FROM THE EAST ORANGE RECORD (Worrall Community Newspapers)
THURSDAY MARCH 9, 2006
By Eric A. Bryant, Staff Writer
EAST ORANGE, NJ - Reaffirming his commitment to crime prevention, Mayor Robert L. Bowser vowed in January to continue his efforts to “reduce crime and the perception of crime” in East Orange.
It appears he has made good on that promise so far.
According to Detective Andrew DiElmo, the department’s public-information officer, there were no major crimes reported to police in East Orange during the past week.
DiElmo attributed the recent decrease to the department’s more active approach to crime prevention. Bowser stated in January that surveillance equipment had been installed along Lenox Avenue and Amherst Street – two avenues which police said have a history of criminal activity – to stem drug transactions.
“We’ve had these new initiatives within the police department: creating new units, attacking the problems with proactive policing,” said DiElmo. “Certainly within a year and a half we’ve made significant progress in stamping out the crime that we had.”
DiElmo said that if the department continues its policing procedures, “in the next two to four years, we’re going to have a major impact.”
The redevelopment of Main Street, combined with the department’s aggressiveness in law enforcement, also will reduce crime, said Di Elmo.
“This will put a message out to the criminals that ‘you’re not going to do business here,’” said DiElmo.
Main Street’s redevelopment will spur a revitalization that will change the demographics of the city in a positive way, said Di Elmo.
DiElmo said another law enforcement tool that has helped to curtail crime is the TIPS Hotline. The hotline allows residents who have information about a crime to report that information anonymously.
“The tip is then followed up by investigative personnel,” said DiElmo.
The department also has a Quality of Life Hotline, in which residents can address what they feel to be suspicious or potential criminal activity.
“Certainly all these initiatives are correlating into a lower crime rate,” DiElmo ensured.
In addition, the city’s new master plan – a sort of compass or road map that tells city officials where they want the city to be in major areas over the next 10 years – also addresses crime reduction.
The report calls for the creation of at least one police substation in each of the city’s five wards.
Furthermore, Essex County is receiving a large increase in federal help to curtail gang activity. In mid-February, Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie announced the formation of a joint task force that has been addressing the county’s gangs and more than 100 gang subgroups.