which a man with a lengthy criminal
record was able to walk into the station late at night, assault the officer on
duty and wrestle a weapon away from another officer, has highlighted the risks
officers face.  One officer was critically wounded in that incident on Feb.8
before a third officer shot and wounded the attacker.
     "I think the Jersey City thing happened because of the age of the
building," said Rochelle Park Police Department Detective Don Simon.  "Nobody
would build a facility like that anymore.  It's not safe."
     Rochelle Park's 3-year-old station has inch-thick bulletproof glass
separating the dispatcher and others working in the building from the public.
In Paramus, visitors have to be buzzed in.  And in Westwood, a magnetic door
lock only allows credentialed employees past the lobby.
     Officers who work in stations without security, like the one in Paterson,
say it's about time they got some protection as well.
     "It's going to take someone getting shot before they do anything," said
one officer, who asked his name not be used.
     "They're right on top of us, all hours of the day and night," said
another.  "Some kook could walk in here with a shotgun and we'd be dead on the
floor."
     But some say that while bulletproof barriers increase safety, they also
get in the way of community policing.
     Hackensack Police Chief Charles "Ken" Zisa said he has no plans on
installing bulletproof glass in his 45-year-old building, where officers sit
on a raised platform.
     "It creates barriers, even if it's just a wall of glass," he said.
"Other departments look like Fort Knox compared to us.  But I just don't think
it's very personal to talk through a microphone and glass."
     Meanwhile, Jersey City is in the process of beefing up its security
arrangements.  Even before the shooting, the department was in the process of
buying surveillance cameras and magnetic door locks.  Now it will also install
safety glass in the lobbies of all four of its district stations, said Sgt.
Edgar Martinez, the department's spokesman.

                     Copyright - The Asbury Park Press 1998
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Police tips go online

Synopsis:  Police departments go on-line with Web sites.  One can register a
bicycle, find out about where the police are placing speed traps (as if they
want you to know), and visit a vainglorious museum.  Oh yeah!  You can also
become a police informer and tip them off to crimes in your area, right on-
line.
  
Full News Copy: 
By Matt Sheehan
Coastal Monmouth Bureau
The Asbury Park Press

     Ocean Township residents can register their bicycles while surfing, using
a bicycle registration page on the police department's Web site.
     The Web site was developed by Patrolman Warren Kruse about a year ago and
features a number of crime-fighting tools.
     Several Monmouth County police departments have Web sites.  However, the
township's is unique in the county because of its bicycle registration page
and other interactive pages.
     Kruse, a computer science major at Rutgers University, said the Internet
is a quick way to get crime and safety information out to a large group of
people.
     Currently, there are more than 150 residents on the Web site's e-mail
list, he said.
     "I try and solicit feedback from the public as much as possible," Kruse
said.  "I tell the townspeople that it's their page."
     The bicycle registration page was a necessity, because a number of stolen
or lost bicycles go unclaimed, said Chief William Koch.
     "It's so frustrating to auction off all these bikes every year," Koch
said.
     The Web site also features Crime Net Alert, which notifies residents and
business owners of such things as telephone soliciting scams, and tells
drivers where police will use radar to monitor speed.  An online museum
features photographs of past and present police officers dating to 1930.
     Net surfers also can tip off police to crimes in the area.  The Web
address is www.oceantwp.org/police.  Bicycle registration is free.

                        Copyright - The Asbury Park Press 1998
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