Governor Phil Murphy is defending himself after the mayor and police chief of Avalon, New Jersey blamed his policies for a severe uptick in crime and unruly behavior in Jersey Shore towns and on the boardwalks.
To fight the upsurge in crime and vandalism on Avalon’s boardwalk, Mayor Martin Pagliughi signed an order keeping the beach closed daily between 9 PM and 4 AM, and the boardwalk between 11 PM and 4 AM.
“This unfortunate measure is a direct result of Gov. Murphy’s destruction of effective enforcement of laws pertaining to juveniles, and the elimination of certain police powers,” Pagliughi said.
He added that the state is “directly responsible for unlawful conduct which compromises public safety,” citing a number of reforms signed into law by Governor Murphy, including juvenile justice reform, the elimination of bail in a variety of cases, and threats of charging police officers with crimes for investigating potential offenses.
But Governor Murphy says that he is not in any way responsible for the crime surge.
“The factors are many,” Murphy said when asked about it. “Why is there dislocation in the labor market? I am not of the opinion that there is any one reason for it. I would say the same thing about why people are behaving irresponsibly.”
Murphy went on to list a number of reasons why people might be acting out more than usual – hot weather, the popularity of the Jersey Shore, and a disconnect between the economy and labor market.
While there could always be alternative reasons for any given phenomena, direct relationships are usually what should be considered as the main causes.
Sure, the market, the jobs, the global warming, and even the Russian meddling in the elections could all somehow be blamed for the increased crime rates among a subset of population. However, hamstringing the police, allowing criminals to go free simply because they cannot afford bail, letting juvenile offenders roam the streets without any prosecution are all directly linked to surging crime.
Acknowledging that would undermine Democratic agenda. Therefore, they are searching for all other possible causes.
Hey Governor Knucklehead, YOU signed the Bill, YOU took the power away from the Police and allowed the juveniles do what they want knowing there is no repercussions for their actions.
You are in charge, take the blame for your actions
November can’t come soon enough for me.
You are right that our Governor signed that bill.
I don’t think that it is a good idea to sink to a level and start the “name calling”.
Knucklehead is what the Governor called those that resisted his lockdown.
I am just reminding him of what he called the State residents did not obey him and his orders