This is going to continue and escalate unless some sort of beefed up patrol/plan addresses it.... What's next--an armed home invasion? I really think/wish our TC/Police/Town leaders would address this publicly. Until then, we remain vulnerable.

What we need is some sort of citizen's meeting to address this.....

very scary, I imagine the parking deck is going to make the situation much more dangerous.

Demand action, this is out of control
policedept@millburntwp.org

Gregory G. Weber, Chief of Department
Millburn Police Department
435 Essex Street
Millburn, New Jersey 07041
973-564-7001 (business)
973-379-1366 (fax)

Write and call the police dept. I just wrote an email. Will call later. This is ridiculous. Criminals will keep coming here since they can get away with it. I live close to the train station and my husband commutes daily.

shaimoff@millburntwp.org

Sandra H. Haimoff, Mayor

i got an idea....lets arm the valets !!!!!!

dm....this is "out of control"? A single event is not an epidemic.

Not to minimize the event, but this is not an uncommon event in the US. Crime is still present.

...this is not an uncommon event in the US. Crime is still present.

This is why there is a problem-not going to accept this premise sorry.

Crime is rising, look at the amount of robberies lately in this area-it has gone up significantly. Why accept it?

I am also concerned and am sure that the MPD is similarly concerned.

My comment directed toward dm's "out of control" characterization which was hyperbolic.

Truly out of control… MPD is not doing their job. Disregard unlocked cars, but home robberies and mugging at gun point… Should we hire more police, a private security force, or anything else… something has to send a message that the town will no longer tolerate that sort of abuse.

+1 j s beckerman

Gosh--I would hope the MPD to be, at the very least, concerned. My sense is that we are dealing with business as usual, though. I would like to see a strong public statement that crime will not be tolerated in Millburn and I would like to see the Mayor and TC set up a meeting with concerned citizens to address basics such as:

- info on # of crimes in recent time, actual trends (vs perceived), what other towns are reporting
- safety tips--obvious ones and not so obvious ones
- a brand new hotline for reporting suspicious activity
- a communications plan for alerting citizens
- PR statement made to the general public with intent of warning criminals that Millburn is not open season
- a discussion around need for neighborhood watch
- plan of action for implementing more feet on the street

Sadly, the unimaginative and reactive leadership team in this town is unlikely to do any of this!
-

mommakiddies...I agree on your last comment re: the mediocre town council.

Here is one from Livingston, South Orange and Maplewood respectively. Crime happens. With the economy the way ti is I would not be surprised if the rate is increasing somewhat. But it certainly is not "out of control" or worse in Millburn than in surrounding towns.

http://livingston.patch.com/articles/police-blotter-assault-by-auto-armed-robbery-and-burglary

http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/action-by-quick-thinking-carjacking-victim-leads-to-arrest

http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/police-seeking-three-suspects-in-kensington-terrace-robbery

Oh and lets not forget that Christie is refusing to appoint judges to the Essex county courts in some arcane tit for tat battle with Codey and Rice. As a result proceedings in the Essex county courts are slowing to a crawl. There is plenty of blame to go around way beyond the borders of our town.

@Mark: Stuff happens but how you react to them is what makes the difference. There are a myriad of socio economic factors that have led us to this point. However we got here, the fact is that we have had TWO armed incidents relating to cars in the past few months--remember the car jacking in the Short Hills Mall where the victim was beaten?

So we can sit back and say "oh well, this is not a catastrophe, I've seen worse" and give our leaders a pass because other towns are in the same boat as us. Alternatively, we could rise up to a higher standard and imaginatively lead all of the neighboring towns in addressing this issue (see my list above.)

I'll tell you what I tell my kids: "I don't care who started it and who did what. I only care it's finished" and to a large extent, that is how i feel about this crime wave. It must be addressed or--make no mistake about it--it will deteriorate further until something very very bad happens that makes the rest of the town sit up and take notice.

Personally-I prefer the proactive approach.

