Influx Of New
Residents Brings
Real World Problems To Our Communities
By Jesse Klein
WOOLWICH TWP. -- Now that all the presents have
been opened and everyone has recovered from New Year’s Eve, it is a good
time to talk about how to have a safe and happy 2007.
The advice from our local law enforcement is to
maintain a presence within your families and your neighborhoods. Not
only will it keep your new possessions safe, but most importantly your
family.
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Officer Sheldon Lewis of the Woolwich Police
Department and resource officer at Kingsway High School for the last
six years put it this way, “Kids need their parent’s time and
attention more than any gift under the tree.”
According to Lewis a parent’s example,
influence, observation, and rapport with their kids are all key
ingredients to maintaining their family’s safety and health.
“We as police officers can only do so much. Kids need to feel
they can talk to their parents.” He worries when he hears kids say,
“My parents don’t have a clue.” |
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Kingsway
Regional High School SUPERINTENDENT Ave Altersitz speaks with Ptl.
Sheldon Lewis, a member of the Woolwich Police Department function
as Kingway's Resource Office. |
Currently, Kingsway has 1,400 students enrolled in
the high school and 500 in the Junior High. Due to the almost universal
access to computers, Lewis recently invited county prosecutor Steven
LaPorta to conduct a workshop for parents regarding safety and the
internet focused primarily on the popular teen website myspace.com.
Even with all the negative press about the dangers
of myspace and its highly publicized connection to several teen
abductions, only a handful of parents attended the lecture.
Lewis is concerned that parents may not understand
the insidious nature of the information that teens are learning on the
net.
He adds that myspace.com is just one site that has
raised national concern, and that parents need and deserve to know what
their children are viewing and who they might be talking to when they
are online.
Parents should have access and passwords and know
their child’s screen name. Some kids even have their own personal page
on myspace. If they do, parents need to know how to access it, know what
it says, and if they feel it necessary, the ability to pull it down.
Another behavior that Lewis asks parents to keep an
eye out for is anything new and unusual that may be gang related.
Clothing that displays gang emblems or colors, the use of certain
phrases and hand signals can often be the first discernible signs that
your child may be intrigued by or may have even been approached by a
gang member.
“Just because we live in the suburbs, we are not
immune to the intrusion of gangs,” Lewis explains. A child could have
come to our area from a big city like Los Angeles or Chicago. If being
part of a gang like the Bloods or the Crypts “worked for them” they will
bring that style of operating with them and try it out in their new
community.
Recently in the news a former Kingsway graduate was
picked up in Paulsboro and murdered in Camden. The abduction and murder
is being investigated as a gang related slaying.
In January Officer Lewis plans to hold a staff
in-service at Kingsway on Gang Awareness. He says it is not just the
Crypts and the Bloods anymore. There are gangs that have migrated from
Mexico such as the Latin Kings and more recently the notoriously violent
MS-13 whose origins are in El Salvador.
For Lewis the concern of gang infiltration has
recently superseded the war on drugs. “We have been fighting the battle
with drugs, and will remain vigilant in our efforts, but gangs in our
schools and our communities are a new and poorly understood menace. Once
a kid joins a gang there is really no viable way out.”
Lewis says that gangs and drug dealers are getting
better organized and are going after communities where there is money.
Many kids today have not only cell phones but the internet and ipods
allowing them easy connections to information and individuals both good
and bad. He encourages parents to watch over their children’s shoulders.
“Even if it irritates them it is worth it.”
While marijuana remains the drug of choice among
most teens, over recent years kids have also begun experimenting with
one and others prescription meds primarily those prescribed for
Attention Deficit Disorder.
Lewis says that while many students have learned
that these drugs have street value, most often they just give some of
what they have to a friend. The side effects of these drugs can be
dangerous and when snorted some kids claim that it gives them a high
similar to cocaine.
Lewis maintains that the most important defense
that parents have against gangs and drug use is to really be there for
their kids, both physically and emotionally. “Kids tell me that they
don’t talk to their parents because their parents can’t handle it, or
don’t get it.”
Instead he says they turn to their friends who are
ill equipped to help them with serious problems.
To avoid the danger and risk of making bad choices
kids need to be connected to their parents and know that they can turn
to them on the tough issues. Being a teenager has never been more
complicated, as noted by the fact that over the last two years three
Kingsway students committed suicide.
He worries that often teens turn to their friends
for advice and may not fully understand the permanence of their
decisions. He says that if he becomes very worried about a particular
student he will call the parents and ask to speak to them in their home.
He hopes that in such cases parents will understand that he is trying to
help protect their child.
“It is so important that parents not be in denial
about the serious issues that their children are faced with everyday.”
