A typical council meeting last Wednesday erupted into a passionate discussion of the city’s recent increase in gun violence.
Citizens’ comments included suggestions on how to help, as well as a few barbs.
Asbury resident Myra Campbell suggested the code enforcement and police departments work together to reduce blight in the city.
“We can get rid of some of the individuals that are undesirable by hiring more code enforcement,” she said. “Paint up the boarded houses. There’s a house across the street from me and I personally painted it because I don’t want to look at the decayed wood on the boarded-up house. At least it gives an appearance that things are not as bad as they are.”
Another citizen, who identified herself as a cousin of the 11-year-old girl who was recently shot in the neck when a bullet came into her living room, took the microphone next.
“I want to know what the city is doing to address this violence in Asbury Park,” she said. “How many more children have to die before we even look at trying to find a solution?”
“We’re doing everything that possibly can be done,” Mayor Ed Johnson said. “To say nothing is being done and more of our kids are dying, that’s just not true.”
Then, following a heated exchange between city manager Terence Reidy and Duane Small, a citizen who recently filed a petition to change the city’s form of government, Johnson put his foot down.
“I’m not going to put up with this,” Johnson said. “How in the world do we expect our children to treat each other better when we treat each other badly? That’s a question we all have to ask … It’s not our kids we need to be ashamed of. We need to be ashamed of ourselves. Every single body. Because if this is the example, then god help us all.”
Former city councilman Jim Keady asked the mayor for more specifics about what the city is doing about the violence problem.
Johnson responded that the city has formed a group called the Asbury Park Community Development Initiative, which has been meeting for more than a year. Comprised of city officials, residents and business owners, the group focuses on social services and workforce development and training. Members have worked to ensure practical steps are being taken rather than just discussed, said Johnson.
“From day one,” the Mayor said, “our question is, ‘What is the action item that is coming out of this meeting?'”
The group has organized job fairs and built up the town’s recreation department, for which there will be an information session on May 5. Parents will be able to find out about summer recreation programs for their children at the session.
The city has also worked on its own branch of the statewide Mayors Wellness Campaign initiative. This program is designed to aid municipal governments in educating their citizens on personal health issues.
“We believe living a healthy life is part of the solution to this whole program — taking charge of your health as a family, individual or a child,” Johnson said.
The city also has additional police “walking, biking and in the car,” he said. Also, Johnson said, the police and prosecutor’s office have undertaken “a lot of prevention and a lot of mentoring.”
The mayor said he’s also spoken to former gang members and helped them with resume-building and workforce development.
But “if all these initiatives are underway … and the people in the community are this upset and feel nothing is being done, we clearly have a communication problem,” said Keady, the former councilman.
City Manager Terry Reidy discussed other groups working to improve the city, such as the Fatherhood Empowerment Project, which works out of the Mercy Center through funding from Interfaith Neighbors. That group met recently at the West Side Community Center, and “members of the community were well-represented. It was a real, very healthy give-and-take,” Reidy said.
Also, a public information session will take place next Tuesday night at the Boys and Girls Club of Asbury Park. Those in attendance will have a chance to talk to city officials about the violence.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this,” Reidy said. “I think the police department is doing an excellent job doing what they do, but it’s not about that. It’s really about the community and all the resources coming together.”
Finally, Police Chief Mark Kinmon detailed some of the the police department’s efforts. In the last two to three years, the police department has decreased the number of drug-related incidents and complaints in town from 1100 per year to 200 to 300 per year, he said.
The department has three officers assigned to drug and gang task forces — one from the Asbury Park department, one from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s gang task force.
The police department has taken almost 110 guns off the streets in the past three to four years, Kinmon said. That figure does not include the gun buyback program organized by the county Prosecutor’s Office. Last year through that program, officials took in an additional 100 guns over the course of one weekend.
Also, the chief challenged the widespread idea that all of the recent gun violence is gang-related. Some of it, Kinmon said, involves disparaging remarks posted through social media outlets like Facebook.
“There’s so much more to it than just [gang affiliation],” he said. “Some of these kids, they’ve known each other for 20 years. They’ve grown up together … Is there some gang affiliation? Yeah. I’d be lying to you if I said otherwise. But there’s much, much more to it,” he said.
