New police efforts see gun crimes reduced in Asbury Park
Arrests up 30 percent as compared to last year
Data from the Asbury Park Police Department shows gun crimes and homicides in the city have decreased.
From the date new initiatives were put into action on May 15 through the period of Nov. 30, which is the last day the department has confirmed numbers available, the city has seen a decrease in homicides, total victims shot and confirmed shots fired incidents as compared to the same May through November reporting period in 2013, according to Acting Police Chief Anthony Salerno.
New police initiative include walking patrols in high-crime areas and increasing the Street Crimes unit to a daily detail, as opposed to their previous 4-day per week schedule.
Data from the department shows one homicide took place from mid-May through November of 2013 and none occurred this year, Salerno said.
Total victims shot during that same time period in 2013 totaled 16, whereas this year’s data shows three victims were shot.
Shots fired incidents are down 155 percent, according to department data. A total of 23 shots fired incidents were confirmed between May through November in 2013 whereas in 2014 there were nine.
During the period of January through October of both years arrests went up from 1,991 to 2,617, an increase of 681, or about 30 percent, as compared to the same reporting period last year. Data that compared equal periods of time provides an apples-to-apples comparison, he said.
“While I don’t think you can arrest your way out of the problem completely, it does take the violent crime offender out of the equation and makes for safer neighborhoods,” said Salerno.
The initiatives are not band-aids and will continue to be utilized, Salerno said, as they have seemingly proven their effectiveness in crime reduction and are generating positive response from the public, who have requested walking posts for years, he said.
“Police are starting to realize that really good people live in bad neighborhoods, and the public is starting to interact with the officers and realizing who they are as well,” he said.
The department has also increased its public and online presence.
“By being involved in [the Asbury Park Community Action Network] and meeting the public, we are finding out what the community needs and wants. Also, the connection with [social media site] Nextdoor.com, where every time a citizen who is on it has a question or a problem we address it and take action,” he said.
He also credited other agencies that have worked to combat crime in the city, including large-scale investigations and dragnets by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office [MCPO] and state Drug Enforcement Agency which have helped removed drug users, gang members and violent crime offenders from the city’s streets.
The prosecutor’s office also spends time with the department’s narcotics and gang unit, especially during the summer months, and have increased the amount of detectives in their satellite office to assist with cases and has helped clear the violent offender cases.
In-house intitiatives have also benefitted the department, he said. Salerno reallocated some officers who were on administrative duty and placed them back on the street, and he’s taken a hard stance on excessive use of sick time.
“We had a tremendous abuse and excessive use of sick time that went unchallenged,” he said. “We started to challenge abuses, excesses and to manage those situations closer.”
Those “abuses” accounted for over 200 work days, or over 2,000 lost man-hours, he said. Getting those hours back puts more officers on the street without hiring additional officers.
Of the department’s 84 total officers, three are out due to on the job injuries and two are on light duty from injuries they received while at work. Salerno recently requested 10 additional officers, six through a federal COPS grant the city received and four to replace officers that either retired or left the city to work for another agency, he said.
That would bring the department to a total of 94 officers, just four shy of the state Division of Criminal Justice’s recommended total of 98.
The Acting Police Chief has done a fine job utilizing our PD resources where most needed, said City Manager John “Jack” Kelly, who was appointed in January.
Salerno took the reins on the department shortly after being promoted to deputy chief, when former Chief Mark Kinmon announced his intent to retire in late June.
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