Letter: Hey NJSP, While you’re here, how about catching the burglars?

For 13 consecutive weeks, Lakewood homes have been burglarized on Friday night as homeowners slept. The thieves carrying out these acts specifically target Jewish homes. Week after week, thousands of dollars of cash and valuables are stolen from the people who worked hard to get them, and people are fed up.

The Lakewood Police Department does the best job it can to alleviate the problem, but they simply don’t have the resources to patrol every block at all times of the night. So while we might want to blame the local police for not cracking down on the problem, there is probably little more they can do.

But there are others who can help.

If anyone has been driving around town for the past few years, you might have noticed police vehicles that don’t bear the emblem of the Lakewood Police Department, but the rather New Jersey State Police. Residents have complained for a long time that the State Police unfairly targets Lakewood for extra patrols and handing out tickets like candy. However, the State Police say that they are not discriminating against Lakewood, but rather assigning more officers to areas with high pedestrian fatality rates, and Lakewood is one such region.

So here’s the deal: If State Police patrol Lakewood because of the high number of pedestrian fatalities, shouldn’t they also patrol Lakewood on Friday night due to the unusually high number of burglaries that take place? There is no doubt in my mind that the State Police have the resources available to provide enough officers to resolve or alleviate this ongoing crisis.

Perhaps we’ve been focusing on the wrong people: We’ve asked the local police department to assign patrolmen to every area and every block when there is simply no way for them to do that. Instead, we should focus our efforts toward the State Police. They have the time, the resources and the capabilities to actually do something about this problem. Let’s ask them for help.

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15 COMMENTS

  1. NJSP has jurisdiction over traffic violations and they rotate municipalities. Local police have jurisdiction against burglaries, etc. As population grows, crime increases. The State and Fed can only grant $ for homeland security issues. If you are serious about and law enforcement agencies targeting protected groups, file a complaint with the State and Federal government, don’t whine about your conspiracy theories here.

  2. To “Really”
    In the beginning the burglars targeted homes that were left open. In the past few weeks there were a lot of forced entry as well. So know the facts before you criticize.

  3. But here’s the thing:
    The state police don’t have that many resources/time, even though they look like they have it. They simply can just focus on one town with respect to that matter. And even if they do, we can’t be pressuring them to do so much for us here’s in Lakewood because they also have a whole state to protect. Now, maybe some of us see this case an urgent case, but perhaps in other places of the state, there are far worse things happening. If they can only patrol traffic for now, then that’s what they can only do. The state police are doing great so far anyway!! Let them do what they need to do…

  4. Most fatalities in Lakewood are on the weekends, when traffic is actually lighter in town. So if they would do vehicle traffic enforcement on the weekends, maybe it will help to deter crime as well

  5. Contrary to popular belief, State Police do not target Lakewood any more than they do other towns. They are very frequently seen in Holmdel, Freehold, Red Bank, Matawan, Old Bridge and other central/ northern NJ towns.

  6. has anyone noticed that all these robberies have happened in the area surrounding High Point? basically a direct circle all around

    why not install cameras on the 9 and prospect and pine and all major streets, and have one guy in LCSW watch the cameras on friday nights

    when he sees suspicious activity, he can send the cops

    patrols are not going to work these guys are obviously smarter than that
    i spoke to an IT guy and he said it isn’t so expensive anymore and we could start a gofundme and im sure most people would give towards cameras in hotspots all over town!!

  7. The New Jersey State Police at night are dispatched to areas where far worse crime is prevalent. You might ask, then why are they available to be in Lakewood by day giving out tickets? Because those same areas are quiet during the daytime hours. Wake up time is around 2:00pm. This common knowledge to anybody interacting with those upstanding citizens.

  8. This article makes no sense.
    So, because once or twice a month the state police can send a car or two to pull over like 10 people, somehow that means they have the resources to patrol every block in town every weekend all night? Give me a break.

  9. I don’t think anyone can seriously argue the fact that the driving in Lakewood is nothing less than reckless. Every single day I/we all see cars passing other cars on one lane roads, cars passing buses with there lights activated, running through stop signs, tailgating, its goes on and on. Lakewood police for some reason are nervous to give out many tickets to people who do deserve them. I’m sure if you review the cameras of the troopers vehicles on every citation the driver is at fault. The driving in this town is so bad and its seen and witnessed everyday. I hear all the excuses but, its straight everyone in a rush which is a very poor excuse, in fact everyone jokes about it. Slow down a bit, let kids off the bus, stop at the stop signs and lights, don’t give the troopers a reason and watch how fast the troopers will move to the next town because there job to curb all the reckless driving has been solved. It has nothing to do with race, religion, color, etc. If you do argue that then you’re most likely the driver that finds it funny to do all the things listed plain and simple.

Comments are closed.