Haines, Addiego & Rudder

State Police’s Uniform Crime Report Indicates Overall Crime Has Increased in 28 Municipalities in Burlington County

Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego and Assemblyman Scott Rudder are calling on Attorney General Anne Milgram to help county towns battle a disturbing increase in crime and violence by allocating federal stimulus money to local law enforcement.

In June, the 8th District legislators wrote to Milgram requesting federal stimulus money to fight crime in Burlington County. That letter and their curent letter to the Attorney General are included below.

“We have identified a disturbing trend as crime has become more prevalent and violence has increased in the area, ” said Assemblyman Rudder. “In June, we made our case with the Attorney General and called for an investment of stimulus money in local law enforcement, but nothing happened. With the damning numbers from this crime report, we are writing to Anne Milgram yet again. Our towns need help in stopping the spread of crime, but the Governor and his Attorney General have ignored our pleas.”

Crime in Burlington County has increased 6.5 percent, and violent crime is up 6.2 percent, according to the State Police’s Uniform Crime Report released this week. Across the county, 28 towns saw an escalation in crime, and violent crime was up in 22 towns.

“The increase in crime in our communities is troubling, and it threatens the quality of life in our towns, ” said Assemblywoman Addiego. “We are seeing more violence, more shootings, and more gang activity. The situation is getting worse, and our police departments need help before peaceful neighborhoods are damaged and scarred.”

New Jersey received more than $30 million in federal stimulus funds to be distributed to police departments in the state. Another $13 million in federal money was designated specifically for combating the proliferation of street gangs. That money was to be distributed at the Attorney General’s discretion.

Today, the legislators again wrote to Milgram, asking for a share of federal dollars to be used to keep the peace in Burlington County.

“It is time for the Governor to stop campaigning in North Jersey cities and to invest in public safety and the protection of the neighborhoods in South Jersey. We must make an aggressive stand against street gangs, armed criminals and drug dealers, and the federal money was intended for that very purpose, ” said Assemblywoman Addiego.

“Crime in our communities affects us all, ” said Assemblyman Rudder. “Our local police do a great job getting the criminals off the street and behind bars, but the job is getting tougher every day, and we need the help the stimulus money can provide.”

The following is their September 10 letter to Attorney General Milgram:

September 10, 2009

The Hon. Anne Milgram
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 080
Trenton, NJ 08625-0080

Dear Attorney General Milgram:

We are compelled to once again call for you to allocate federal stimulus money to combat rising crime in Burlington County.

As documented in the Uniform Crime Report released this week by the State Police, crime has escalated in 28 of the 40 municipalities in the county, and there has been an upswing in violent crime in 22 towns.

Local newspapers have reported that the significant jump in crime in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties “bucks the trend” in the state, and our analysis of the statistics confirms this conclusion.

In a letter dated June 8 of this year, we requested that federal funds be allocated to Burlington County municipalities to stem the spread of street gang activity and gang-related crime.

To our knowledge, no stimulus money has been channeled to our towns that are on the front-line of the battle to stop the spread of gangs, drugs and gun violence.

The statistics released by the State Police confirm that crime is a growing problem in our local communities, and the need for funds to strengthen the response and effectiveness of local law enforcement is paramount.

Our towns and county desperately need their fair share of the stimulus monies that are at your discretion. Our understanding was that these funds were to be used in the battle against criminal activity that threatens the quality of life of our families and seniors, the success of local businesses, the effectiveness of our schools, and the value of taxpayers’ homes.

We can not wait any longer to invest in the training, technology and equipment necessary to protect our communities, and funds from the federal stimulus program that were designated for police departments or ear-marked for anti-gang efforts should be allocated to Burlington County towns immediately.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to call us at our 8th District office in Medford, at (609) 654-1498.

Sincerely,

Dawn Marie Addiego
Assemblywoman

Scott Rudder
Assemblyman

The following is the original June 8 letter to Attorney General Milgram:

June 8, 2009

The Hon. Anne Milgram
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 080
Trenton, NJ 08625-0080

Dear Attorney General Milgram:

Gangs and gang-related violence are no longer problems exclusive to our cities.

Suburban communities are currently under attack from street gangs that are responsible for everything from unsightly graffiti that robs property value from entire neighborhoods to drug and weapon sales, to murder.

Street gangs are threatening the way of life in communities in Burlington County. They have become a problem in our towns, in our schools and even in our prisons.

It is imperative that we – lawmakers, law enforcement, and the Attorney General’s office – work together to stop this assault on the good people of New Jersey.

We are especially concerned about the efforts of Senator Robert Menendez to channel stimulus money to Camden and Newark, two cities that are unable to account for their last injection of grant money.

Sending more money to Camden and Newark, where there is no transparency and no accountability, would be foolhardy.

Instead, we urge you to appropriate enough stimulus money to Burlington County and its municipalities to allow law enforcement to deliver a knock-out punch to the gang infiltration and to protect the quality of our neighborhoods and schools.

Our towns need your help. In Burlington County, law enforcement has been extremely busy with gang-related issues.

The Burlington County Prosecutor and Sheriff already have a track record of working cooperatively with local police departments to identify, deter and apprehend gang members involved in major crime.

The daily newspaper has been full of reports of horrific murders and other violent crimes with gang connections:

• A member of the Bloods street gang was arrested this week after a fight in Pemberton Township. When he was arrested, he was linked to a backpack containing a stole 9mm handgun, hollow-point bullets, conventional ammunition, and 45 bags of crack cocaine.
• The Burlington County Gang Task Force executed 22 arrest warrants on suspected gang members in October. Operation Crew Cut took gang members off the streets of Mount Holly, Edgewater Park, Burlington Township, and Willingboro.
• In March, a Pemberton man with suspected ties to a street gang was sentenced to 40 years in prison for a long list of drug and weapon charges
• Two members of the Bloods street gang pleaded guilty in April to the shot-gun killing of a Willingboro man and the attempted murder of a Mt. Laurel man who drove the get-away car for the murder.
• Two of the suspects rounded up in an August drug raid in Browns Mills were connected to a set of the Bloods gang.
• In April, three men were indicted for shooting two Camden men, killing one, outside the Mt. Laurel Marriott. All three suspects have connections to the Bloods or the Latin Kings gangs.

We can not afford to follow the same map that has gotten us to this point. It is time to make an investment in law enforcement that will pay dividends to our residents for many years to come.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to call us at our 8th District office in Medford, at (609) 654-1498.

Sincerely,

Dawn Marie Addiego
Assemblywoman

Scott Rudder
Assemblyman

Link to Post:

http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/addiego/addiego-rudder-renew-call-for-stimulus-money-to-fight-crime-in-burlington-county-towns/4148