Exactly. In BeLa and DTJC, you only see cops cruising around in their patrol cars. While it is nice and appreciated that a police presence is available, it is really, really disappointing that foot patrols (a well established effective practice) are not used more widely. We should use foot patrols as a way to encourage both officers and communities to interact in a more personal manner and to discourage petty crime. Look around and you will notice the streets are dirty thanks to litterers who don't think twice about disposing of their trash on the ground.

this is what policing is supposed to be.

I believe the more the police engage with the community the better - More foot patrols, more bike patrols, more police presence during school start and end times, more police during peak periods at transport hubs and stations, more police at the malls and shopping strips during peak periods .... all on foot or bikes and less in cars cruising.

I believe this is great, they can loiter around my neighborhood, everyday and anytime ... they can even bang on my door for a free 'cup-of-joe'

It's worth a shot, the methods that Fulop's PD use now aren't working, I hope it does something.

Quote:maybe the police should be having more conversations with the men on ocean avenue since we know that it is men who commit 90% of the crime

This just in! Police officer talks to civilian. More details at 6.

Wow, Earl at the JJ is scraping the bottom of the news barrel.

That's awesome!

Earl Morgan | For The Jersey Journal

Interesting, to say the least, on Sunday I witnessed what's become, well, unusual along Jersey City's Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. At the entrance of the shopping mall at Ege Avenue, a city police officer was sitting on the hood of his cruiser having a casual, friendly conversation with a black woman.

Just a block away, there was similar scene with a police cruiser parked at the curb, while an officer was out of his patrol vehicle having a conversation with another local civilian. This is a welcome change from what's become the norm; patrol cars cruising along King Drive, seemingly oblivious to the people they're pledged to protect and serve. It was, to say the least, a welcome sight.

Hopefully this is a manifestation of the heretofore unseen anti-crime initiative Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop mentioned during one of those rare times when he was actually engaging with the press, instead of deflecting the fourth estate with his shield, city spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.

During his rare meeting with the press, Fulop promised that a new batch of officers would begin patrolling the crime-plagued west and south police districts this week.

If the scene I described above is part of that initiative, it's certainly welcome, though belated. The warm June weather was almost bound to ratchet up crime in those areas and increase the sound of gunfire which has residents on edge.

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