This is just a clarification as to what kinds of crime the map covers. The North Jersey crime map consists of the following offenses:
Assault: This is a crime in which physical force is used to injure another. This can include beating, striking, stabbing, pushing, or slashing another. A subcategory is motor vehicle assault, which comprises intentional assaults with a car, or hit-and-runs. Fatal assaults are assaults in which the crime results in the victim’s death.
Robbery: A crime in which force or violence is used to steal money or other items of value from a person. Examples are robberies at gunpoint, robberies at knifepoint, robberies with the threat of violence, robberies with a physical confrontation with the victim, and the subcategory of carjackings, which is the robbery of a vehicle by force.
Shooting: A serious crime in which a firearm is used to injure a person, or an attempted shooting where a firearm is brandished with intent to menace or fire. This includes cases where the gun jams, where shots are exchanged but no one is injured, and when guns are brandished to intimidate or threaten with force, separate from robbery. Fatal shootings are shootings that result in the death of a victim.
Burglary: A crime where someone enters a house, office, building or car unlawfully and steals items. Burglaries in which nothing is stolen are not counted in the crime map.
Stolen vehicle: A crime in which a car, bike, motorcycle, truck or other vehicle is stolen, usually by use of burglary.
Other: This is a very broad category, made up of many different offenses. Included is arson, distribution of a controlled substance, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, lewd acts, manslaughter, prostitution, sexual assault, and weapons offenses, among others. Manslaughter is arguably the most serious of these, as it results in a victim’s death, though death was not the perpetrator’s intent.
What the map DOESN’T cover is simple possession of controlled substance, shoplifting, minor larceny, burglaries with nothing stolen, criminal mischief, DWI, and most nonviolent crime. The map was designed to be about serious crime, not teenagers busted with weed and petty theft.
On another note, I’ve been working on studies of organized crime, as well as high-crime neighborhoods in North Jersey. Coming up soon!
Now for crime during the last few days:
Down in Newark, a breakthrough was made in the May 17 murder of DeSean Hamilton. The killers were tracked down to a house in Irvington, and the police arrested them and their acquaintances with two silenced assault weapons and handguns on them. Meanwhile, the Newark police continued to crack down on crime, with the breakup of an open-air market in Weequahic. A woman and teenage boy were arrested with fifty-nine decks of heroin, with a 12-gauge shotgun and 9mm assault rifle loaded with hollow-points close at hand to defend their corner.
Deeper into Essex County, a Wednesday murder became the newest addition to the homicide map. Dana Cook, a 44-year-old woman, was living in a vacant house in Orange, when the apparent rightful owner arrived and argued with her. In the dispute, he allegedly stabbed her to death, and then fled. The police tracked him down with a bloodhound, and he was placed under arrest.
Bergen County had two shocking crimes this week, the first in Hackensack, where a hit-and-run left a man dead, and the driver at large. The second was early Wednesday morning in River Edge, where in an instance of road rage, the driver of the 168 NJ Transit bus got into an altercation with a motorist on Kinderkamack Road. The motorist, a white male in his 20s, pulled out a silver handgun and brandished it at the bus driver before fleeing the scene. It’s doubtful that he will be apprehended.
In the most publicized crime so far, early yesterday morning a man from Sleepy Hollow NY was pumping gas in an industrial section of Jersey City when two men approached him, one possibly wielding a shotgun. The man possibly tried to escape in his van, but the robbers opened fire and the man was shot twice. He crashed the van, and with gunshot wounds in the forearm and stomach, was left on the street critically injured. He currently clings to life inside a Jersey City hospital, his survival in the balance.
Check back for more updates, as well as the different features on neighborhoods and gangs.
Showing posts with label shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shooting. Show all posts
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A Question about Newark – and crimes so far this week
A recent article in the Star-Ledger has said that there were eleven murders in Newark in May, and around fourteen in June so far. Strangely, my list only records seven in May, and a further three in June for Newark. The Star-Ledger doesn’t report all murders in Newark, which I found somewhat shocking, due to the gravity of the crime. If this omission was anywhere but Newark, there would be outrage. Murders of suburban middle-class people not being covered is apparently unthinkable, and ignoring the impoverished dead on urban streets is the norm.
If anyone has information on these missing Newark murders, as well as any other crime, please contact me. The crime data for Newark on my map is artificially low, due to the Star-Ledger neglecting to report on most major Newark crimes, even murder.
The crimes of Newark are not the crimes of the suburbs, and a shocking attack like the one on June 12 would be unlikely in Millburn or Paramus. Only a block away from where a 19-year-old was murdered weeks before, a man pulled up in an SUV by the Stratford-Aspen apartments and began to argue with a 23-year-old man. The assailant pulled out a silver handgun and fired eight shots, striking his target in the back. However, stray bullets hit a 12-year-old boy who had been standing nearby in the stomach, buttocks, and arm, severely wounding him. The shooter escaped, leaving the boy clinging to life.