....but maybe we should add a strongly worded statement towards Christie to the list relative to the excellent point you are making about the Essex County judge!

Instead of arguing, please use your energy to call the mayor, town hall, police department.

FYI, the lack of judges in Essex is stopping matrimonial trials on economic issues and heavy-duty + lengthy civil trials, not criminal cases.

I'm confused. Do people think all crime can be prevented, and that one carjacking at the train station and one at the mall means things are out of control? I mean, insofar as it is is impossible to control every thing, things are out of control.

Otherwise it is irrationally hyperbolic.

There was an armed robbery and attempted carjacking at the South Orange train station in September at 5 in the morning. I'm not sure if Patch reported on that one. But I can tell you that the police hung around for a few days after and then quickly disappeared. This is becoming a huge problem all over Essex and the townships need to address it.

I agree with Kris and there needs to be an increased police presence on our streets throughout the day and night. We do not see police drive by on my street more than once a month. It should be at least once a day!

Acton makes a good point. You can't control everything, so inherently "things" are "out of control". Indeed, our entire lives are "out of control". Making a blanket statement that things are "out of control" adds no value and the main point is lost on the reader- there has been an increase in violent crime in our town and what's to be done about it? Domestic violence and carjackings do seem to be more frequent in MSH these days. However, it may be prudent to evaluate what is the level of crime here related to similarly situated communities in our area? Perhaps a comparison of violent crime increases in neighboring communities like Chatham and Livingston would be appropriate before demanding the police do this and the police do that. By the way, the police already have a hotline for reporting suspicious activity- its called 911. If you feel the activity is not of an emergent nature and do not wish to

tie up 911 operators from true emergencies you of course may always call the police department's main switchboard and report the activity that way. This is something I've done in reporting suspicious vehicles and activity in my neighborhood. Police work is not easy and when departments are undermanned and understaffed the citizens should be prepared to be vigilant in protecting our neighborhood's safety. It is not the job of the police force to ensure people lock their car doors when thievery is rampant. That's just common sense. I suggest everyone take a step back and use some of that common sense prior to making all sorts of crazy demands for more police, more patrols, more hotlines and generally lambasting the police force and the job they are doing. We live in a community where violent crime is not the norm. I'm sure we all wish to keep it that way.

Blanket.....I would just add to your comment that REGARDLESS of how under staffed or adequetly staffed a police department is, CITIZENS SHOULD ALWAYS BE VIGILANT IN PROTECTING A NEIGHBORHOODS SAFETY and partner with police toward minimizing crime.

What's even more worrisome is that Millburn Township is getting ready to approve for a SUPER Stop and Shop to be built on Millburn Avenue (old site of Saks Fifth). This will bring hundreds and hundreds of out town strangers who will most likely cut through our safe streets and crime will likely increase as they notice the accessibility to so many of our homes and cars - let alone our children safely playing on our yards. Our safe haven is about to get rocked even more with these individuals wandering our streets and bringing even more traffic. Not only should we request security to be stepped up and neighbors to become more vigilant -- we should also speak out at the town meeting on the subject of this massive store - Monday, Dec. 19th at 7 pm - Town Hall. Isn't it enough that we've had several house break ins, attempted snatching of kids playing on their front yards, and now this?! Please come to the meeting on Monday.

+1 dm

What attempted snatching of kids in front yard????? Did I miss this!!!

Crime is a major problem and needs to be dealt with actively and firmly. But hysteria is also in and of itself a problem. And there is some of that going on here today.

@mommakiddies -- there are police blotters on two reported "attempted luring of kids" one was a 9 yr old in Springfield; the other was in Millburn and the mom called police and spread the word on the town email group.
@MarkDS - the accessibility to customers of this Super Stop and Shop seems a primary issue being considered by the Millburn Planning board - if they approve access from Millburn Ave - traffic will increase to an unbearable level; individuals will wander our streets as they circumvent the bottle necking likely to occur - and who knows that type of "characters" will be visiting this GIANT grocer with easy access to our nearby schools, houses of worship and our sleepy streets. Really? We need this with so many other shopping options within less than 2 miles? If this project is moving forward, our voices need to be heard so that the traffic access in/out of that place is from Morris Avenue -- NOT Millburn and try to prevent people wandering our streets and adding to what's been happening as of late.

