Friday, May 15, 2009

On Crime and Public Safety

This post is also published on my mayoral candidate blog. I felt, however, that it deserved posting here as well. The issue of crime in the 3rd Ward has not been publicly discussed by the current mayor at all--yet, I am hearing about it from the 3rd Ward residents, whose concerns for their children are not being addressed. Many of you have expressed frustration about the lack of communication from the mayor as well as outrage about her attempt to govern with "hugs" and "kisses," but no meaningful action.

Statistics produced by the Union County Prosecutor's Office just last month show that crime is UP 12.4% in Plainfield.* This is shameful, and speaks to the current administration's empty talk on crime and safety.

I know first-hand how crime affects us all. As I walk through the streets of Plainfield, listening to you, the voters, it is clear that the current administration under Sharon is deaf to your serious concerns about your own safety.

There is a misconception being perpetrated by my opponent that my goal is to reduce the police department. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, we have less police on the force than 3 ½ years ago, when this mayor came into office. In addition, more losses were caused by the fact that the mayor had officers personally assigned to her for her use for 3 years—meaning even less officers available for crime-fighting!

As your mayor, I will fight crime like never before! My goal is to add additional police officers to city streets by bringing the complement of officers up to 160. I will use the savings that will result from attrition and retirements and funds available under President Obama’s Federal Stimulus program to accomplish this goal.

For example, up to $1 billion in funding from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was made available through the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) to address the personnel needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement. The funding, through COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) goes directly to law enforcement agencies to create and preserve jobs and to increase community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts through the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers. The grant would have provided 100 percent funding for salaries and benefits for 3 years for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts.

Unfortunately, the current administration dropped the ball and did not apply for this competitive grant; the deadline, April 14, 2009, has passed! This is truly unfortunate, because there was no local matching fund requirement, meaning no additional tax burden on you, the taxpayer. In addition, no cap was placed on the number of positions we could have requested for funding!

Under a Mapp administration, we will apply for ALL available funding to increase safety and improve crime prevention! We will make sure that every dollar allocated for crime fighting is spent on crime fighting. Working with our police, we must tackle drug dealing, assaults, home invasions, car break-ins, and all other criminal activity. We must be vigilant.

We’ve had enough empty talk from the current administration about crime. We will not drop the ball and ignore the needs of our residents as the current mayor has done. We will not place our heads in the sand. Under Sharon, crime has steadily increased.

It’s time for action! It’s time for change!


*Source: Star-Ledger, 4/21/09 “New statistics show crime surge in Union County last year”: In Plainfield, second in the county to Elizabeth in total number of crimes...crime rose 12.4% percent.” Statistics provided by the Uniform Police Report to the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is no endorsement of any candidate, however, Mr. Mapp, you are grossly incorrect. The City (by way of the Police Division) DID APPLY for the COPS Grant, asking for funding for four (4) Police Officers. The application was submitted on-line electronically by the deadline. The resolution is on the upcoming agenda (since you have changed schedules numerous times). Had you inquired before publishing this statement you would have known this. Captain Siddeeq W. El-Amin

Anonymous said...

What will happen to your plan if no granr money is received? Will you still bring the staffing level to 160? What will you do to fill supervisory vacancies that are being left unfilled by the current mayor? The police department is losing a large amount of officers from all ranks. This needs to be fixed instead of allowing the disvision to just hobble along without proper supervision, hoping that nothing happens!

Bernice said...

Will you please detail the exact scenario on this grant? Capt. Siddeeq El-Amin says the grant application was filed on time but the resolution to the council did not make it due to the calendar change (I am rephrasing). So did the grant application go through or not? If not, was it due to the calendar change or to a lapse on the part of the Police Division? Please clarify the sequence of events.

Adrian Mapp said...

Captain El-Amin's comment on my previous post regarding the mayor's inaction on crime and public safety deserves clarification. It turns out that the very competitive COPS grant I referred to in an earlier post was applied for by the administration by the deadline, but without council knowledge or approval. This means that the administration failed once again in its fiduciary and legal responsibility to keep the governing body informed about all significant grants that will be applied for.

This instance highlights the continued failure of this mayor to communicate with the council except in a rushed, haphazard, and last-minute way. The governing body is supposed to approve grant applications before they are sent out—failure to communicate with us about this grant is par for the course of this administration, which clearly feels it does not have to be transparent and accountable to the people or the governing body of Plainfield.

The resolution the captain is referring to is a blanket resolution that I proposed—one that would enable the police to apply for significant grants through President Obama’s Stimulus Plan in a timely fashion without the city having to suffer from waiting until the last minute. The reason I proposed this resolution was to ensure that the administration would not wait until the last minute (as is their standard operating procedure) to file for certain grants.

It is the ethical responsibility of the mayor to fully and openly communicate with the governing body about all grants. To say that “The application was submitted on-line electronically by the deadline” WITHOUT council approval just highlights the lack of accountability on the part of the administration.

That said, our police force deserves the full support of the governing body, the administration, and our community. A Mapp administration would ensure that all grants are applied for and that the city council and the public remain informed about all crime fighting efforts in a timely fashion.

Regards,

Adrian

Adrian Mapp said...

To the commenter at 8:28 PM:

In the event that grant funds are not received at the level needed to supplement the budget, I will used austerity measures to free up funding from other areas of the operating budget to fully staff the police department.

As mayor I will conduct an overall review of the police department to determine the adequacy of its leadership team, and I will be making appropriate adjustments to ensure that the right level of supervisory and management personnel is in place to lead the department in the most effective and efficient manner.

Regards,
Adrian

Adrian Mapp said...

To the commenter at 8:28 PM:

In the event that grant funds are not received at the level needed to supplement the budget, I will used austerity measures to free up funding from other areas of the operating budget to fully staff the police department.

As mayor I will conduct an overall review of the police department to determine the adequacy of its leadership team, and I will be making appropriate adjustments to ensure that the right level of supervisory and management personnel is in place to lead the department in the most effective and efficient manner.

Regards,
Adrian