Early Saturday morning in Hoboken, another young life was ruined, but in a far different way. An 18-year-old junior in Hoboken High School and all-star of the basketball team was arrested after two vicious crimes. Around 1 AM a New York man was punched unconscious and robbed of his wallet; while police were investigating this robbery, the young man and friends were beating another man in Church Square Park for trespassing in their territory at night. The teen was arrested for robbery and assault, and his promising athletic career presumably ended.
On June 14, a sickening crime was discovered in East Orange. A family-owned grocery store was burglarized, and a citizen called the police to investigate. The police arrived at the store early in the morning before the owners got there, and discovered illegal fighting roosters bred for cockfights, and steroids used to bulk them up. The roosters were scarred, some covered in fresh wounds that suggested they had been battled within the previous few days. The owner, and his wife and teenage son, were arrested for animal cruelty, and the roosters were euthanized.
One notoriously bad area that I’ve discovered through my plotting of crimes on the map is the southern part of Montclair, especially in the vicinity of Mission Street. A hub of assaults, drug dealings, and occasional exchange of gunfire, this neighborhood was in uproar again Sunday night when a 33-year-old East Orange man was attacked by a gang of people on Mission Street. He was struck in the head with a pipe and stabbed, requiring evacuation to Newark Medical; several of his assailants were arrested, but the motive is still unclear.
As well as the Muddy Banks of the Hackensack crime blog and the New Jersey Murder Map, I’ve also been working on a study of organized crime in New Jersey. Any contributions to this would be welcome.
Murder Map
If anyone has information on these missing Newark murders, as well as any other crime, please contact me. The crime data for Newark on my map is artificially low, due to the Star-Ledger neglecting to report on most major Newark crimes, even murder.
The crimes of Newark are not the crimes of the suburbs, and a shocking attack like the one on June 12 would be unlikely in Millburn or Paramus. Only a block away from where a 19-year-old was murdered weeks before, a man pulled up in an SUV by the Stratford-Aspen apartments and began to argue with a 23-year-old man. The assailant pulled out a silver handgun and fired eight shots, striking his target in the back. However, stray bullets hit a 12-year-old boy who had been standing nearby in the stomach, buttocks, and arm, severely wounding him. The shooter escaped, leaving the boy clinging to life.
Early Saturday morning in Hoboken, another young life was ruined, but in a far different way. An 18-year-old junior in Hoboken High School and all-star of the basketball team was arrested after two vicious crimes. Around 1 AM a New York man was punched unconscious and robbed of his wallet; while police were investigating this robbery, the young man and friends were beating another man in Church Square Park for trespassing in their territory at night. The teen was arrested for robbery and assault, and his promising athletic career presumably ended.
On June 14, a sickening crime was discovered in East Orange. A family-owned grocery store was burglarized, and a citizen called the police to investigate. The police arrived at the store early in the morning before the owners got there, and discovered illegal fighting roosters bred for cockfights, and steroids used to bulk them up. The roosters were scarred, some covered in fresh wounds that suggested they had been battled within the previous few days. The owner, and his wife and teenage son, were arrested for animal cruelty, and the roosters were euthanized.
One notoriously bad area that I’ve discovered through my plotting of crimes on the map is the southern part of Montclair, especially in the vicinity of Mission Street. A hub of assaults, drug dealings, and occasional exchange of gunfire, this neighborhood was in uproar again Sunday night when a 33-year-old East Orange man was attacked by a gang of people on Mission Street. He was struck in the head with a pipe and stabbed, requiring evacuation to Newark Medical; several of his assailants were arrested, but the motive is still unclear.
As well as the Muddy Banks of the Hackensack crime blog and the New Jersey Murder Map, I’ve also been working on a study of organized crime in New Jersey. Any contributions to this would be welcome.
Murder Map
Friday, June 12, 2009
Utilizing Google Maps now; and a lot of shootings in North Jersey
After seeing NJ.com’s homicide map for Hudson County in 2008, I created a similar Google map with the North Jersey homicides for 2009: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100430255326859206461.00046c0c8bf50984defdd They’re color-coded for what city they occurred in, and includes the names and ages of deceased, where they’re known. The total is 17 so far, one being a police shooting, a justifiable homicide in self-defense. After these last few days of violence, I’m surprised there haven’t been more murders.