Unfortunately, this town is still run like Mayberry R.F.D. not 2011.

Hysteria, huh? Well--you are entitled to your opinion. To me--it's community vigilance. If a neighbor gets robbed at gunpoint at 6am down the street, and it's not an isolated incident, then I don't see how expressing that it's a problem is "hysteria".

You can call it hysteria, but I call it vigilance. Personal vigilance and also community vigilance.... I have seen you way more upset about parking decks and leaf pick up and none of that is life threatening.

Everyone loves to beat their chest when something bad happens and then go out with all kinds of future plans. Well--right now-we have a chance to do something about it BEFORE this escalates to a much more unbearable level.

I'd like for the Mayor and TC to meet with us and provide us with:

- info on # of crimes in recent time, actual trends (vs perceived), what other towns are reporting
- safety tips--obvious ones and not so obvious ones
- a brand new hotline for reporting suspicious activity
- a communications plan for alerting citizens
- PR statement made to the general public with intent of warning criminals that Millburn is not open season
- a discussion around need for neighborhood watch
- plan of action for implementing more feet on the street

There is a system called "Nixle" that is used by police departments around the county to notify their residents by e-mail and/or text about crimes in their neighborhood, street closures due to accidents, etc. More information is available at www.nixle.com

My husband and I were carjacked right by our house on Wyoming Ave at 1045pm on a sat night last June. It was technically Maplewood but just feet from Millburn proper. These are not isolated incidents but a warning of what's to continue if our PD does not clamp down. I will also sent my comments to PD and Town Hall. Folks, this is very serious.

Livingston schools experienced two break-ins the recent months. Livingston PD have done a great job in solving both cases. The big problem is not the police. It is the Essex county justice system. There are so much backlog that the county prosecutor's Initial Screening Unit needs to screen out the cases!! Look at their stats. In 2009, ISU reviewed 16,501 cases and screened out 8,342 cases! Those got sent back to municipal courts and downgraded to disorderly persons offenses.
An example is Livingson middle school burglary case. If I remember it correctly, it got sent back to municipal court with a downgraded charge of disorderly conduct. The suspected were convicted, but no jail time, suspended jail time or anything like that. The fine was even less than the value of things they took, I think.

Burglary may sound like a very small issue to the county prosecutor but I think it is a big deal as these are schools which affect the safety and securty of our children. This is on top of home invasions which have become regular occurrences in the suburban parts of our county now.

Quite a day in Millburn. http://www.northjersey.com/news/135607668_Millburn_police_officer_draws_gun_as_driver_races_wrong_way_through_town.html

http://patch.com/A-p15B

I remember an attempted carjacking at gunpoint in the parking lot of what was then Freshfields (before it became Whole Foods, then Trader Joe's). And there was also an attempted car jacking in someone's driveway in South Mountain a few years ago.

I would imagine the victim of the incident seems unconcerned whether or not is was "isolated".

Yes and another Mall break. My family moved here in 1964. I've been back here for the past 11 years. In between, I lived in three or four places, including Newark. In most of those places, neighbors looked out for each other. The population here has changed, some do, some don't. Here in the Wyoming section, some of us still take care of each other. Ok, so, one thing I'm sure of. Make the Mall get its own police force, or increase the Mall's tax rate so we can get more police. In my opinion, protecting the Short Hills Mall is not serving the community. I don't give a damn if someone steals expensive crap from Nordstroms. And if you go to shop at any mall, you have to keep your wits about you when parking. Put a club on your steering wheel like I did when I lived in Newark. As far as the car jacking at the SH station goes, I don't want to comment too much because I'm still angry about a parking deck in Millburn. We all know that over 60% of the commuters parking at the Millburn station drive there from SH. Maybe a parking deck/garage in SH would make it safer, you could have valet service and your own security.

not to add to the fire--but there was also an attempted hijacking with an gun at the mall earlier this Fall--the victim was severely beaten. These are no isolated incidents; this is a scary pattern.

