l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 The question of whether crime in Elizabeth is driven by gangs or drugs is
more than just semantics.
Mayor J. Christian Bollwage has long insisted his city doesn’t have a gang
problem, saying it’s drug crews that commit violence. He has repeatedly
used that as an excuse to reject help from outside agencies such as the
Union County Prosecutor’s Office in fighting gang-related crime. And he
refuses to discuss the issue further, or explain his point of view.
There’s a real consequence to that dogmatic attitude. It means valuable
information about violent groups in Elizabeth is not being collected and
exchanged between his officers and other law enforcement agencies, such as
county homicide investigators, the State Police or the FBI.
Elizabeth has 600 verified gang members, the most in Union County, according
to the Prosecutor’s Office. That’s nearly half of the entire county’s
confirmed street gang population. Yet Elizabeth was the only city in the
state last year that refused to fill out the State Police gang survey.
Bollwage also has refused to participate in the prosecutor’s task force in
charge of investigating homicides, even though about half its cases occur in
Elizabeth.
Bollwage is not the only mayor to have denied the foothold of gangs and
isolated himself from other law enforcement. Sometimes, it’s for political
reasons. To participate in gang investigations, a mayor has to relinquish
some control and allow outside agencies into his city.
Talking about gangs also makes a city sound less safe. Mayors fear scaring
off potential developers, said David Kennedy, director of the Center for
Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College.
“I can’t tell you how many police chiefs have said to me, ‘They won’t
let me talk about gangs,’ ” Kennedy said. “It’s usually worries
about public perception and bringing businesses in and property values.
People don’t want to come to a city where there are gangs.”
But it’s dangerous to live in denial. Bollwage owes it to the people of his
city to explain why he won’t cooperate. He’s effectively blinding them to
a huge public safety problem. Drugs certainly contribute to violence in
Elizabeth — but so do gangs. | w********c
发帖数: 2632 | 2 perhaps he is part of them.
gang
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: The question of whether crime in Elizabeth is driven by gangs or drugs is
: more than just semantics.
: Mayor J. Christian Bollwage has long insisted his city doesn’t have a gang
: problem, saying it’s drug crews that commit violence. He has repeatedly
: used that as an excuse to reject help from outside agencies such as the
: Union County Prosecutor’s Office in fighting gang-related crime. And he
: refuses to discuss the issue further, or explain his point of view.
: There’s a real consequence to that dogmatic attitude. It means valuable
: information about violent groups in Elizabeth is not being collected and
: exchanged between his officers and other law enforcement agencies, such as
| l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 3 ah, I think this answer is a satisfactory one.
【在 w********c 的大作中提到】
: perhaps he is part of them.
:
: gang
|
|