There were a LOT of shootings these last few days. On June 9, a single shot was fired near Ocean Avenue and Wegman Parkway in Jersey City. A man who was walking by was hit in the stomach, but didn’t realize that he had been shot until he got to his apartment and noticed the blood. The victim was uncooperative with the police, and drove himself to the hospital.
Two days later, there was a report of shots fired on Temple Street in Paterson. Officers on the scene pulled over a suspicious vehicle, and approached it with guns drawn. The occupants burst out of the Hummer and began to run, dropping weapons in the process. The driver was in possession of a Tec-9 automatic machine pistol, with forty bullets and one in the chamber. Another of the car’s occupants had a .357 magnum revolver, both weapons illegal. A digital scale found in the car suggests that they were involved in the drug trade.
Saddest of all, today a shooting in Newark left a 12-year-old boy in critical condition. By the Stratford Aspen Apartment Complex, where a 19-year-old boy was murdered two weeks ago, a man in a silver SUV pulled up and began to argue with a 23-year-old man standing in a group of people. The driver pulled out a handgun and fired eight shots, one striking his target in the back, but stray bullets hitting a 12-year-old who was standing nearby in the back, arm, and stomach. While the shooter’s target was in stable condition, the young man who took the most bullets is in critical care.
Crime tends to peak on the weekends, but there’s one piece of good news. A Paterson man responsible for at least fifteen car burglaries in Rutherford has been arrested, and cooperative with police. While not on the same level as shootings and murder, at least it’s a sign of progress in the neverending fight against crime.
There were a LOT of shootings these last few days. On June 9, a single shot was fired near Ocean Avenue and Wegman Parkway in Jersey City. A man who was walking by was hit in the stomach, but didn’t realize that he had been shot until he got to his apartment and noticed the blood. The victim was uncooperative with the police, and drove himself to the hospital.
Two days later, there was a report of shots fired on Temple Street in Paterson. Officers on the scene pulled over a suspicious vehicle, and approached it with guns drawn. The occupants burst out of the Hummer and began to run, dropping weapons in the process. The driver was in possession of a Tec-9 automatic machine pistol, with forty bullets and one in the chamber. Another of the car’s occupants had a .357 magnum revolver, both weapons illegal. A digital scale found in the car suggests that they were involved in the drug trade.
Saddest of all, today a shooting in Newark left a 12-year-old boy in critical condition. By the Stratford Aspen Apartment Complex, where a 19-year-old boy was murdered two weeks ago, a man in a silver SUV pulled up and began to argue with a 23-year-old man standing in a group of people. The driver pulled out a handgun and fired eight shots, one striking his target in the back, but stray bullets hitting a 12-year-old who was standing nearby in the back, arm, and stomach. While the shooter’s target was in stable condition, the young man who took the most bullets is in critical care.
Crime tends to peak on the weekends, but there’s one piece of good news. A Paterson man responsible for at least fifteen car burglaries in Rutherford has been arrested, and cooperative with police. While not on the same level as shootings and murder, at least it’s a sign of progress in the neverending fight against crime.
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Crime Map getting personal.
In any given week in crime, good things happen with the bad. The good things are the ones that you are detached from, and that give you faith in the power of humanity.
On Sunday, a Nutley woman’s ex-boyfriend broke into her house, severely beat her boyfriend, and kidnapped her at knifepoint. Through many anonymous tips, the man was located at a motel in the Meadowlands, and the woman was safely returned home, with the man being thrown in jail. That’s something that in the end has a happy outcome. Last Thursday, a woman walking up to her apartment in Greenville, Jersey City, was followed by two men up to her front steps, with several neighbors watching. While she turned around to ask what they were doing, they pulled out handguns and attempted to rob her. The neighborhood was watching; a woman on the first floor yelled out that she was calling the police and they were on their way. The two robbers fled, and everyone was safe in the end.
Other times, the crime is sickening and astounding. In broad daylight around noon on Saturday, two men, at least one bearing a knife, broke into a Maplewood Avenue house in Clifton. They began rummaging around, stealing jewelry and valuables, when they came into the room of a young woman who was sleeping. The burglars woke her up, and she began to panic. The robbers beat her until she was unconscious, the assault leaving her hospitalized, and the police chief remarking that the violence was “astounding.” The men fled,
And other times, the crime and violence strikes so close that it feels personal, and almost violating. A double homicide occurred two blocks from my girlfriend’s house in Caldwell this morning, one in cold blood, the other justified. A 37-year-old man stabbed his girlfriend to death in the kitchen of his house, 25 Espry Road, and the police came, alerted by her screams. By the time they arrived, she was dying, and the man lunged at the police with the knife. Two bullets brought him down, and both died around 10 AM today. Those two, plus a fatal shooting in broad daylight in Jersey City, made today, June 8th, the most deadliest day for homicides so far this summer. The fact that these gunshots were audible probably where my girlfriend was sleeping that morning disturbed me a little; I know the area, and I know the street, and Caldwell is not the kind of town that has murders and shootings. It feels strange to put Caldwell up next to Newark and Paterson on the murder count.