It definitely seems that we are seeing an increase in crime, including a disturbing trend toward increasingly violent crime. My question is this: do we rely upon the Township Committee and the Police Department to take appropriate action or do we citizens need to mobilize and be involved in determining the solution? Given the response to the recent weather-related disasters, I'm thinking the latter.....

I noticed on the way home tonight that in the parking lot where this occurred there are three (3) lights out. That certainly does not help.

I know from the past that these lights are the towns responsibility.

A friend of mine, new to the area and pays well over $60k in taxes on Chestnut in Short Hills had a terrible experience with the police just 2 weeks ago. Her house alarm went off at 3 am, the alarm company called and told her where the alarm was tripped and asked her if she wanted them to contact the police.
The woman and all SEVEN of her kids were home alone (husband traveling) and she said absolutely since where the alarm went off definitely meant that an intruder was trying to get in. The alarm co. contacted the police while she was on the phone. Police FINALLY arrived 25 mins later - she said they were actually YAWNING! When she asked what took them so long, she was told that there were only 3 patrol cars on duty "because of budget cuts" and that 2 were on routine traffic stops and 1 was at a "domestic". Please. I told her that she should go down to the station and ask to see the activity report that night. I doubt that they were all attending other police business at 3 am in Short Hills. She is afraid to question them fearing that the response time will be even worse if she ever needs their "assistance" again.

There was a recent home invasion at 3am (Glenwood section)! This is a trend where our neighborhood is being targeted...it must be addressed.

Leslie,

Unfortunately, no matter how much we scream, we are still in fact an easy target. People knows the fact from their criminal friends that the risk is low and the reward is high around here. Even if they got caught they are almost certain that there will be no jail time for them because it will most likely be "screened out" from the county prosecutor's ISU unit and sent back to municipal court with a downgraded charge to disorderly conduct or disorderly persons. Local court could not do much as there is certain sentencing standard. For the first time offense, it is pretty much a fine something like $300. If you look at your local court data, you may find it disturbing that criminals like burglars got lower fine (because of the downgrade to disorderly charges) than residents with local ordinance violations (e.g. turn on the lawn sprinkler on the wrong day, etc). We really need to scream at the prosecutor office that they need to care about suburban towns as well. Also scream at Essex county (Freeholders) because that is where a large part of funding for the prosecutor's office is from. Personally, I think they should have a separate unit within the prosecutor's office that deal with the types of crime in the suburb to get tough on crime for our towns. That will really send a message to the criminals.

Uh, I think I know that Short Hills is part of Millburn.

This is the last comment I will post. I grew up in this town. I'm 57 now, and I've seen a lot of what goes on here The Millburn and Short Hills train stations are 1.4 miles apart, by car. Most of the SH section of Millburn is closer to the Short Hills station, though I do not know the addresses of the commuters. More commuter parking could have been added by the Short Hills station to take some of the load off the 07041station and lots. I'm sorry I brought this up in the chain of comments about crime and this morning's hijacking.

Thank you to Cathy Trocchia for giving the facts and, yes, yeah Bunchers. So glad to hear your husband is unharmed.

All of these issues start and end in the same place - town council. We have a weak council. I challenge them to step forward and protect this community - Mayor Haimoff and the rest of this weak council have sat on the sidelines too long. It's time to demand a change.

A lack to response to:

FLOODS
SNOW STORMS
BREAK INS
ROBBERIES
CAR JACKINGS

It has to end. And the end starts with the town council.

We had the chance and the residents let us down back in November when we could have voted for some change - but no, we are stuck in the same loop of mismanagement. What can we do now? I'm at a loss for answers. I hate complaining without providing a solution, but I've been up and down this same path so many times I've lost site of the way out...does anyone have a solution to share?