Lewis says the most dangerous thing a parent can do is ignore any
warning signs or symptoms and hope that they are just a phase.
Lewis underscores that parents must be willing to
talk about what’s going on in their kid’s life even if it makes them
uncomfortable. No longer are teenage drinking and unplanned pregnancy
the greatest dangers. For today’s kids the stakes are much higher.
In spite of recent reports in other areas of
individuals bringing weapons into schools, Kingsway has not chosen to
install metal detectors at this time. Instead they have instituted a
strict policy requiring all entrances being locked at all times, and any
individual seeking entry to the school must be buzzed through the front
door and then sign in.
Superintendent Ave Altersitz says that this type of
security measure is more challenging to enforce in the high school
environment where students may be seeking to use side and rear entrances
to access playing fields, but she maintains that this level of watchful
vigilance is a critical key to ensuring both student and faculty safety.
Local law enforcement officials concur that the war
on drugs is ongoing, and that in rapidly growing communities knowing
where the kids are and what they are up to is of paramount importance.
The police chiefs of local areas attest to doing
everything that they can to keep our communities safe.
In Swedesboro, Chief William Dupper and his team
are facing the new challenge of people speeding along the recently
resurfaced stretches of Kings Highway. “They don’t realize they are
going so fast.” In order to protect the shopping area a new pedestrian
crossing sign donated by AAA has been installed.
“We are the hub of the wheel and get a lot of
traffic especially during the holiday season, and while we may be a
small town we are drawing a lot of new people here.” In order to protect
pedestrians including kids going to and from school, he is heightening
patrol during the hours that kids are walking to and from school having
them on hand to assist the crossing guards if necessary.
Dupper states that as far as the drug scene goes,
heroine has made a comeback in virtually every community and that it is
now often tainted. He adds that cocaine is no longer just a rich
person’s drug, and arrests have increased for the illegal use of
prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.
His force is also keeping a watchful eye for any
incidents that may be related to the use of date rape drugs or the
inappropriate use of over the counter cold medicines containing
dextromethorphan.
Interestingly, Dupper relates that one of the
greatest challenges to his force is policing the kids who have recently
chosen the downtown stretch of Kings Highway as their new skateboard
park. “They see tricks performed on TV and think that they can do it
here.”
“Not only are they endangering themselves, but they
can be a menace to pedestrians and motorists along Kings Highway. They
can really take over the place.”
Dupper has received several reports from residents
complaining of lawn and property damage.
But the Swedesboro Chief’s primary concern is that
parents just drop their children off in town and leave them
unsupervised. He reports that most of the kids on skateboards are not
wearing helmets, a safety precaution that must be enforced by parents.
“We cannot do it alone. Parents need to get and
stay involved with their kids. It all starts at home.”
Dupper hopes that the new Locke Avenue Park will
provide a safer more appropriate environment for kids to congregate, but
maintains that parental involvement must be a key part of policing the
new parks and recreation area.
Neighboring Logan Township has had a skateboard
park for several years, but over the last year concerns have arisen over
its inappropriate use as well as it becoming a target of vandalism.
Officer Dave Keegan reports that there have been a
half dozen incidents where kids have broken in by destroying the
padlock, or cutting through the chain link fence, and on several
occasions the sign that states the rules has been torn down and stolen.
Originally designed specifically for skateboarders,
the park has recently been taken over by kids on trick bikes that are
putting both themselves and traditional boarders in danger. Keegan cited
that although the rules clearly state the park is for skateboarders
only, bikers are being physically removed on a daily basis. Keegan
stated that for the rules to be truly enforced it must be a “joint
effort of both police and parents.”
Keegan also noted that Logan police recently
arrested several juveniles responsible for a rash of graffiti in the
township. While Keegan said there was no connection to the graffiti that
was found earlier this year covering the backside of the Blockbuster
Video in Beckett, he hopes the recent arrest sends a clear message to
the both kids and parents that vandalizing public property is a crime
punishable by law.
Keegan stated that the graffiti left on Blockbuster
continues to be under investigation by state police for its potential
link to gangs that may be trying to infiltrate the area.
Logan Police Chief Mike Smith reports that while
the number of drug arrests and house burglaries remained relatively
unchanged over the last year, these crimes remain issues of primary
focus for his force.
He was pleased when his force recently arrested a
well-known suspect who had operated as a one-man crime operation,
burglarizing homes throughout local communities. Smith said that the
burglar looked for victims in a calculated fashion, and preyed on those
that appeared vulnerable.