Which by the way:
Homicide count
Newark – 8
Jersey City – 5
Caldwell – 2 (1 being justifiable in self-defense)
Paterson – 1
East Orange – 1
Towns ranked by number of shootings
Newark – 10
Paterson – 7 (2 having no injuries)
Jersey City – 5
East Orange – 2 (1 having no injuries)
Irvington – 2 (1 no injuries)
Caldwell – 1
Montclair – 1 (multiple rounds exchanged, no injuries)
Netcong – 1 (no injuries)
West Orange – 1
Also striking very personally, a Stop N Shop in Teaneck five minutes away that I know and have been to was robbed by a man with a box cutter today. He was making his way out into the parking lot when he was confronted by a security guard; he brandished his blade, dropped the duffle bag and then fled. He was a white man in his forties with tattoos; he had robbed the store of diapers, formula, food, and baby medicine.
As far as other crime, there was one that needed to be mentioned. On Sunday, the police finally closed in on a public exhibitionist and masturbator who had been exposing himself and committing lewd acts around Clifton, Newark, and Passaic. He was cruising naked around Newark neighborhoods, then drove up to Passaic, where he exposed himself to two teenage girls, and was arrested. He has a history of similar misdemeanors, and is suspected in similar cases in the area.
On Sunday, a Nutley woman’s ex-boyfriend broke into her house, severely beat her boyfriend, and kidnapped her at knifepoint. Through many anonymous tips, the man was located at a motel in the Meadowlands, and the woman was safely returned home, with the man being thrown in jail. That’s something that in the end has a happy outcome. Last Thursday, a woman walking up to her apartment in Greenville, Jersey City, was followed by two men up to her front steps, with several neighbors watching. While she turned around to ask what they were doing, they pulled out handguns and attempted to rob her. The neighborhood was watching; a woman on the first floor yelled out that she was calling the police and they were on their way. The two robbers fled, and everyone was safe in the end.
Other times, the crime is sickening and astounding. In broad daylight around noon on Saturday, two men, at least one bearing a knife, broke into a Maplewood Avenue house in Clifton. They began rummaging around, stealing jewelry and valuables, when they came into the room of a young woman who was sleeping. The burglars woke her up, and she began to panic. The robbers beat her until she was unconscious, the assault leaving her hospitalized, and the police chief remarking that the violence was “astounding.” The men fled,
And other times, the crime and violence strikes so close that it feels personal, and almost violating. A double homicide occurred two blocks from my girlfriend’s house in Caldwell this morning, one in cold blood, the other justified. A 37-year-old man stabbed his girlfriend to death in the kitchen of his house, 25 Espry Road, and the police came, alerted by her screams. By the time they arrived, she was dying, and the man lunged at the police with the knife. Two bullets brought him down, and both died around 10 AM today. Those two, plus a fatal shooting in broad daylight in Jersey City, made today, June 8th, the most deadliest day for homicides so far this summer. The fact that these gunshots were audible probably where my girlfriend was sleeping that morning disturbed me a little; I know the area, and I know the street, and Caldwell is not the kind of town that has murders and shootings. It feels strange to put Caldwell up next to Newark and Paterson on the murder count.
Which by the way:
Homicide count
Newark – 8
Jersey City – 5
Caldwell – 2 (1 being justifiable in self-defense)
Paterson – 1
East Orange – 1
Towns ranked by number of shootings
Newark – 10
Paterson – 7 (2 having no injuries)
Jersey City – 5
East Orange – 2 (1 having no injuries)
Irvington – 2 (1 no injuries)
Caldwell – 1
Montclair – 1 (multiple rounds exchanged, no injuries)
Netcong – 1 (no injuries)
West Orange – 1
Also striking very personally, a Stop N Shop in Teaneck five minutes away that I know and have been to was robbed by a man with a box cutter today. He was making his way out into the parking lot when he was confronted by a security guard; he brandished his blade, dropped the duffle bag and then fled. He was a white man in his forties with tattoos; he had robbed the store of diapers, formula, food, and baby medicine.
As far as other crime, there was one that needed to be mentioned. On Sunday, the police finally closed in on a public exhibitionist and masturbator who had been exposing himself and committing lewd acts around Clifton, Newark, and Passaic. He was cruising naked around Newark neighborhoods, then drove up to Passaic, where he exposed himself to two teenage girls, and was arrested. He has a history of similar misdemeanors, and is suspected in similar cases in the area.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A look at crime - week 1
The first week of my crime experiment is over, and I’ve been listing and mapping the major crimes that have occurred in North Jersey’s five counties. What I’ve discovered is eye-opening, though not surprising. Crime is concentrated as I would have expected in Newark, Paterson, and Jersey City, though there were a few surprises in the data.