P_R_PC, I think if we are serious about making change, we can do a lot of things. Within Millburn, you can take Mrs. Trocchia's suggestion to "demand" the town to invest in technology. Police can't go everywhere but cameras can help. Nowadays there are so many different kinds of automatic plate recognition systems that police forces around the country have been using. It will capture and match all plate numbers it sees in police database in real-time. I bet the car that the criminals drove into the station before committing the crime is likely to be another stolen one. In that case the camera would automatically cross check with police database and found that the plate is for the car reported stolen. The police will come before the crime even take place. See a success of this technology with Livingston PD (at the end of this article http://livingston.patch.com/articles/teen-driver-caught-with-alcohol-and-drugs). Not sure whether Millburn PD already have this. Definitely a fixed installation system at the station will help monitoring cars coming in and out 24/7. More mobile systems on the back of patrol cars like the ones in Livingston will also be helpful.

Re: "out of control"

Call it what you want - but it seems to me that crime is escalating in this town. At first it was stories about crime at the Mall, then car robberies, then house break-in's, now it's ARMED robbery. See a pattern? I don't understand the apologists on this site. Are we to feel better because people in neighboring towns are subjected to crime? Are we to feel better because it's only one or two armed robberies? When do they suggest we start to worry - or act. We will always continue to be an easy target when people make excuses or want to live in a state of pollyanna denial.

Re: The police - I would give them the benefit of the doubt at this time. They can't be everywhere at every time - but maybe there has to be a strategy change now that we are given notice in Millburn/Short Hills that we are targets.

For a bigger picture, I think the solution is that people in West Essex towns need to get together. Remember when Millburn and Livingston screamed about the Charter school? We were all out with our voices to governor, commissioner and legislators. They listen. Citizens of both of our towns need to organize and team up again (and with other surrounding towns of Essex county) to demand change at the county level. Again, prosecutor's office needs to make some changes to get serious about prosecuting burglaries and robberies in West Essex area. That would be through Essex Freeholders as well because that is the funding part of the prosecutor's office. We need to demand our Essex county politicians.

Thirty Four - Agree. How do we accomplish this?

I think it's amazing how nearly every cover story in the Item for the past year (and often on Patch too) has been about the endless zoning hearings concerning a house of worship (in which a couple of zoning variances are sought) rather than on important issues relating to disaster preparedness and crime waves. Hey folks whose group name is "Save Millburn" -- shouldn't you do something to SAVE MILLBURN? It seems to me that armed carjackings and are changing the "character of the town" in a way that no synagogue could. Yet we have wasted hearing after hearing, and plenty of legal fees (a new lawsuit filed by the town this summer!), on these silly things. This carjacking story has now been picked up by NJO and CBS as a "crime spree". The reputation of the town is going to suffer. I guess that's ok as long as the resources of this town are devoted to making sure the Rabbi doesn't have too many seats in the chapel relative to the number of parking spaces or whatever it is they have spent two years arguing about. Sheesh.

tc,

First, re-start the Neighborhood Watch initiative. I know it is old fashion like decades ago, but we started to brush it up again in Livingston. See this article for what we have done in Livingston (http://livingston.patch.com/articles/why-do-we-need-a-neighborhood-watch-41e5b1f7). I don't know if Millburn already has an active one. Citizens will work more closer with the police. With the groups we get a stronger voice to PD and township.

Once groups are loosely formed, you can set it up to be more formal. Having meetings and plan and work with Millburn PD. By having that, you can start pushing for technology upgrade agenda.

In Livingston, the plate reader cameras were bought years ago by a couple who wanted to donate something good to the town. I'm sure Millburn is capable of getting some sort of donations to seed the police technology investment as well.

