Face it. Lakewood is a unique town. In fact, one of the most unique and diverse towns in the State of New Jersey.
Having said that, it irked and outraged me to read some of the comments and to hear about those who opposed the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office’s ‘Bagels, Lox & Cops’ event – an event that has proven not only to be an effective medium to understand other cultures, but which has proven as well to be an important venue to improve the overall relations between communities.
Favoritism? ‘Hired to turn on light switches?’ Is that really all you can think of when Law Enforcement seeks to enhance their relationship with dealing with the diverse cultures that make up very large percentages of the Lakewood population?
Or perhaps, Al Della Fave – the Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson who served as a New Jersey State Trooper for over 25 years – would be displaying favoritism when he would stop on the side of the road to help an elderly man with a flat tire?
That’s right – the separation of Church and State forbids officers to act with compassion, and forbids them to assist your neighbors in their time of need – because the officer is being paid to protect. Sounds right, doesn’t it?
So the next time your car fails to start, or you locked your keys in the car, and you come from a minority race or religion, it’s safe to assume you’d rather the cop continue patrolling rather than give you a hand with the equipment he happens to carry in his trunk – right?
But no, allow some ignorant headlines and evidently-biased reporters to paint the Prosecutor’s Office, Lakewood Police Department and all other agencies wishing to display cultural sensitivities in a light that would suggest officers would delay responding to an armed bank robbery because ‘some Jew needs his hearing aid battery changed’.
Again – really? Did you stop for a moment to think that these small – yet very important tasks – are performed when officers are patrolling neighborhoods, and looking out for the well-being of the communities they serve and protect? Or do you wish to continue believing the painted picture of a Jew flagging down a cop whose lights and sirens are blaring, so he can have his ‘light-switch’ task performed before the cop can perform CPR on a driver who was just critically injured in an accident?
No, you’d rather just sit there behind your computer and join the antisemitic. – yes, very antisemitic sentiments of those seeking to destroy the relationship the Law Enforcement communities have built with their respective communities over the past several decades.
Why not, it’s popular – right? Jews are indeed ‘cockroaches and pigs who infested Ocean County’ – aren’t they? ‘They should be nuked by Palestine’ – right? And out of respect for other readers, I wouldn’t dare repeat some of the comments mentioned on the blogs.
All I can say, is Kudos to the Lakewood Police Department and other Law Enforcement agencies throughout the County – and particularly Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato and Al Della Fave – who understand the importance of working with a culturally-diverse community, and the importance of understanding the sensitive-at-times fibers that the communities they serve consist of.
And kudos to the same for their unwavering support to their communities and constituents – despite the bad-mouthing, name-calling and completely unsubstantiated ridiculing their faced with.
Z.E.
Lakewood, NJ.
Well said sir. The (moderated) continues their biased reporting and allowing derogatory and border line anti semitic comments to their articles. Its easier to keep the status quo. Ain’t it.
Great article very well said
I was quite upset that Mr. Netanyahu did not mention the (moderated) when he blasted anti Semitic media incitement yesterday.
Joseph Goebels would be proud that Der Sturmer’s legacy has been inherted by that shmatte.
If you are referring to a local NJ station that devoted an entire hour “not to put down Jews” but who did just that with the most obscene complaints and allegations, I heard it to. I actually listen to that station every day as my job requires me to commute often during the day and I always listen on my way home. Well, yesterday I emailed them a letter, with the jist of it being that while there is never a time to put down an entire community, at least if you are going to do it, exercise some sensitivity and don’t do it on a day where we suffered a terrible tragedy. I ended that I could o longer support a station that is so insensitive and I did not listen to them today and definitely don’t plan on in the near future. It was 1 hour of gross insensitivity and incitement. I appreciate that I was not the only one upset by this.
I also wrote to that NJ station. Shame on them for setting up the dialogue the way they did. They did not present the facts as they were, it was very skewed to create controversy, and they clearly started the discussion showing that they would not see reason on this matter. I am sure the police in PA and Maine have meetings regarding how to interact with the Amish, including “do’s and don’ts” as well as how to deal with sticky situations which may arise due to religious restrictions and laws! This is common sense. Every person who was offended by that hour of Orthodox Jew bashing should write in to the station and let them know that it will not be ignored. Their radio station motto is “proud to be NJ”. They should know that we are proud to be Orthodox Jews.
a Light switch and a Flat tire are two totally different things!
