BrightMoment wrote: Captain McDonough <jcpdeastdistrict@yahoo.com> to east <jcpdeastdistrict@yahoo.com> date Oct 25, 2007 2:48 PM subject Community Compstat Presentation To whom it may concern, Crime statistics reported by the Jersey Journal on October 15, 2007 were misleading. Please review the Uniform Crime Data statistics reported to the Federal Government by the Jersey City Police Department from 1990 to 2006. If anyone has questions relative to the crime reporting data please attend our first Community Compstat presentation on November 28, 2007 at PS 4 on Bright St at 7PM. In the interim click on the JCPD web site for an updated crime report at http://www.njjcpd.org/ Regards, Captain Brian McDonough East District Commander on our JCPD web site to which depicts for a detailed analyis as it relates Message from the Chief & the Director about Crime Statistics (Comparative Stats & Graphics Included) .Please take time to review a message from Chief Commey and Director Jefferson on the JCPD web site as it depicts a 16 year time line. relates to Uniform Crime Reports Jersey City Crime Statistics over a (Comparative Stats & Graphics Included)

From Bright Momments repost...

Captain McDonough wrote:

To whom it may concern,

Crime statistics reported by the Jersey Journal on
October 15, 2007 were misleading. Please review the
Uniform Crime Data statistics reported to the Federal
Government by the Jersey City Police Department from
1990 to 2006...

creativeconquests wrote:
I have only lived here since July and I can truthfully tell you the streets in downtown feel more risky than they did just four months ago. More seedy people on the street cat calling me, swapping 'packages'

From JJ Saturday
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

more stations, but how will Jersey City pay for it?


Jersey City's top cop wants to expand the department by at least 200 officers, break up the city's district system and re-establish precincts, a move that would create additional stations throughout the city.
Police Chief Tom Comey's wish list, however, remains just that: A wish list.

Not only are there questions about the costs associated with such proposals, it also remains uncertain to many whether they would actually reduce crime or just bloat the city's already ailing budget.

However, Comey says, maintaining the status quo fails to address the city's sweeping demographic changes, as development expands to traditionally industrial strongholds and the population continues to grow.

"We are being asked to take on additional responsibilities with the same amount of resources," Comey said, noting that the department is also required to handle additional responsibilities in a post-9/11 world.

Currently, the police department has 889 officers. Adding 200 more would still place the department behind Newark, which has a higher population and more than 1,300 police officers.

"I wish I could say more cops meant less crime, but I don't know what that really means," said City Councilwoman Viola Richardson, a former police officer. "We have more cops now than we had in a while, and we are still having problems."

As for the financial implications of increasing the department by roughly 22 percent, Richardson said, "I don't know if we can sell that to a public who is already struggling with taxes."

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said he supports the notion of adding more officers, pointing to the fact that he has increased the department's overall numbers by roughly 100 officers since coming into office in 2004.

However, he said financial constraints make it hard - if not impossible - to grant his police chief's wishes.

"Of course I would love to do that, but I don't know that we have the money," Healy said.

In addition, Comey says the department's current four-district system is antiquated and he would like to re-establish a precinct system that would put more station houses in the city.

"In order to continue to service the community, we need to redefine our geographic area," Comey says.

Healy said the precinct idea is something that can be discussed, but he is skeptical about the city's ability to purchase property, as well as its ability to operate and manage property.

"I just don't think the city is good at owning property," Healy said.

Richardson is skeptical about the precinct proposal, saying more stations does not necessarily translate to a higher police presence because officers don't say in the stations.

"Officers come to the station, then they leave in a car to go on their shifts, so I am not sure a building means a higher presence," said Richardson.

Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said, "It's a great idea, but you need to balance great ideas with costs to the taxpayers.

"If I had a choice between more police officers or more buildings, given the budget, I would choose more police officers," he added.

Comey said the department also needs to modernize. He would like to add to the 78 cameras currently in use throughout the city, as well as equip police cars to receive live video feeds from cameras that would give officers eyes on the street before going to a scene of an incident.

Other proposals include creating a central processing unit in the department that would allow officers to quickly process people and get back on the street and increased information about crime prevention and levels on the department's Web site.

Friday, October 19, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

FIFTH OF A SERIES

Court ...................................
However, no matter which way they looked at the numbers, they put the district in a positive light. When numbers rose, it meant more arrests. When numbers dropped, it meant better crime prevention.