I think the key here is that people in our towns should have a bit less ego toward each other. Millburn and Livingston have been starting to share services and sign contracts for shared resources recently. Our citizens can work together as well. If you have Neighborhood Watch groups in Millburn, the groups in both towns should really meet to share the notes. Groups in Livingston can show to our town what have been done in Millburn that work, and vice versa.

Then we can start to get to a bigger picture by seeking out to other West Essex towns to demand some changes at the county level. A long way, yes, but we got to do soon before our town become a criminal heaven. This requires perseverance, not just a knee-jerk reaction.

Livingston people have already done the first step. Who want to lead this in Millburn?

I am curious; how are cars being stolen? Are they breaking in and then wiring the cars to get them started. I wonder was that Range Rover locked? How did they start it?

So glad, no one was hurt.

I'm glad everyone involved is doing well and I am grateful that they have brought some first hand knowledge to this discuccion. Some posters have made interesting points on this thread. Dead on points concern why the town wastes money on zoning hearings and parking decks. Didn't the Patch report that the town spent approximatly $250.000 to tear down Rimback Storage? Please correct me if the number is wrong. I would still like to know if all of our municipal departments are staffed fully? This goes to the heart of our safety! If they are fully staffed is it enough? How may firemen and policemen do similar towns have? How many are in Livingston? Posters asked about train station cameras. Whose responsibilty is that? License plate readers? Do our police have any? There should be cameras around town linked to the police. Our money should be spent on our safety not parking decks and squabbles.

@ mark. I agree that zoning hearings have to be held and issues worked out. I think the point is that so much of the town's public focus is expended on things like the deck and Stop and Shop that other isues, some that came up is these posts, like technology for the police are not discussed and fall by the wayside. Maybe with these recent events it will move to the forefront.

Instances like this continue to bring to light the many issues we have to address in town. It's frustrating that two of the best high-level options we have are 1) to rely on a township leadership that doesn't listen to the community but instead focuses on their own agendas and has refuted that a train parking deck will be a safety issue & 2) to enable a neighborhood watch-type system but how we're asking this of the same community members who've shown they're already preoccupied with neglecting to stop for school buses where they'd rather chance injuring our town's schoolchildren.

Considering a parking deck has never been approved in our town EVER, I'd love to know how it got pushed through now. Waste of taxpayer money, and in the light of all this crime, a dangerous as well as ugly addition to our downtown.
Does the tearing down of Rimback's mean they are using more taxpayer money by building a new Town Hall, when the current one was renovated not that long ago?
The fire dept shares resources with neighboring towns, as their staff has been severely reduced over the years. God forbid your home catches fire while the trucks are out in Irvington.

Sadly, it comes down to this: private enterprise always shows more innovation. Truth is, our TC/leaders etc only know one model for operation: the existing one. Therefore, it's business as usual. I hope there are no more issues but regardless, I think we need to make our voices heard about this. I am not even asking for much--just some sort of a CYA statement that crime won't be tolerated in Millburn and that they are increasing patrols, watch, however they have to word it.

100 comments on this topic - obviously this needs more attention by the town.

Please note the following section from New Jersey Statutes, Section 59:5-4, Failure to provide police protection: "Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to provide police protection service or, if police protection service is provided, for failure to provide sufficient police protection service."
This principle is settled through case law and statute throughout the country: The police have no duty to protect individuals. The reason is simple: they simply can't. The police are not our bodyguards and cannot be everywhere at once. YOU are your own first line of defense, particularly in times like these when budgets are being cut. However, in the nanny State of NJ our government has taken away our God given and Constitutionally guaranteed right of self defense through draconian, arbitrary laws that do absolutely nothing to keep guns and other weapons out of the hands of criminals and only serve to harrass and impede law abiding citizens.
Don't believe me? I urge you all to go down to the Milburn police station and apply for a Firearms Purchaser ID card. You will find that you face reams of red tape and the third degree, and months of delay. And if you want a concealed carry permit? Forget it, only retired law enforcement officers and connected politicians are deemed worthy enough for such a "privilege", no matter how much training you have. It's time for this to change.