For one, a string of burglaries in the rural, upper-class Sussex County ended within the last few days, and in a strange parallel, so did a short burst of burglaries in poor, blighted Central Paterson. The suspect of the first was a middle-aged white heroin addict, another reminder that crime is not a specialized trait of certain races, ages, or classes.
There were two murders in North Jersey over this last week, and eight assaults severe enough to make the newspapers. The first murder took place in Newark, late on May 5, when two men were shot on Isabella Street. One was wounded with gunshots to the chest, the other was killed with gunshots to the head and chest; the killer has not been found. The second murder took place on Rosa Parks Boulevard in Paterson, where a 39-year-old man was stabbed multiple times the night of May 6, and left to die. Several more attempted murders and shootings took place as well.
There was a strange coincidence that four crimes took place in very close proximity to one another. Over the last week, there was a string of crime around Randolph, Netcong, Mount Arlington, and Roxbury – places out in the rural and much richer suburbs. All, however, were unrelated, and can be written off to coincidence. A hit and run on the highway, men brandishing a handgun at a policeman, a petty robbery at a strip mall– but most shocking of all, a stabbing at a house party in Roxbury. Some guests showed up uninvited to a party for a man getting out of the armed forces. They were denied entry – they came back with friends and knives, and stabbed the 22-year-old returning veteran four times, later being arrested, and their victim flown to Morristown Hospital. Such a brutal attack in a typically white and high-end suburb could go head to head with the worst assaults and crimes of Newark or Paterson.
Other notable events during this last week were numerous arrests and assaults at the Bamboozle music festival, an 11-year-old girl accidentally shot during a drive-by shooting in Newark, a 17-year-old high school student severely beaten with a lead pipe on a major Clifton street, and most bizarre of all, a man being shot in the head in Jersey City, and driving himself to the hospital, with only superficial wounds.
Crimes for the month of May, so far – Assaults, Robberies, Shootings, Burglaries, and Other
May 1 – Assault. Man severely beaten, Apartments @ Fremont Street, Jersey City
May 1 – Robbery. Woman robbed of $2500, Tuers and Vroom, Jersey City
May 1 – Assault. Drug dealer bites and punches cops while being placed under arrest for deal made at Central and Bowers, Jersey City
May 2 – Assault. Drunken man assaults police officer, diner 53rd and Broadway, Bayonne
May 2 – Assault. Stabbing @ house party, Main Street in Roxbury
May 2 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Arson. Arson at apartments, West Kinney and Broad, Newark
May 3 – Shooting. Driver wounded with gunshot to head, Cornelison and Fairmount, Jersey City
May 3 – Shooting. Gas station clerk wounded with gunshot to arm, Broadway and Summer, Paterson
May 4 – Burglary. 4000 dollars from house, Zinnia Drive, Vernon
May 4 – Robbery. Wallet in A&P parking lot, Randolph
May 4 – Shooting. Police shoot burglar in leg, 16th by South Orange, Newark
May 5 – Burglary. 2 handguns from house, Mountain Road, Hardyston
May 5 – Burglary. House on East 19th Street Paterson
May 5 – Burglary. Jewelry, laptop, camera taken from house on Rosa Parks and Lafayette, Paterson
May 5 – Assault. Hit and run, woman walking on roadway seriously injured, Route 80 Mount Arlington
May 5 – Intimidation. 2 men brandish handgun at police, Route 80 Netcong
May 5 – Shooting (fatal). One killed with gunshots to chest and head, one wounded with gunshot to chest, South Orange and Isabella, Newark
May 5 – Shooting. 11-year-old girl wounded in shoulder in drive-by, 14th and 14th, Newark
May 6 – Robbery. Dunkin Donuts robbed in North Bergen, Kennedy and 21st
May 6 – Assault (fatal). Man fatally stabbed multiple times, Godwin and Rosa Parks, Paterson
May 7 – Assault. Boy beaten with pipe, Rite Aid Lexington Avenue, Clifton
For one, a string of burglaries in the rural, upper-class Sussex County ended within the last few days, and in a strange parallel, so did a short burst of burglaries in poor, blighted Central Paterson. The suspect of the first was a middle-aged white heroin addict, another reminder that crime is not a specialized trait of certain races, ages, or classes.
