Shooting Epidemic In Asbury Park, Community Resignation Setting In

Monmouth County Needs Regional Law Enforcement

There were three shootings in Asbury Park this afternoon, according to a report at NJ.com.

The shooting happened around noon on Mattison Avenue, near Langford Street, Detective Lt. David DeSane said. As of around 2 p.m., DeSane said he did not know the extent of the injuries.

Two people in the area, who asked not to be identified, said they heard four or five shots, but did not know what happened.

AsburyParkSun photo

In the triCityNews last week, publisher Dan Jacobson said there have been four fatal shootings in the city, population 16,132, so far this year.

In their award winning series, Gripped by violence, published last October, four days before Superstorm Sandy, the Asbury Park Press said there had been an average of one shooting per week in Asbury Park through October 25, 2012 and that the city was second only to Camden in terms of violent crimes in New Jersey.  That’s right, Asbury Park is more dangerous than Newark, Trenton and Jersey City, where there were also three shootings today.

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Topless Activist Has 12 More Days In Jail

Tells Judge He’s Sentencing Her To Death, Says She’s Been Naked For Four Days

photo via PhoenixFeeley.com

Fire breathing topless activist Phoenix Feeley told Spring Lake Municipal Court Judge George Pappas that he was sentencing her to death by giving her the option of serving 16 days in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution or paying a $816.oo fine for going topless in Spring Lake in 2008, according to a report on NJ.com.  Pappas gave Feeley credit for the four days she’s been incarcerated since she surrendered in Spring Lake on Monday.

“I refuse to pay a fine for an act that is legal for a man but is illegal for a woman,” 33-year-old artist Phoenix Feeley told Spring Lake Municipal Court Judge George Pappas via teleconference from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township on Thursday morning.

Feeley was arrested twice in the same day in 2008 while sunbathing in Spring Lake.

Authorities charged her with violating an ordinance banning public nudity. Feeley argued that going topless was not the same as going nude, and that women, like men, should be able to bare their chests in public.

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SHERIFF GOLDEN CONTINUES TO MAKE CHILD SAFETY A PRIORITY THROUGH YOUTH ID PROGRAM

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden is pleased to announce that the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office issued 600 youth ID cards during the Monmouth County Fair which was held from July 24 to July 28. The Youth ID program consists of a credit card size photo ID of a child that is carried by a parent or guardian who maintains complete control of the card. In an emergency, the card can be given to local first responders to aid in the rapid location and safe return of a child.

“The Youth ID Program is offered year round and helps ensure the safety of our children, which is a top priority at the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden.

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Watch Carefully For Rip Currents Today

From the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office:

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Peters: If you think things are great in Monmouth County, DON’T VOTE–STAY HOME

Dan Peters: if you’re happy and you know it, don’t vote!

If you think Monmouth County is a great place to live, Bayshore Tea Party backed Sheriff Candidate Dan Peters doesn’t want you to vote in the primary on June 4, a week from today.

In a bizarre blog post on Middletown Patch, Peters, a former Middlesex County police officer collecting a disability pension and a former salesman for a red light camera company, said,

“If you think things are great here in Monmouth County then don’t vote — stay home. If you KNOW things can be better and want better vote for line 3. We are tea party approved!”

Voter suppression is the new credo of the Tea Party?

Peters is making his third attempt to direct the Sheriff’s Office, since he moved to Monmouth County. He withdrew his 2007 candidacy because he did not qualify under the three year residency requirement. Maybe the next time he runs, the Black Panthers will support him.

Peters said that the “sheriff’s department” (it is actually called the “Sheriff’s Office”) has not had a change in leadership in 25 years.

“The sheriff’s department has had the same leadership for over twenty five years. As a matter of fact until recently there has not been a Sheriff in Monmouth County that had any police or public safety experience. In that time there has been no change in its direction or vision.”

When he withdrew his 2007 candidacy due to not meeting the residency requirement, Peters called the “department” a “premier law enforcement agency.”

Our vision is clear for safety and security here in Monmouth County and enabling the Sheriffs Department to continue being a premier law enforcement agency.

In fact, Monmouth County has had four sheriffs in the last 33 years. William Lanzaro was elected in 1980 and served through 1995 after being defeated by Joe Oxley in the Republican primary.  Oxley, a former prosecutor, declined to seek a fifth term in 2007 as a protest over the direction then Monmouth GOP Chairman Adam Puharic was leading the Party. Oxley went on to replace Puharic as chairman a year later.

