Police, community crisis in Maplewood

I am surprised not to have seen a thread about this already. I hope you all know about this and the plans to attend the TC meeting on Tuesday.

http://villagegreennj.com/poli...

The article in the Ledger indicates the police chief's tenure is under review. I believe the local union issued a "No Confidence" vote against the chief. 

Is the police turnover in Mpl. average for surrounding communities? If it is higher, this reflects on the performance of the chief.

Once upon a time this would have created a massive battle on mol. Things were more fun back then. 

There are fewer apologists for police brutality than there used to be. 

Gilgul said:

Once upon a time this would have created a massive battle on mol. Things were more fun back then. 

Thing is anything caused a battle back then. A golden age. 

Gilgul said:

Thing is anything caused a battle back then. A golden age. 

Two words: The Facebook. 

Gilgul said:

Thing is anything caused a battle back then. A golden age. 

I'm fine with a little less entertainment if it means there aren't people trying to defend the indefensible. 

I am aware the the vitriol has mostly moved to Facebook. Unfortunately the nature of Facebook feeds makes it hard to follow it in all its glory. MOL is much better suited to bitter battles. Too bad it has migrated.

in addition, let's realize that having fireworks in Maplewood is absolutely insane anymore.  I stopped going several years ago - I found myself amidst a bunch of teens who were fighting and the police were absolutely unable to deal with it.  It's an unnecessary risk - do what S Orange did and stop the fireworks, it's absurd to allow situations where risk of violence is so high.

South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race

Mark your calendars and attend this all important Community Forum on strategizing in the aftermath of the release of the July 5, 2016 audio and video.The South Orange Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, Reverend Doctor Terry Richardson of First Baptist Church of South Orange, SOMA Action, SOMA Justice, and... Michael Minor together with other community partners are working to organize a community forum to discuss the recently released audio and video of the July 5, 2016 incident. The forum will be a safe place to express our feelings and to strategize future action. We believe that the way to move forward is through a unitedly agreed upon community-based plan of action. We invite all residents to this extremely important Community Forum, which is the first in many in our collective efforts. The forum will take place on August 7, 2017 at 7:30pm. The location will be announced in the near future. Questions should be directed to the Community Coalition on Race at 973-761-6116 or info@twotowns.org.

Agree.  

peteglider said:

in addition, let's realize that having fireworks in Maplewood is absolutely insane anymore.  I stopped going several years ago - I found myself amidst a bunch of teens who were fighting and the police were absolutely unable to deal with it.  It's an unnecessary risk - do what S Orange did and stop the fireworks, it's absurd to allow situations where risk of violence is so high.

I also think that because of how  the fireworks are funded the event has become an unnecessary source of division for our community.  Too many residents as well as nonresidents think any fireworks should be free to all.  This raises the question of who pays. If Maplewood taxpayers were to foot the bill and the event become free it would attract even larger crowds that most likely would exceed our capacity to manage.

Too bad so many have a defeatist attitude to just give up and give in.

Not defeatist so much as a discussion of how best to allocate our energy and resources.  

That's what they all say when they are crying uncle.

I don't hear anyone crying "uncle" at this time.  I do hear a lot of concerned discussion about what exactly happened (from numerous viewpoints based on numerous sources of information), what if anything could/should have been done differently, and the degree to which the fireworks may have been a contributing factor.  The very fact that so many of us are engaging in this fact finding/discussing is encouraging and preferable to the alternatives of ignoring what happened and violent reaction.

krnl said:

If Maplewood taxpayers were to foot the bill and the event become free it would attract even larger crowds that most likely would exceed our capacity to manage.

The tickets-only area gets pretty full, and the fireworks are already free for whoever else wants to come. In what way would making the restricted area free, too, increase the size of the crowd?

peteglider - Yes,South Orange stopped fireworks but now South Orange attends Maplewood fireworks.

peteglider said:

in addition, let's realize that having fireworks in Maplewood is absolutely insane anymore.  I stopped going several years ago - I found myself amidst a bunch of teens who were fighting and the police were absolutely unable to deal with it.  It's an unnecessary risk - do what S Orange did and stop the fireworks, it's absurd to allow situations where risk of violence is so high.

We've attended most years out of the past 10, and only recall one year that seemed a little dicey.  This year was very well organized, and there was no sense of danger anywhere near Memorial Park. People who haven't attended the event in several years probably aren't aware that the MPD has instituted some different protocols for handling crowds at the event.