There were two murders in North Jersey over this last week, and eight assaults severe enough to make the newspapers. The first murder took place in Newark, late on May 5, when two men were shot on Isabella Street. One was wounded with gunshots to the chest, the other was killed with gunshots to the head and chest; the killer has not been found. The second murder took place on Rosa Parks Boulevard in Paterson, where a 39-year-old man was stabbed multiple times the night of May 6, and left to die. Several more attempted murders and shootings took place as well.
There was a strange coincidence that four crimes took place in very close proximity to one another. Over the last week, there was a string of crime around Randolph, Netcong, Mount Arlington, and Roxbury – places out in the rural and much richer suburbs. All, however, were unrelated, and can be written off to coincidence. A hit and run on the highway, men brandishing a handgun at a policeman, a petty robbery at a strip mall– but most shocking of all, a stabbing at a house party in Roxbury. Some guests showed up uninvited to a party for a man getting out of the armed forces. They were denied entry – they came back with friends and knives, and stabbed the 22-year-old returning veteran four times, later being arrested, and their victim flown to Morristown Hospital. Such a brutal attack in a typically white and high-end suburb could go head to head with the worst assaults and crimes of Newark or Paterson.
Other notable events during this last week were numerous arrests and assaults at the Bamboozle music festival, an 11-year-old girl accidentally shot during a drive-by shooting in Newark, a 17-year-old high school student severely beaten with a lead pipe on a major Clifton street, and most bizarre of all, a man being shot in the head in Jersey City, and driving himself to the hospital, with only superficial wounds.
Crimes for the month of May, so far – Assaults, Robberies, Shootings, Burglaries, and Other
May 1 – Assault. Man severely beaten, Apartments @ Fremont Street, Jersey City
May 1 – Robbery. Woman robbed of $2500, Tuers and Vroom, Jersey City
May 1 – Assault. Drug dealer bites and punches cops while being placed under arrest for deal made at Central and Bowers, Jersey City
May 2 – Assault. Drunken man assaults police officer, diner 53rd and Broadway, Bayonne
May 2 – Assault. Stabbing @ house party, Main Street in Roxbury
May 2 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Arson. Arson at apartments, West Kinney and Broad, Newark
May 3 – Shooting. Driver wounded with gunshot to head, Cornelison and Fairmount, Jersey City
May 3 – Shooting. Gas station clerk wounded with gunshot to arm, Broadway and Summer, Paterson
May 4 – Burglary. 4000 dollars from house, Zinnia Drive, Vernon
May 4 – Robbery. Wallet in A&P parking lot, Randolph
May 4 – Shooting. Police shoot burglar in leg, 16th by South Orange, Newark
May 5 – Burglary. 2 handguns from house, Mountain Road, Hardyston
May 5 – Burglary. House on East 19th Street Paterson
May 5 – Burglary. Jewelry, laptop, camera taken from house on Rosa Parks and Lafayette, Paterson
May 5 – Assault. Hit and run, woman walking on roadway seriously injured, Route 80 Mount Arlington
May 5 – Intimidation. 2 men brandish handgun at police, Route 80 Netcong
May 5 – Shooting (fatal). One killed with gunshots to chest and head, one wounded with gunshot to chest, South Orange and Isabella, Newark
May 5 – Shooting. 11-year-old girl wounded in shoulder in drive-by, 14th and 14th, Newark
May 6 – Robbery. Dunkin Donuts robbed in North Bergen, Kennedy and 21st
May 6 – Assault (fatal). Man fatally stabbed multiple times, Godwin and Rosa Parks, Paterson
May 7 – Assault. Boy beaten with pipe, Rite Aid Lexington Avenue, Clifton
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Crime and Murder Just Footsteps Away. North Jersey, Summer 2009
When I was a kid I was surprised when my mom told me that people used the motels along 46 in South Hackensack for prostitution and drugs. I always remembered my dad telling me how someone got murdered in the Popeye’s in Teaneck, and the awe I felt that such incredible and dastardly events were taking place minutes from my house. My uncle would impress me with the story of how he and his partner had a gunfight with a Paterson bank robber 1974. The robber had been wounded in the stomach, and my uncle had approached him, and the man had said that it hurt; with all the gravitas of Clint Eastwood, my uncle kicked his balls, and told him that he didn’t hurt nearly enough.
Back then, I imagined all criminals were genius masterminds, all murders were dramatic and cinematic, and all crime breathtaking and exciting. Living by the intersection of routes 80, 46, and 95, ten minutes from New York City, I remember one night the police arrested a man for dumping keys of cocaine out of his car windows on the turnpike in a fit of paranoia. I always remember how my parents would warn me away from certain parks or the movie theater at night, due to people “doing drugs” or fighting; on a walk with my girlfriend when I was 16, we heard some pops, and immediately her mom called us to come back, because some teenagers were firing guns in the air a block from her house.