Things that residents should do to protect their
homes from theft include always making sure doors and windows are
locked, leaving a car in the drive, and alerting a trustworthy neighbor
to keep an eye on things while away. Also if you own a firearm, be
responsible and lock it up. Do not let it fall into the hands of a
felon.
Smith noted that the drugs that continue to be of
primary concern are marijuana, heroine and cocaine. “We live in a very
well traveled area and provide a corridor for people traveling from NYC
to DC. We live close to both Philly and Camden so our officers must keep
their finger on the pulse of what is happening there so that they can be
watchful for it here.”
East Greenwich Police Chief William Giordano echoes
Smith about the importance of routine traffic stops that can often
uncover criminal activity and sometimes lead to the arrest of a
suspicious person or known criminal.
According to Giordano, one of the most effective
ways to combat crimes is via routine traffic stops. An expired plate or
an inspection sticker that looks questionable can provide officers on
the beat a signal that may uncover a person carrying controlled
substances or even firearms.
In the 1980s and early 90’s a major area of concern
for East Greenwich was the T/A Truck Stop located right off I295 in
Clarksboro. With a reputation for drug trafficking, unlawful firearms,
and prostitution, Giordano said that “it was like the Wild West.”
Giordano credits the management of the highly
visible truck stop for the installation of Jersey barriers and a guard
shack deterring people from just “driving through.”
That measure combined with continued police patrol
and monitoring of radio conversations for anything that could signal
illicit activities has significantly reduced crime at the T/A.
While Giordano is proud that East Greenwich has one
of the lowest crime rates in the county he admits that recently a new
crime has emerged in East Greenwich related to the new crop of houses
going up where the farm fields used to be. Area thieves are searching
for and taking scrap metal such as copper and stainless steel.
According to Giordano, there is a good market to
fence scrap metal and robbers are looting housing developments to take
advantage of it. To combat construction site theft Giordano has stepped
up patrol of these areas particularly during the nighttime hours.
Giordano agrees that having healthy diversions for
area youths is important to the well being of the community. “We are the
largest sending district to Kingsway and there is a lot of peer pressure
to engage in unhealthy activities as early as 7th and 8th
grade.” Giordano looks forward to the new community park on East Wolfert
Station. “The property was donated as a joint effort of the county and a
township landowner as a commitment to our town and our kids.”
Giordano hopes that Phase III of the plan which is
to include a community center will come to fruition and provide a safe
and constructive place for kids to meet, a positive social setting
outside of school that is not a street corner or a mall.
Woolwich Township Police Chief Russell Marino
shares the same outlook with Giordano, that healthy outlets for kids in
burgeoning communities are a key ingredient to community success.
“When a lot of houses go up at once in an area
there is not always a place for kids to get together.” Marino hopes that
the plans for the Woolwich Town Center will offer resident youths a
place to hang out where they can be safe.
Marino also mentioned that the growth in Woolwich
has resulted in more burglaries. “Homes are going up that are worth more
than a half million dollars and they can become targets for crime. My
force has stepped up patrol. We talk to residents that are going away
and offer to set up house checks.”
He also recommends putting lights on timers and
leaving a car in the drive. Talks of instituting neighborhood watch
groups are in the works.
Marino also says the rapid growth of Woolwich has
resulted in lots of car accidents. The roads cannot handle the increase
in traffic. Many roadways are wide open and motorists travel at high
rates of speed.
Traffic accidents are the number one concern for
South Harrison Police Chief Warren Mabey. “We have a lot of intersecting
roads with drivers passing through on their way to the beach.”
At the intersection of Tomlin Station Road and
Route 45 there used to be numerous serious accidents several of them
involving fatalities. The installation of a flashing light has
diminished both the number and
severity of the accidents at this spot.
Prior to 2005, a five way intersection located
where Route 581 meets Commissioner’s Pike and Cedar Grove Road, was the
location of at least one serious accident a week. As the outcome of a
traffic study, all way stop signs were put in place. Since their
installation a year ago, the location has had only one minor accident.
Mabey and his force continue to stop drivers for
aggressive driving and stop sign violations. South Harrison is still a
very rural area, and people moving out from the city have to alter their
driving habits particularly at these rural intersections.
He has also had calls from some residents concerned
when they hear gun shots, expressing alarm that they may be the result
of violence. He maintains that moving to rural areas takes an adjustment
period not just to recognizing stop signs that crop up suddenly on
county roads, but learning to associate gunfire with the onset of
hunting season.
While Mabey has seen no increase in burglaries in
South Harrison over the last year, he continues to see occasional
malicious mischief. Recently they apprehended a group of youths damaging
mailboxes.
Yet like all the chiefs and officers interviewed,
Mabey encouraged area residents to report anything that seemed
suspicious.
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