Crime in Asbury Park, Part One: Understanding the Problems of Our Youth

By Joe Woerner

Consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in New Jersey, the crime on our streets has been more than ever on the minds of residents. In an effort to continue the discussion already underway in our community I will be sharing a few ideas that have helped me better grasp the issue as well as suggesting some possible actions. In a series of three letters I will address the fundamental underpinnings of crime, enforcement, and how to better support our community members.

Aristotle said, “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” To understand our crime issue, we must first understand the devastating role poverty plays in our community. The socio-economic and emotional impacts of poverty directly correlate with insufficient family and community support. This absence of adequate support limits options and makes it near impossible for our young people to succeed.

The Center for Disease Control publishes risk and protective factors for youth violence. The risk factors, such as low parental income and diminished economic opportunity, read like a laundry list of Asbury Park’s problems. Poverty not only increases the risk factors but also decreases protective ones. Our youth live in broken homes, substandard housing, and without basic services like simple healthcare. As a result many turn to gangs for protection, financial opportunity, and a sense of belonging. This American Life did a two-part special on Harper High School (part I & part II) in Chicago that illustrates the lack of options for poor minority youth in urban areas like Asbury Park. For too many, gang involvement and violence are a given, not a choice.

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WHEN THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS

By Ernesto Cullari

What are the odds that after spending 15 years in prison for robbing a shoe store in Toms River, parolee Christopher Miller, by coincidence, would end up back in that same store hours after being released -attempting to rob it again?

The answer is 43%. Except for the fact that he walked into the same place looking to rob it all over again, it should be no surprise at all that Mr. Miller was sent back to prison just hours after being released. Writer Gary Buiso details in the New York Post, Christopher Miller’s journey from juvenile delinquent to serial criminal, an interview that Buiso describes as ranging “from humorous to hopeless.”

Ever since I read about Miller’s pathetic trip from a troubled childhood to jail, from jail to freedom and from freedom back to jail again -I can’t stop thinking about it. Christopher Miller and I are the same age. He and I went to the same high school at nearly the same time. Miller graduated two years after I would have if I didn’t drop out. He didn’t meet his father until he was an adult. I didn’t meet mine until I was 16.

While Christopher Miller was breaking into lockers at our high school, I was working part time as a janitor in the school cafeteria. It’s likely that our paths have crossed many times. Growing up our lives had been headed in the same direction, as well. By the time he was shoplifting and breaking into neighbor’s homes, I too was making my way into bigger crimes. But suddenly and abruptly this is where our paths diverge.

When I was arrested as a teenager by the same police department that just rearrested Miller, the detectives were very kind to me, despite my brazenness. They were kind to me and didn’t press the prosecution as hard as they might have, because unlike Miller, I had a big family at home that passionately advocated for me.

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NJ driver arrested after ripping through Neptune streets, making obscene hand gestures, report says

NJ driver arrested after ripping through Neptune streets, making obscene hand gestures, report says (via NJ.com)

NEPTUNE — A driver was arrested after speeding around a Neptune Township neighborhood for more than an hour on Sunday. As he circled the street, he made obscene hand gestures at startled witnesses, played abrasive music and operated his late model…

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What drove a man to hit the same Toms River store he robbed 15 years ago 1 day after leaving jail

What drove a man to hit the same Toms River store he robbed 15 years ago 1 day after leaving jail (via NJ.com)

A day after spending 15 years behind bars for robbing a Toms River shoe store, Christopher M. Miller was arrested in March after he robbed the same exact business. In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, Miller, 40, explains what led him back…

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Man caught with loaded handgun after chase in Asbury Park, police say

Man caught with loaded handgun after chase in Asbury Park, police say (via NJ.com)

ASBURY PARK – A Long Branch man was charged with possession of a weapon after he led police on a foot chase and tried to get rid of a handgun, authorities said. At around 3 p.m. on Saturday, the city’s Street Crimes Unit was on a proactive patrol…

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Baby girl, 2 adults shot in Asbury Park, police say

Baby girl, 2 adults shot in Asbury Park, police say (via NJ.com)

ASBURY PARK – Authorities are investigating a shooting that injured three people, including a baby girl, in the city on Monday evening. Shortly after 7:20 p.m. Monday, authorities responded to reports of multiple gunshots on the 700 Block of Comstock…

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Al Sharpton talks education, justice at Asbury Park conference

Al Sharpton talks education, justice at Asbury Park conference (via NJ.com)

ASBURY PARK – At a conference convened to discuss education, gentrification, the economy and the criminal justice system, Asbury Park’s black leaders say the city’s path deliverance starts at the ballot box Rev. Al Sharpton was in the city to…

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Manalapan man found stuck in United Water pipe indicted for criminal trespass

Manalapan man found stuck in United Water pipe indicted for criminal trespass (via NJ.com)

FREEHOLD – The 27-year-old Manalapan man who was found stuck in a 20-inch pipe at a United Water facility in January has been indicted for criminal trespass. On Tuesday, a Monmouth County Grand Jury indicted Asaf Mohammad, 27, of Emily Road in Manalapan…

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Man robbed, shot in Asbury Park

Man robbed, shot in Asbury Park (via NJ.com)

ASBURY PARK – A 29-year-old city man was shot during the course of a robbery on Sunday night, police said. At approximately 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, two men with handguns approached a man, who was not identified, on the 1500 block of Bond Street at around…

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Report: N.J. school bus driver assists with arrest of child’s accused stalker

Report: N.J. school bus driver assists with arrest of child’s accused stalker (via NJ.com)

ENGLISHTOWN – An 18-year-old Manalapan resident was reportedly charged with stalking and harassing a young girl while she was on her way home from her school bus stop. On April 1, a scared and upset 13-year-old girl called 9-1-1 to report that a man…

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