In Bergen County NJ, policemen are not allowed to help motorists other than to make a call to your motor club or tow service. Why should Ocean County be different? As far as household issues, police should not be taken away from their duty to serve and protect. I would not want to be waiting for police in an emergency situation while they are shutting off lights and fans!
Ignorance can be very dangerous. If you don’t understand another culture, take a few moments out of your day and do some research.
It’s no secret that the liberal media and self defeating advocacy “groups” hate all law enforcement. Police can do no right in their eyes, despite the national multitude of community outreach and safety programs they run.
very well said, let the haters hate who cares.
Eileen – I dont blame you for your comment because after all you only know about what you read or hear in the news.
Do you really think if an emergency call goes out the officer will choose to flip on a light switch over dealing with the emergency?!! Again I don’t blame you because that is the way the media makes it sound. Most of the things that are requested of officers on Shabbos take up about 30 seconds of their time, and in NO WAY take precedence over a real emergency.
In regards to your comment about Bergen County, thats fine, but we dont have such a law in Ocean County. So as long as the officer can help folks with flat tires or help a cat off a tree, they can flip on light switches if the choose to.
Diane – No they are not. Both are assisting people in their time of need. So to you a tire may be more important, but not to everyone else.
You obviously have been so infected by the obnoxious and blatant hatred that is being talked about and written out there. No one thinks that an officer will delay responding to an emergency to shut off a fan or light. The point here is to teach the officers and law enforcement about different cultures. No one calls the cops (as that is not allowed either on the Sabbath) to do these things rather if an officer is in the vicinity, they can be of assistance if they understand the needs of the community they service. Please reread the beautiful article above and you will see this differently…..Thank you
Really, Z.E., are you trying to reason and speak rationally to these people? I’ve tried, therefore I know it is hopeless. They will complain about being called haters and in the same breath make nasty comments about Jews. The level of hate and xenophobia that our “neighbors” display can be shocking at first for those not used to dealing with this population. Some of it can be blamed on incitement from the media, but the level of ignorance and perhaps lack of intelligence are definitely also factors.
Perhaps the writer of the initial article regarding Bagels, Lox and Cops should have focused on the serious rather than the remote. It is necessary for the police officers to be sensitive to religious customs in the handling of a body,in life, in death, and autopsy. Just as it is necessary to have officers that speak spanish for the residents that have a language barrier. It was unnecessary to act as if turning on lights was the primary focus of the forum. A courtesy at most, not the focus of the event.
I don’t understand the hostility in this response. All I did was state facts as I know them to be true. I don’t hate anyone for their religious belief. We are all God’s children.
Totally agree, Friendly Neighbour, the focus of the meeting was sidestepped for a small statement. That being, cops should cater to the Orthodox community’s needs during Shabbos. This was completely taken out of context by the people of the non-Orthodox community in their response to the original article. Anyone in need should be able to ask for the assistance of an officer, even turning a light on or off (which is a rare occurrence). But, one should question these large responses from the non-Orthodox community. Why do they feel this way about the Orthodox community? Religious beliefs? Far from it. Overpopulation of a town whose infrastructure can’t handle it? More likely. Moreover, I used to love this town and it’s diversity, but, a minority isn’t a minority if they’re the majority. Please don’t confuse frustration from congested roadways, sky high taxes, and a drastic loss of open spaces for antisemitism.
Please know that said radio station is only interested in ratings. For the most part, they only spew what will draw out the worst in human behavior. They rile up many without any thought to the consequences of their awful comments.
Hey Orthodix community, if an Orthodox was involved in an car accident with a non Orthodox who had life threatening injuries and an orthodox emt arrived on scene first, will that Orthodix emt assist the life threatened injured non Orthodox person??
Of course they would , Ann
This post is a bit old, so I don’t think too many are checking the comments on it anymore. Did you really think otherwise?