The program began May 23, and focuses on placing extra officers on the street, mostly in the North and West Wards.
An empty police command post on Stuyvesant Avenue. TRENTON — Police announced they had made a dozen arrests over the weekend ranging from gun arrests to narcotics charges to outstanding warrants — all part of a recent crackdown.
“The goal is to engage in aggressive patrol tactics while having a zero-tolerance approach in dealing with quality of life offenses and reducing the violence that has plagued the city in recent weeks,” Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. said in a statement.
The program began May 23, and focuses on placing extra officers on the street, mostly in the North and West Wards.
“The manpower was increased due to recent outbreaks of violence,” said Lt. Mark Kieffer, a police spokesman.
On Saturday afternoon, police activity was heavy on Stuyvesant Avenue, with one or two city patrol cars zipping by. Police were also active on side streets like Rosemont and Ellsworth Avenues.
To deter crime, four police lighting trucks were set up at intervals on Stuyvesant, casting spotlights on the street below throughout the night.
Some of the lighting trucks were left on through Sunday. It held the hallmarks of a major police effort, yet a knock on the doors of a nearby police truck marked “Command Post” Saturday night revealed it was empty.
“Smoke and mirrors,” said South Ward Councilman George Muschal, a former city police officer. “That’s like putting a police car out with a dummy like we used to do.”
Muschal believes the police effort was more about putting on a show than cracking down on crime.
Nevertheless, on Saturday night, Jamarrah Jones’ home on Stuyvesant was lit up by the beams of a police light truck across the street, and that gave her and her family a sense of security. Jones, her mother, and her two children sat outside with the grill still lit after finishing their dinner. Having lived on the 600 block of Stuyvesant since April, Jones said she found the area is not as bad as its reputation.
“It’s okay,” she said as she held her toddler son. “Right here in this area is safe.”
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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