This is amazing! Throughout the summer we have had constant stream of burglaries and thefts from - guess what - mostly unlocked cars and homes. The police have been pressing the town folks to take simple steps like lock your cars and houses. Yet week after week, you have been reading the reports that reveal that most of them stay unlocked. So you invite criminals to our town by sending this open invitation and now that it has naturally escalated into something worse, all of a sudden the comments are off the charts!! And suddenly people want to blame Millburn Police Department?

So what do you want the police to do? Station an officer on every street? And you will pay for it with more taxes? Folks, get a grip. Do not turn this into a post-9/11 knee jerk reaction and creating senseless measures which do not achieve much but satisfy those with a need to feel that something has been done.

When the burglaries were going on, I did not see these same people, who are now clamoring for something to be done yesterday, to have come out and write as passionately about the town folks to become more responsible! Now all of a sudden the world is ending!

I am glad the gentleman was not hurt. There should be town meeting/s on what steps we can take on all sides - the citizens, the police and the municipal authorities. We need to objectively look at all aspects of safety in Millburn and Short Hills and each should do our part.

Newark is invading? Uhm, OK.

I am glad no one was hurt, but get a grip.

Township residents, 30 years ago the Police department had 65 Officers, now they are supposed to have 54. Crime has gone through the roof and manpower has dropped. ALL to save a buck or two. Yet The township bailed the Papermill playhouse out for millions, continues to pay for more and more "Studies" on revamping the downtown area, parking decks. Etc... buying tax paying buildings and knocking them down for parking lots? The Police department is completely understaffed. They even paid for a study on that and choose not to act on the reccomendations. Dont waste your time on writing or calling the Police Chief or the township commitee, the commitee is useless and everyone in town should know this. They smile and wave like they are royalty but do abosolutly nothing. One person controls them and the the entire township and has for the last 1/4 century and that person is Tim Gordon. He calls all the shots for the Police, Fire Dept. Dpw etc... Everything is under his control, he tells the commitee to do what ever he wants and he has a blank check to do with as he pleases, our tax dollars. He has single handedly reduced the Police Department . Livingston Police dept. has at least 20 more officers then Millburn and is a very similar town. Both have downtown shopping areas and a mall. If you doubt any of this go look into it yourselves. Anything paid for with public money is open to the public. Check out a township meeting on a Tuesday a night.

We need to know if there is an actual crime trend or just a perceived one. A dramatic incident at the station is not a trend. We should not discount the relatively new power of social media, blogs and local news to make such incidents seem much more common than they used to be. What's more common is that we learn about them immediately, the details are widely disseminated, and there is a discussion. We need real numbers before undertaking any action or assigning blame. No police department can respond to an isolated random incident. Face it, there are many fancy cars in town and people are going to try to steal them. I don't think that's a new situation.

I think, as others have commented, that we should DEMAND to see a plan to address this continued crime spree in our town. There is definitely a trend here and being carjacked at gunpoint at 6:20am is not a good sign. Granted, outside of the mall carjackings, I believe this is the first one right here in town. But - there is no denying a trend of increasing violence. When do we see a plan... after someone is killed???

The idea of video surveillance is a good one. I would like our Town Council or Mayor to specifically address why this is not being considered? With today's technology, I have to believe the cost to set this up will not be out of our town's reach. Also, this video surveillance could serve as a deterrent. Hey - they have it in NYC, so why not here? Lot smaller area to cover.

MarkDS above posted the overall 2010 crime stats. Is someone from the Township or the PD reading this thread? Maybe Patch could inquire about preliminary crime figures for 2011 to see if we are on track to a significantly worse year. That's what we need to know.

Article on 2010 crime stats (which reflected a drop from 2009 but robbery and vehicles theft were up):
http://millburn.patch.com/articles/millburn-short-hills-crime-dropped-in-2010

This was published on Feb. 1. Can we get something sooner?

