---

The relatives of Dericke Williams, who was fatally shot on Sept. 21, attended last night’s council meeting and implored local parents and city officials to find a way to stop gun violence.

Williams was the third young man to fall victim to shooting homicide in the month of September. No arrests have been made in any of the three cases.

“Why is it that there’s police presence on the other side of the tracks and not North Asbury?” Angela Durant, of Neptune, asked. “I believe everybody deserves to have security no matter what area of town you live.”

Williams was shot at Sixth Avenue and Bond Street in the northeast area of town [pictured above]. Samantha Durant, a cousin of Williams, echoed the concern that there weren’t enough police on the East Side when Williams was shot.

Police Chief Mark Kinmon said there was minimal police coverage in the northeast part of town that night due to recent shootings on the West Side.

“We did have the majority of our officers assigned to where we’ve had a lot of recent shootings and a lot of trouble,” Kinmon said. “We do it all the time. We didn’t abandon the East Side. This is the first time in my career someone’s made the statement that we police the West Side too much.”

Angela and Samantha Durant also suggested the city look at other measures to decrease violence. Angela Durant suggested the city look at municipalities like Newark for guidance. The city could declare a state of emergency, she said.

“Whatever needs to be done, I will volunteer my time,” she said. “Something’s got to give here.”

Samantha Durant questioned why the police were unable to catch two shooters who allegedly rode away on bicycles in other shooting incidents.

“We can’t catch somebody on a bicycle? These are not big, grown men doing these crimes. They’re kids — 25 years old,” she said.

Karen Banks, who identified herself as Williams’s sister-in-law, noted the area of Sixth Avenue and Bond Street is especially dark at night. She also said the city’s violence problem is mostly due to parenting choices.

“If your child comes in the house with something they have no business having, call the cops,” she said. “If you’re cleaning the room and you find a gun, call the police. I’m so sick of people pointing the finger here and there. If you don’t know your children, something’s wrong with you … Turn in your kids, turn in your nephews, nieces and cousins. That’s what’s going to stop it. Stop leaving it up to everybody else to do the job.”

Kinmon also talked about the city police department’s efforts to cut down on crime at the meeting.

“In the last five or six years, we’ve taken 100 guns off the streets,” he said. “A few weeks ago, we took an assault rifle. Last night [Tuesday] on Comstock, we did a search warrant and found a TEC-9 machine gun.”

The city’s police force sees about 2,000 arrests per year and “agencies from all over the state are here,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure [a fatal shooting] doesn’t happen again.”

---