Residents, Police, and Village Officials Talk Safety

At a meeting that was at times emotional and heated, residents expressed concern about their safety after a recent gathering of youth in downtown South Orange.

Residents listened to — and then questioned — village president Douglas Newman and South Orange Police Chief Jim Chelel on Thursday night over these concerns.

The meeting was attended by trustees, numerous police department representatives, village Counsel Steve Rother and village Administrator John Gross.

Residents' safety concerns were raised after in downtown South Orange, resulting in two assaults and three arrests.  Law enforcement from nearby towns helped to disperse the crowds.  Police estimate that the “vast majority” of the youth were from other communities.

Newman opened the meeting by looking back to . Since that time, he said, village administration, elected officials and law enforcement “stepped up our game.”  He described a “very heavy deploy of police” as contributing to the village’s “appropriate and effective response.”

Chelel reminded residents the “number-one concern is safety of residents and those who come through here.” To that end, he has met with other agencies and reached out to organizations such as Seton Hall, who can help with social networking, in particular. County sheriffs and NJ Transit officers are further resources for South Orange.

 It is believed that the teens and young adults may have been Earlier Saturday, messages such as “over 200+ people going to South Orange Ville,” were tweeted and retweeted.

“Our response will be improved,” said Chelel.

Captain Kyle Kroll told the residents looking back at Saturday’s events, triggering a request for mutual aid, when police from other communities were summoned, was an assault made at New York Fried Chicken. According to Kroll, the owner tried to evict non-customers from the store and an altercation broke out.

Kroll noted the SOPD will offer “a show of force” on weekends and will pursue a “zero-tolerance policy towards violations of law.”  At the same time, he noted “a balancing factor.” Many of those involved are juveniles, and the law treats them differently than adults.

Captain Ed Heckel noted cameras are likely to be placed downtown, probably at Sloan Street, a location on South Orange Avenue and at other “hot spots.” In addition, he noted Officer Adrian Acevedo attended Cyber School and the department was able to identify three of the individuals who were in the chicken restaurant through the use of social media.

With that in mind, Alex Torpey told residents he installed a dashboard at the SOPD yesterday that will allow police to monitor Twitter and Facebook in realtime for keywords and geography. In other words, if South Orange is mentioned in a “tweet,” or Twitter entry, and this occurs within a set geographic reach of South Orange, that appears on the dashboard. Torpey noted a next step is setting up a map and email alerts for the same information.

SOPolice is the department’s Twitter handle, he noted. The tip line for residents who are aware of online information that requires police attention is http://www.southorange.org/Police/SOPDTipline.asp

Torpey explained his goal is to put the village and SOPD “in the same social media environment that the kids are in.”

The meeting became emotional when residents spoke, sometimes applauding one another and calling out from the audience.

“I’d be scared right now. I wouldn’t open a business here,” said one resident.

“I want my town back,” said another, to applause from the audience.

A Raymond Avenue resident, and adolescent psychiatrist, described the situation as “an unbelievably huge problem,” and said, “we’re feeding into something that’s working for these children,” by offering excitement without serious consequences.

When another resident asked for details of the “zero-tolerance policy,” Chelel explained violations such as littering and impeding traffic will be dealt with.

Kroll noted the department uses “every available legal approach,” but asked rhetorically if the community wanted police in riot gear.  Some members of the audience shouted “Yes,” in reply.

Residents worry about falling real estate values as a result of youth gatherings in the village and problems that result. Other residents are simply angry, describing lack of communication between police, the village officials and residents.

Newman agreed community relations will be a focal point going forward.

Trustee Deborah Davis Ford reminded residents to focus on “behavior” of individuals who come to South Orange.  She suggested the solution involves “multiple” strategies used at the same time. 

Newman and Chelel encouraged residents to come downtown on weekend evenings, starting tonight, when warm weather is expected.