When people were robbed at gunpoint or had shots fired through their windows near me, I thought I lived in an exciting place. Yeah, I knew New York was dangerous – all the rapes and murders they showed on Eyewitness News convinced me of that – but this was my hometown! This was Paterson, Newark, Englewood, Passaic, Garfield, the places that I lived.
It was all exciting and unreal to me until when I was sixteen, and saw a guy get killed by the police in a terrible circumstance in Las Vegas. He was resisting arrest in a car, and speeding away when he hit a cop on a bicycle, knocking him out. The other cop drew his gun and shot him in the head. Me and my dad were walking on the block, but we didn’t even realize what had happened. The cops began to swarm all around, and got the civilians out of the way, and it wasn’t until later I realized the man had died.
A few days after that, a gang fight broke out at a house party a couple blocks from my house, and a 15-year-old boy who was running away was shot in the back with a .357 and left for dead on the street. His name was Ricky Smith. The Paterson Bloods who had killed him were all arrested, and in the next few months, a recognizance that gang activity existed in Teaneck was much more aware. In the next year, gang members were arrested with loaded guns on streets that I walked on every day, and at the Popeye’s on Teaneck Road, a gang fight resulted in a teenager getting stabbed in the neck, needing 300 stitches to close the wound. Before I left for college, an attempted shooting of a police officer in Little Ferry over the river was the news of the day.
It was this kind of stuff that made criminology one of my biggest interests. Even now, with a more mature and sober outlook on crime, and a much bigger realization of unsafeness, the motivation behind criminals and their actions is something that never ceases to interest me.
When I got to American University, during welcome week we couldn’t go a day without getting a public safety alert of a sex offense or robbery on the roads around American. A casual acquaintance of mine was nearly killed on August 20th, when he was being robbed at gunpoint on Nebraska and Van Ness, and the perpetrator pulled the trigger, only to have the gun jam. In DC, I was much more conscious of high crime areas, and I took this back with me when I went home for breaks.
One night this semester I found a crime map that showed all the crime in DC for the last few years, and I was shocked at the amount of crime in the NW. I didn’t think that the NW had such heavy crime, but this is DC – there were murders and shootings around Tenleytown, people killed in Georgetown, and robberies and knifepoint and gunpoint all around the AU area, and other parts of DC that I frequented. (One of my favorite discoveries was a drunken argument between two homeless men on Constitution Avenue in front of the White House. One of them, who was in a wheelchair, pulled a gun out of his bag and shot the other in the leg…in front of the White House.)
When I looked at crime statistics for my home in New Jersey, I was shocked. Not having paid attention all year to news from back home, I saw killings in Hackensack, drive-by shootings in Lodi, my town having five rapes and five robberies, teenagers being stabbed in gang fights in high school. News reports said that people wouldn’t walk in central Hackensack at night by 1st and Central because drugs were being sold their, and armed robberies kept taking place. Was my home always this dangerous, had I missed it all these years, or was I just more conscious?
I had an idea for this summer to chart all the violent crime in my area, recording it both here and on a Google map. This is not as a scare tactic, but as a sober reminder that this isn’t a problem just for inner cities, and that New Jersey and the places that we live all suffer from crime. My sources will be newspapers, both paper and internet. Because crime spikes in the summer, there will be enough data to have a good look at crime in my area, the places that it occurs, and why it occurs.
This chart and map will cover Bergen County, Passaic County, Essex County, Hudson County, and Morris County. Crimes covered are shootings (fatal and non-fatal), assaults, robberies, and other – including arson, rape, or other high-profile cases that make the news.
May
May 1 – Assault. Man severely beaten, Apartments @ Fremont Street, Jersey City
May 1 – Robbery. Woman robbed of $2500, Tuers and Vroom, Jersey City
May 2 – Assault. Drunken man assaults police officer, diner @ 53rd and Broadway, Bayonne
May 2 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Arson. Apartments @ Broad and West Kinney, Newark
May 3 – Shooting. Driver wounded with gunshot to head, Cornelison and Fairmount, Jersey City
May 3 – Shooting. Gas station clerk wounded with gunshot to arm, Broadway and Summer, Paterson
May 4 – Shooting. Police shoot burglar in leg, 16th by South Orange, Newark
May 5 – Shooting. One killed with gunshots to chest and head, one wounded with gunshot to chest, South Orange and Isabella, Newark
Back then, I imagined all criminals were genius masterminds, all murders were dramatic and cinematic, and all crime breathtaking and exciting. Living by the intersection of routes 80, 46, and 95, ten minutes from New York City, I remember one night the police arrested a man for dumping keys of cocaine out of his car windows on the turnpike in a fit of paranoia. I always remember how my parents would warn me away from certain parks or the movie theater at night, due to people “doing drugs” or fighting; on a walk with my girlfriend when I was 16, we heard some pops, and immediately her mom called us to come back, because some teenagers were firing guns in the air a block from her house.