DaveSchmidt said:

krnl said:

If Maplewood taxpayers were to foot the bill and the event become free it would attract even larger crowds that most likely would exceed our capacity to manage.

The tickets-only area gets pretty full, and the fireworks are already free for whoever else wants to come. In what way would making the restricted area free, too, increase the size of the crowd?

^this

Interestingly the fenced in area was free to all on the night of this incident.  Due to weather the fireworks had been postponed and ticket admission waved on 7/5/2016.

DaveSchmidt said:

krnl said:

If Maplewood taxpayers were to foot the bill and the event become free it would attract even larger crowds that most likely would exceed our capacity to manage.

The tickets-only area gets pretty full, and the fireworks are already free for whoever else wants to come. In what way would making the restricted area free, too, increase the size of the crowd?

alias said:

Interestingly the fenced in area was free to all on the night of this incident.

Do you think that may have played a role?

galileo said:

peteglider - Yes,South Orange stopped fireworks but now South Orange attends Maplewood fireworks.

If that's the case, I'm an exception. Never missed walking to/from S.O. fireworks from the year I moved here. Since stopped, I haven't once attended Maplewood fireworks.

I live in S. Orange and have not been to MW to watch.   I don't think just SO has stopped doing fireworks.  I have been in my car shortly before they begin on both Ridgewood Rd and on Prospect street.  It is a mess, with cars trying to find a place to park, people walking and the police having no place to direct cars.  The town is too small for such a large crowd.  Time to end this event and maybe get the county to do a larger scale show from the reservation.

ml1 said:

We've attended most years out of the past 10, and only recall one year that seemed a little dicey.  This year was very well organized, and there was no sense of danger anywhere near Memorial Park. People who haven't attended the event in several years probably aren't aware that the MPD has instituted some different protocols for handling crowds at the event.

I was away this year and missed it, so I wondered how it had gone.  Glad to hear that it was well organized and no sense of danger.  So, why not move forward and continue to take advantage of those lessons learned?

Continuance of the Maplewood Fourth Tradition, including the fireworks, should be a separate discussion from the review of last year's incident, especially since it does not seem to have been repeated.

I don't think the police chief will survive this controversy. It's clear that new leadership is necessary for the community to move forward.

yahooyahoo said:

I don't think the police chief will survive this controversy. It's clear that new leadership is necessary for the community to move forward.

And while this isn't the only incident of this kind, let this be the one that addresses and changes law enforcement culture.

This is the letter I sent to each member of the township committee this evening. If you agree, or even if you only think that perhaps beating, macing, and escorting our children out of town is not the type of policing we want in Maplewood, please join me and your neighbors at the Springfield Ave Gazebo at 6:45 tomorrow evening and at the Township Committee meeting to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Vic,

I am extremely distressed by the actions of the Maplewood Township police on July 5th, 2016, as revealed in the recently released tapes and transcripts. I am also quite disappointed by the delay in the release of the tapes and transcripts, which reeks of attempted dissimulation and obstruction by the department.

The low level and meager disciplinary response so far hardly seems an adequate response to the actions taken that night, which were clearly directed by and reflective of the senior leadership of the department, and not just the individual actions of a few officers.

I await a more authoritative response. Words alone will not be enough. Hiring a consultant will not be enough. Action that impacts the department in both the short and long term must be taken, and promptly. By delaying the public reckoning by over a year, Chief Cimino has left you with little time and no room for reflection. It is hard to imagine a way in which his continued employment by the township can be anything but a further impediment to change.

Sincerely,

Max Weisenfeld

Calm down, everybody.  Chief Cimino has been in that position a long time, and he was brought in to calm down a department that was very unruly at the time, and he succeeded.  He's done a great job all these years.  If he had a pattern of making bad decisions, I would say get rid of him, but the opposite is true.  Nobody is perfect all the time.  I worked with him for many years in CBAC, and he argued for community policing funding every year.  I am certain that this one is not going to happen again.  I don't defend what happened in this instance, I am just saying that he has a long track record, and it's been good.

It's shocking that this happened over a year ago and we're just hearing about it now.  The chief certainly must be fired at the very least.  Has his continued employment for the additional year put him into a higher bracket for pension payouts or similar benefits?  

Ouch!