So all should be quiet in HP now, right? (bad joke, I know).

This is actually totally scary and creepy and just underscores that for all of our community-building, particularly downtown, JC is the second largest city in the state and there are a lot of pros and cons with that. I know that every little bit we do to improve things counts and I still hope/pray that our own local crime rate resolves itself, but it will definitely take time.

In the meantime, I was in Asbury Park last weekend and while everyone was bonging on about redevelopment and gentrification (regentrification? i always get confused), all I could think about was how downtown JC is like Paris in comparison.

But I will admit that after a few drinks at a cute little bar in the "trendy" part of Asbury Park, I did consider checking out some seaside real estate...

New Jersey police arrest scores in effort to break "Bloods' gang
Home News Tribune Online 07/25/06
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Jersey and federal authorities took down a notoriously violent sect of the Bloods street gang today, fanning out across the state and arresting scores of
people, including four gang leaders who were directing operations from inside state prison.

The raids against the Nine Trey Gangsters happened concurrently early Tuesday in cities up and down New Jersey, including Paterson, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, Asbury Park, Keansburg, Atlantic City and Vineland. At least one leader was arrested in New York City.

State Police called it the largest gang sweep in state history.

More than 60 people had been arrested by noon today, with up to 40 more arrests expected. That represents more than a third of the gang's total membership in the state, including its "godfather'' and several top leaders, four of whom were already
behind bars, authorities said.

"The aim was to dismantle this set of the Bloods gang,'' said Anne Milgram, First Assistant Attorney General.

The suspects, most of whom will face racketeering charges, were being processed at regional police headquarters in Atlantic, Mercer and Passaic counties, set up to handle the volume from the sweep. They were then to be taken to Mercer County Jail to await arraignment.

Two Department of Corrections buses carrying suspects pulled in to the state police headquarters in Hamilton Township simultaneously at 1:30 p.m. today, escorted by more than a dozen police cars and two motorcycle patrols. Two more buses arrived at 1:40 p.m., before the first two were unloaded.

State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes called the operation the biggest in state history both in terms of number of gang members arrested and impact on the gang. A similar operation targeting the Latin Kings a couple of years ago took
up to 60 gang members off the streets, "and they still haven't recovered,'' Fuentes said.

Fuentes said the Nine Treys, also known as 9-3, were the "most violent and fear-invoking'' of the state's street gangs based on a 2004 statewide survey of gang activity, completed by 91 percent of the state's police departments.

The gang specializes in narcotics and weapons trafficking, extortion and assault, Fuentes said. Members are believed responsible for an unspecified number of murders and drive-by shootings. He said members have been known to go out looking for a random person to shoot.

During an 11-month investigation, state police infiltrated the gang, though agency spokespeople would not specify exactly how because the investigation is ongoing. The sweep involved 500 law enforcement personnel on the streets.

Police seized heroin, crack, marijuana and guns while carrying out the raids, though total quantities had not been determined this afternoon. The FBI, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Corrections Department, New York police, and federal
immigration department are among the agencies that assisted the Department of Criminal Justice in the takedown.

The faction's so-called godfather, David "Duke'' Allen, 32, of Newark, allegedly continued to direct gang activity from inside New Jersey State Prison. Authorities said another incarcerated sect leader, James "Rell'' Pringle, who has
national status within the gang, ordered disciplinary actions and hits on fellow gang members from prison.

"They found a way of getting information to their intermediaries,'' Fuentes said. "They were able to continue the
information flow.''

Another leader, Emilio Crespo, was arrested in Manhattan.