When people were robbed at gunpoint or had shots fired through their windows near me, I thought I lived in an exciting place. Yeah, I knew New York was dangerous – all the rapes and murders they showed on Eyewitness News convinced me of that – but this was my hometown! This was Paterson, Newark, Englewood, Passaic, Garfield, the places that I lived.
It was all exciting and unreal to me until when I was sixteen, and saw a guy get killed by the police in a terrible circumstance in Las Vegas. He was resisting arrest in a car, and speeding away when he hit a cop on a bicycle, knocking him out. The other cop drew his gun and shot him in the head. Me and my dad were walking on the block, but we didn’t even realize what had happened. The cops began to swarm all around, and got the civilians out of the way, and it wasn’t until later I realized the man had died.
A few days after that, a gang fight broke out at a house party a couple blocks from my house, and a 15-year-old boy who was running away was shot in the back with a .357 and left for dead on the street. His name was Ricky Smith. The Paterson Bloods who had killed him were all arrested, and in the next few months, a recognizance that gang activity existed in Teaneck was much more aware. In the next year, gang members were arrested with loaded guns on streets that I walked on every day, and at the Popeye’s on Teaneck Road, a gang fight resulted in a teenager getting stabbed in the neck, needing 300 stitches to close the wound. Before I left for college, an attempted shooting of a police officer in Little Ferry over the river was the news of the day.
It was this kind of stuff that made criminology one of my biggest interests. Even now, with a more mature and sober outlook on crime, and a much bigger realization of unsafeness, the motivation behind criminals and their actions is something that never ceases to interest me.
When I got to American University, during welcome week we couldn’t go a day without getting a public safety alert of a sex offense or robbery on the roads around American. A casual acquaintance of mine was nearly killed on August 20th, when he was being robbed at gunpoint on Nebraska and Van Ness, and the perpetrator pulled the trigger, only to have the gun jam. In DC, I was much more conscious of high crime areas, and I took this back with me when I went home for breaks.
One night this semester I found a crime map that showed all the crime in DC for the last few years, and I was shocked at the amount of crime in the NW. I didn’t think that the NW had such heavy crime, but this is DC – there were murders and shootings around Tenleytown, people killed in Georgetown, and robberies and knifepoint and gunpoint all around the AU area, and other parts of DC that I frequented. (One of my favorite discoveries was a drunken argument between two homeless men on Constitution Avenue in front of the White House. One of them, who was in a wheelchair, pulled a gun out of his bag and shot the other in the leg…in front of the White House.)
When I looked at crime statistics for my home in New Jersey, I was shocked. Not having paid attention all year to news from back home, I saw killings in Hackensack, drive-by shootings in Lodi, my town having five rapes and five robberies, teenagers being stabbed in gang fights in high school. News reports said that people wouldn’t walk in central Hackensack at night by 1st and Central because drugs were being sold their, and armed robberies kept taking place. Was my home always this dangerous, had I missed it all these years, or was I just more conscious?
I had an idea for this summer to chart all the violent crime in my area, recording it both here and on a Google map. This is not as a scare tactic, but as a sober reminder that this isn’t a problem just for inner cities, and that New Jersey and the places that we live all suffer from crime. My sources will be newspapers, both paper and internet. Because crime spikes in the summer, there will be enough data to have a good look at crime in my area, the places that it occurs, and why it occurs.
This chart and map will cover Bergen County, Passaic County, Essex County, Hudson County, and Morris County. Crimes covered are shootings (fatal and non-fatal), assaults, robberies, and other – including arson, rape, or other high-profile cases that make the news.
May
May 1 – Assault. Man severely beaten, Apartments @ Fremont Street, Jersey City
May 1 – Robbery. Woman robbed of $2500, Tuers and Vroom, Jersey City
May 2 – Assault. Drunken man assaults police officer, diner @ 53rd and Broadway, Bayonne
May 2 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Assault. Bamboozle @ the Meadowlands
May 3 – Arson. Apartments @ Broad and West Kinney, Newark
May 3 – Shooting. Driver wounded with gunshot to head, Cornelison and Fairmount, Jersey City
May 3 – Shooting. Gas station clerk wounded with gunshot to arm, Broadway and Summer, Paterson
May 4 – Shooting. Police shoot burglar in leg, 16th by South Orange, Newark
May 5 – Shooting. One killed with gunshots to chest and head, one wounded with gunshot to chest, South Orange and Isabella, Newark
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