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Local officials discuss towns’ protection

While many applauded the work of the New Jersey State Police for raids on gangs in Plainfield, other towns may need to increase surveillance as a result.

According to an Associated Press report, about 70 gang members were arrested since the start of 2008 in an effort to curb gang-related violence in Union County.

Highlands Police Chief Joseph Blewett said that gang members have been known to infiltrate small towns with the hope of not being as noticeable.

Highlands officials have acknowledged a presence of gang members from both the Bloods and Crips street gangs in the town. However, Mayor Anna Little has taken a strong stance on the issue.

“The approach in Highlands is a zero tolerance policy to gang presence, activity or violence,” Little said. She noted the many town agencies and officials addressing the issue.

In addition to spreading information about gang activity to local high school students and parents, the borough implemented a street crimes unit (SCU) this year, Blewett said.

The new branch of the police department contains two detectives that investigate gang activity in addition to other duties in the department, Blewett said. A new K-9 unit in town will also be an asset to investigations this summer, he added.

Blewett said some of the ideas for the SCU came from the force’s work with the Keansburg Police Department, including its SCU.

Keansburg Police Chief Raymond O’Hare instituted the first SCU in Monmouth County during 2005, Deputy Chief Joseph Pigott said. The SCU’s initiation stemmed from a zero tolerance policy adopted in the borough that year.

“A lot of the gang members wound up in jail or left the town because of the zero tolerance policy,” Pigott explained.

The deputy chief was confident that the SCU was aware of who was in Keansburg as well as any newcomers. Patrolmen report suspicious activity to the SCU officers who also spend time on the street gathering information, Pigott said.

About 170 documented gang members have been present in the borough since 2004, Keansburg Detective John O’Connor said. The SCU official said the majority of those affiliations were sets of the Bloods street gang and the others included Crips, Latin Kings, Neta and Votos Locos.

O’Connor said the most important thing with battling gang violence or illegal activity is the documentation of the gang member. He noted that it is not illegal to be affiliated with a gang, but it can increase the punishment of a crime.

Both O’Connor and Blewett said their work with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office gang intelligence unit and State Police gang unit has been influential in the success so far in the towns.

Although Keansburg Mayor Lisa Strydio did not return calls for comment by press time, Little was positive about the police’s work.

“Highlands will be a safe place to live, work and play,” Little concluded.