And that raises questions about the cornerstone of the program: accountability.
.......................

2nd wrote:
On Crime Being Up Or Down Or All Around ....

.............
I've been aware of police presence, in cars, on bikes, on corners, etc., mostly during the day, and sometimes, at night.

I'm not altogether satisfied with a discussion that leaves neighbors with the alternative of either calls for police or political resignations, ad hominem attacks against posters who express their concerns, or neighborhood watch groups being characterized as 'vigilante', which, for better or worse, they, most certainly, are not. Those participating in such groups should be applauded for taking some action. But those deciding not to go that particular route never should be given cause to remain silent about their anxieties of city-life.

I am most concerned about predatory crime.

And the distance between (1) the debate on compilations of 'reported' crime statistics translating to methods which will increase actual safety and (2) neighbors who want to feel, and actually be safe, from such crime, is a great one, thus far, to cover. Statistics are wonderful to discuss, in the house/senate and in the tower of academia for policy decision-making, but I'm on the ground floor, with most of the rest, and statistical debate means little to one dealing with the aftermath of predation.

In the meantime, I make NO claims as an expert in forms of martial training, but I did learn, early, that although one, naturally, may not have violent inclinations, one still may be subject to the violent inclinations of others, threatened or otherwise. I hope to convey that individuals, or groups, can take some measures to provide the deterrence or prevention 'factor' that police cannot provide to all, at all times:

Awareness is key. Eyes open, all the time, scan the periphery. Get to know the neighbors. A smile, a nod, recognizing who resides in the vicinity and who doesn't, for starters. Travel in groups, to and from, if at all possible. No headphones or ipods should be seen, at night. They are common targets for theft, and they prevent your audio sensitivity, which is required when lights are low.

Attempt to walk the routes of high visibility, where lamps are working, even if it's an extra block or two. Be prepared to cross the street to stay in lit areas. Where car traffic is not too congested to make it dangerous, walk the middle of the street. If aware, you can always move laterally, between parked cars, back to the sidewalk. Heels are great, but sneakers are better. Combat boots are best. Sexy, and practical.

Take a cab, if and when you're not feeling safe for the walk home, it's not super-expensive. I've done it from the Grove St. PATH station, for a mere five blocks. Take cards/numbers for cab companies for later reference, when in need.

Have your cell-phone visible, and dialed in to the local dispatch (as I understand - please corrrect me if I'm wrong - 201 547 5477), ready to go. People appear to talk to themselves, via headsets on cellies, all the time. You can do this at night, as well. Also, not a bad measure to make intermittent phone calls to/from a friend's place, to ensure you're timing is correct.

Mace is illegal to purchase/possess in New Jersey, among many other items of potential protective value. OC (oleoresin capsicum), however, is not. Fox Labs, among some circles, is known to be the best. It is not an 'attack-stopper' in close-proximity; It may inhibit sight and cause debilitating sinus inflammation in an attacker. But be prepared to spray and run.

From todays JJ...............

"People are very concerned," Sam Stoia, vice president of the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association, said.

"People feel that we need more of a police presence on the streets, and we are not getting it. The city tries to hold an increase of taxes over our heads, but we are not satisfied with our return on our taxes now. We have sewer and flooding problems, and nothing this city has done has increased our home values."
............
"That does not seem adequate," Stoia said.

McDonough, though, said he is satisfied with the level of resources, pointing to department numbers that show significant drops in stolen vehicles and burglaries from last year to this year.

"Of course you would always like more people," he said, "but I feel comfortable with what we have."

BrightMoment wrote:

The difference is I don't believe in tortured misreadings, conjectures, hyperbole twisting comments by parsing tea leaves as you and FAB do and by your own statements see yourself in some heroic posturing as "man against the machine"

....assuage their ego here where you won't be challenged by the Captain or the police.

What are you afraid of nugnfutz? Afraid that you might find answers to your questions in person from the Captain?

Well, once again you've used the phrase "vigilante group" to describe what four women founded out of concerns of crime and safety downtown. MOST of our members are women and NONE of us are vigilantes and your slur is contemptible.

nugnfutz wrote:

Think the difference between you BM, myself and FAB...is that we're questioning the machine and trying to understand the stats and explanations.