FYI, I just posted a story from Montclair Patch about a carjacking there last night. http://patch.com/A-p21W

Most armed robberies in the past have been to the business (banks and gas stations mostly). The new TREND is armed robberies to everyday people like us. Only in the past few months we have:
- Carjacking at gunpoint at station in Short Hills
- Carjacking at gunpoint at Short Hills Mall (victim badly injured)
- Attempted carjacking at gunpoint at Livingston Mall. Victim escaped
- Armed robbery at Livingston pond. Teen victim. Case solved.

Four real crimes in the past few months. Do you need more evidence? Can you identify this type of robberies (except to the businesses) in 2010? Please tell me because I don't think we had that.

@Mark, Crime stats (UCR) can be managed, and they are to refleck positively on the community check calls for service. and compare that number to the 1980 number. Remember, even a non violent crime police call, such as an accident, or a non violent domestic violence call, disputes or even a burglar alarm or medical type call still takes an officer out of service leaving less available for serious calls.

@ Concerned Where are you getting these staffing numbers from? What do you mean there are supposed to be 54? Are there less?
@ The Patch. Concerned posted some numbers on police staffing. Can you comment on or confirm any of concerned's facts? What about the Fire Department and Public Works?
@ Leslie Your population numbers are interesting. Do you have any idea whet the daytime populations of both towns are when the office buildings and malls are open?

Well--here is one basic thing I would like to hear... What did the four perpetrators look like? Tall, short, fat, young, old, white, latino, black, chinese, tatoos, eariings, markings, dress....you get the point. It would help if we could at least be on the look out.

Be on the lookout for a few black males in their late teens/ early 20's wearing dark clothing. Good luck with that. But if you do see a young black man walking down the street (or god forbid MORE than one) be sure to call the cops straight away so he/ they can't carjack anybody else! SAVE OUR STREETS!

Leslie, no one in this forum has said what town is better than what town. There is no Livingston vs. Millburn contest here. There is no point to look at towns around us just for the sake of comparison. There are so many good points to look at town around us to see what works and if our town hasn't done so, should we try to?  Obviously, I provided a lot of information about Livingston as it is where I live so I have more details. It is in no way bragging or anything. I simply wanted to share for the benefit of all of us. Again, we are on the same boat here. Livingston has been hit with the increased amount and higher severity of crimes in similar pattern as Millburn (carjacking at gun point, armed robbery, school burglary). 

As many have commented that it is a good idea to add new technology to help fighting crimes like mobile plate readers at patrol cars. I just showed and example of the success, not to brag, but to give an evidence so Millburn residents can try to convince stubborn town council and police department to move faster in their technology. Livingston was no different. The plate readers were not purchased by the initiative of town council or LPD. A couple who wanted to make a change brought the thing and donated to police to try it out. The town got to have a good excuse not to try that so they did install the mobile readers. Now it is an evidence that the technology did help the police. So now they can't be too stubborn about adopting new technology. These readers are now in about a thousand or so dollars. Not overly expensive. I don't think it is hard to get donations to buy this stuff to give to MPD to try. 

This crime occurred an hour before sunrise. Was the Range Rover locked? Were the outside lights turned on at the house?

As I look outside this evening at 11PM, all I see are pitch black houses and driveways. It's truly amazing to me that people are so naive and/or oblivious.

Let people carry.

With ~1,600 civilians out of 8,700,00 residents allowed to carry a firearm in the state of New Jersey, there is a damn good chance that a criminal is going to walk away unharmed.

It's not always wise to pull a gun, especially if there are multiple assailants. What we must look at, however, is that criminals pretty much know it's a total free for all in New Jersey. Car jackings are relatively frequent because they know there is very little risk of the soon-to-be victim posing any threat whatsoever.

So I know how the anti-gun folk work. They are going to attack this comment with " oh it was 1 on 4 a gun wouldnt help" or "there was a school around"... Bottom line is that as long as criminals are aware that essentially nobody is going to be carrying a firearm, they will continue to operate with only the fear of being caught.