County leaders vow to get tough on gangs

Thursday, July 19, 2007

By Trentonian Staff
TRENTON With gang crime sprouting like wildfire in Mercers suburbs lately, County Executive
Brian Hughes brought municipal and county leaders together yesterday at his office where they
decided to seek more funding to fight gangs, and to reinstitute and reactivate the Violent Crime
Task Force.
We know this kind of unified approach is something we can all count on, to make the best use
of our resources, Hughes said, and take this county forward. Speedy trials, gun-control
legislation The level of violence is something that we were here today to begin to attack, he
added.
One of the issues that we discussed, said County Prosecutor Joe Bocchini, was the regional
task force that was initially started 15 months ago as a result of (Trenton Mayor Doug) Palmer,
and (Hughes) contacting my office and others.
The task force will be expanding its function, Bocchini said. There will be more activity, within
the task force, not just in Trenton, but the outreaching suburban municipalities as well. Each of
the 13 municipalities will contribute one or more officers.
This came even as young punks that very morning had spray-painted graffiti all over houses,
cars and property in the Mill Hill section a long stones throw west on Broad Street.
But Mayor Palmer called residents there pioneers who have invested a lot of time and money in
their community. Were going to resolve this; were not going to let the bad guys win.
Mayor Palmer said officials had talked about what to do to stem the tide of violence that is
gripping not only Trenton, but Mercer County. Everybody recognizes we re all in this together.
This is not just a Trenton problem, folks; this is a problem all across the country. And I think it s
high time the people in suburban areas ... recognize that if you have a strong city and core of
Trenton, it will be better for everyone.
He said the Mercer County Regional Task Force worked 15 months ago in Trenton when he
asked county officials to help fight gang violence. And Im glad to see were going to reinstitute
that, because a lot can be learned from police officers coming to Trenton, and Trenton going in
other areas as it relates to this violence that s happening.
Ewing Mayor Jack Ball said hes seen shootouts and organized gang violence increase recently.
It s going to take more than a 1 1/2-hour meeting to stop that growth, he said. But today was a
start.
Ball said mobile street cameras are being installed on Brenwal Avenue where one gang house
has been shot up four times since May, for 24/7 surveillance, along with cameras at every
intersection on Olden Avenue.
And he suggested tougher legislation, that would allow as stiff a fine or sentence as possible
for gang members, such as those meted out to punks caught dealing drugs in a school zone.
The penalties should be more significant, if the defendant is involved with gangs, Ball said.

Likewise, Hamilton Mayor Glen Gilmore said that while it’s been suggested that we cant arrest
our way out of this problem ... we can surely make a dent in this problem by making as many
arrests as we can, by taking as many of these bad guys off the street as we can.
Senator Shirley Turner said the county is like the wild, wild west everybodys got a gun. We
need more resources. Too much money is being utilized on Homeland Security, and were not
devoting enough resources to fighting the terrorism on our streets. I live in Lawrence Township.
Were not safe out here. The gangs are moving into the suburbs.
Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman said gang activity knows no borders here. And she
said officials must get into our school districts earlier, dealing with the young people who are
being recruited at 10, 11 and 12, and intervene.
Our kids have got to have prevention activities; our kids have got to know that there are
alternatives to belonging to gangs, she said,.
She urged that a 17-piece chunk of anti-gang legislation be passed to deal with this issue which
is killing our society.

Hughes said he’d spoken with Gov. Jon Corzine about creating a special unit where violent,
dangerous inmates can be kept outside of the countys 100-year-old system where we could not
have anticipated the level of violence within the county jail.
URL: http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2007/07/19/past stories/20001508.prt
© 2009 trentonian.com, a Journal Register Property