I have no problem in "questioning the machine...", nugnfutz, since it was I back in fall of 2005 who first questioned the Captain at a DJCW mtg on the specific breakdown of crime stats for the East District. I posted an analysis of those comp crime stats here back in 2005 which has unfortunately been deleted here by the Webmaster (along with over 80+% of all the content on this site!)during a software upgrade.

The difference is I don't believe in tortured misreadings, conjectures, hyperbole twisting comments by parsing tea leaves as you and FAB do and by your own statements see yourself in some heroic posturing as "man against the machine"

Maybe you should layoff watching Heroes for awhile.

Might be that you're too close to the problem to challenge whats issued in the press.

I'm just one among many volunteers of DJCW, all of us neighbors, the major difference being few of us engage in internet postings preferring to meet face-to-face with their neighbors and the police to ask these questions rather than assuage their ego here where you won't be challenged by the Captain or the police.

What are you afraid of nugnfutz? Afraid that you might find answers to your questions in person from the Captain?

[...]

And you've just illustrated why I have zero interest in joining your vigilante group.

Well, once again you've used the phrase "vigilante group" to describe what four women founded out of concerns of crime and safety downtown. MOST of our members are women and NONE of us are vigilantes and your slur is contemptible.

We actively meet on a monthly basis with the police to discuss current crimes, issues of concern and to organize neighborhood patrols that are used to show a watchful presence by other neighbors in problem areas. If you read the link here for the DJCW it goes into more detail, but nothing about those patrols or our group is as you state.

BrightMoment wrote:
Quote:

fat-ass-bike wrote:
Quote:

That bustling activity - transportation and stores, for example - explains some of the high volume of cop calls, Capt. Brian McDonough, commander of the East District, said, noting, too, that the active neighborhood associations in the area also translate to many reports of suspicious activity.

By making that comment, its hard to work out if the Capt. is suggesting that the neighborhood associations are helping the situation or their efforts just 'translate' to many reports.

The comment can been seen as a derogative one!

FAB, the reporter, Jarrett Renshaw, did NOT use quotes but used a journalistic device of "characterizing" what the Captain said and then chooseing as a reporter/writer to only write what Jarret characterised as the Captain "noting":

"...that the active neighborhood associations in the area also translate to many reports of suspicious activity."

From a journalistic POV, your "FAB interpretation" of what Jarret wrote was "noted" by the Captain, is just that, your interpretation.

The article states a fact the reporter says was noted by the Captain: "...active neighborhood associations in the area also translate to many reports of suspicious activity."

Neither the Captain or the writer characterize what was stated as having a derogatory meaning. Only you and nugnfutz do, and perhaps others who don't read closely.

As I previously stated, anyone who has been to any of the 3years of monthly meetings the DJCW has held would know that the Captain has nothing but good things to say about ALL neighborhood groups and particularly the DJCW who the PD monthly reports in detail what transpired with activities in downtown JC.

fat-ass-bike wrote:
Quote:

That bustling activity - transportation and stores, for example - explains some of the high volume of cop calls, Capt. Brian McDonough, commander of the East District, said, noting, too, that the active neighborhood associations in the area also translate to many reports of suspicious activity.

By making that comment, its hard to work out if the Capt. is suggesting that the neighborhood associations are helping the situation or their efforts just 'translate' to many reports.

The comment can been seen as a derogative one!

murican wrote:
I think that all parts of Jersey City ESPECIALLY the MLK corridor need more open space, more library branches, more community centers, after school centers, and recreation centers where children, families and teens can safely go to play, study and relax.

Many latch-key children have no properly supervised safe refuge until their parents get home from work. Very few parents can afford to stay at home with their children in this economy.

There, is a sad lack of amenities for families and youth who just want to lead normal, violent-free, crime-free lives.

From today's Jersey Journal a preview of Saturday's article..........

Saturday: The city's top cop wants to retool the department to meet today's challenges. But the changes would require more money from the city's taxpayers, and it's unclear whether there is the political will to push them through..

(Also from today's JJ in relation to Ward F......)

In addition, Comey said, the number of "high-priority" calls in the area puts a strain on "limited" police resources. Each of the city's four districts is staffed equally, he said, so when police respond to these calls, it leaves other areas vulnerable and without a police presence.