State Police did arrive for a third deployment in the city last weekend and will be fanning out across targeted hot spots where crime is high, city police have said.
TRENTON — City crime was once again a hot topic at last night’s council meeting, with residents asking about the future of the police department’s now-disbanded anti-crime unit and what steps council can take to crack down on problem liquor stores and bars, which some see as contributing to fights and violence in the city.
The Rev. Lee Ingram warned council members not to embrace remarks made by police director Ralph Rivera Jr. last week that Trenton’s crime problem was improving.
“It’s not getting better, it’s just not getting reported,” Ingram said. “Let’s not operate under the delusion the city of Trenton is getting safer.”
He asked if council would press Rivera to see what the department’s plans were as far as bringing back the tactical anti-crime unit, which focused primarily on street-level crimes and apprehending gang members, drug dealers and weapons offenders before being suspended by Rivera on Friday.
“The TAC unit was a very, very important part of Trenton police,” Ingram said. “We need that type of elite unit here in the city of Trenton. I want you to find out what kind of plans he has in effect to have that tactical unit at the ready here in the city of Trenton.”
State Police did arrive for a third deployment in the city last weekend and will be fanning out across targeted hot spots where crime is high, city police have said. Twelve arrests were made Saturday night at the start of what’s being called the “Trenton Initiative.”
New Black Panther Party Youth Minister Divine Allah, who’s working with an anti-violence committee that held a rally in front of the Statehouse Monday, said he hoped council would start taking aim at corner liquor stores and bars whose products contribute to the city’s violent crime problem.
“A lot of it is tied to alcoholic outlets,” he said. “There are too many billboards around. From the highest to the lowest, the no-name liquor stores to the ones that are very well known, all of them play a major part in this violence. We need to ban new liquor licensees, or we petition you to shut down either liquor stores or ones deemed problem liquor stores.”
Allah said the city is saturated with liquor stores, especially in the East Ward. Many sell penny candy and snacks to kids who come in the stores with their parents, appealing to kids at even a young age, he said.
“No areas outside of inner city urban areas look like this in regards to liquor stories,” he said.
Councilwoman Kathy McBride pointed out that council has cracked down on problem stores and bars over the last 2½ years, suspending liquor licenses for some found to sell alcohol to minors or create a nuisance in their neighborhoods.
“When this council came on we were very, very active in giving out heavy penalties to a lot of the problem areas as far as bar owners,” she said.
Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward said she would direct the city clerk’s office to compile a list of the city’s liquor licenses to take a closer look.