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Leadership We Can Depend On

Tony Fiore

By Tony Fiore, Former Middleotown Mayor and Current Township Committeeman

I am writing today to ask you to join me in support of three extraordinary county leaders who deserve our support on June 4^th; Sheriff Shaun Golden, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and Freeholder Deputy Director Serena Dimaso.  As the Mayor of the largest municipality in Monmouth County, it should come as no surprise that I have had many first hand experiences working with Shaun, Tom and Serena on a number of issues and initiatives.  While I can point to a number of needed improvements that they have helped to bring to Middletown, it is not my intention.  Instead, I’d like to share with you my experience working with them during one of the most difficult and challenging times in our township’s history.

Superstorm Sandy’s impact on Middletown was unprecedented. Thousands lost their homes and everyone lost power for almost two weeks.  When we needed to secure our devastated bayshore for safety and security, we couldn’t depend on the federal government to get us the necessary resources.  However, we could depend on Sheriff Golden.  Each day Sheriff Golden would hold a personal call with both myself and the Township Police administration.  Through his efforts, officers from as far as Mississippi came into Middletown to help us secure our most affected areas.  At his direction helicopters with night vision flew over our bayshore to prevent and catch looters and others who came in to prey on our victims.  Through his leadership, we were safe.   I received a call or text message from him every day asking for our needs until power was 100% restored and we were back to some semblance of normal. 

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SHERIFF UNVEILS NEW TEXT MESSAGE TIP LINE IN THE LATEST EFFORT TO HELP COMBAT CRIME

The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is sending a message out that it needs the public’s help in combating crime, and hopes to get a message back, via text. Through the agency’s new initiative, people can report a tip about suspicious behavior in an easier and more convenient way than ever before, anonymously, at anytime from anywhere, by text messaging.

“In an effort to fight crime continuously and effectively in Monmouth County, we need the public’s input when it comes to reporting suspicious activity,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden. “The new tip line will help do that since people can now communicate directly and anonymously, without the fear of identification or retaliation. This is a law enforcement/community partnership to maintain public safety.”

The text messaging tip line, which is installed in the law enforcement division of the sheriff’s office, allows people with a cell phone to immediately access the tip line with no questions asked. People should still call 911 to report a crime in progress. However, to report a tip or suspicious activity, people simply need to enter the number 67283 into their cell phones. They can text their info with the word MONTIPS included in the body of the message. The tip is immediately transmitted to a PC and an officer will be notified by an alert that a tip was texted, which will then result in an appropriate response.

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Sheriff Golden: Monmouth Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, OEM Steps Up Alert In Response To Boston Bombing

Monmouth County Sheriff’s Patrol At Seastreak’s Highlands Ferry Terminal. April 15, 2013. Photo by Art Gallagher. Click for full view.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said that his Law Enforcement Division, the Office of Emergency Management and homeland security personnel are on heightened alert as a precaution in response to the bombing at the Boston Marathon this afternoon.

There is no known specific threat in Monmouth County.

“We routinely patrol transit hubs like the ferry terminals and train stations, as well as they shopping malls, ” Golden said, “when an incident like what happened in Boston today occurs, we take additional precautions. We’ll be monitoring state and federal communications and be on heightened alert at least through tomorrow.  We have emergency response assets deployed throughout the county.”

Sheriff’s Office personnel will be meeting with the police departments of the communities that are hosting the May 5 New Jersey Marathon at the Shore to review security protocols, Golden added,

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Monmouth Sheriff’s Office, OEM, Seeks $1 Billion In Hazard Mitigation Funding

The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is awaiting response from the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) Hazard Mitigation Unit after it submitted numerous requests totaling more than 1 billion dollars in funding as a result of Superstorm Sandy. On March 31, 2013, OEM delivered 185 letters of intent to the NJOEM Hazard Mitigation Unit for various mitigation projects, which include home elevations, property acquisitions and flood control measures, as well as various infrastructure improvements and emergency generators for critical infrastructure.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides grants to states and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The purpose of the program is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to have mitigation measures in place which can be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster. “Monmouth County was severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy, and, the projects submitted by  Monmouth County and each municipality will provide the necessary protection of life and property,  should another disaster occur,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden.

Monmouth County OEM has been collecting the letters of intent from each municipality since mid-December. “These letters are the first step in notifying the state as to the projects for which the municipalities wish to seek funding to mitigate, and, the priorities in which they fall within the respective jurisdictions,” said Michael Oppegaard, Coordinator of the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management. “We now must wait to hear from the state mitigation office as to how they intend to prioritize and fund these projects.”

Under the Robert T. Stafford Act, HMGP is authorized to direct and govern mitigation projects as long as a community has an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan. Monmouth County’s Plan was completed and approved in 2009 and includes all 53 municipalities within the county. “Hopefully the state will look favorably upon Monmouth County when selecting and prioritizing the projects under this program,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone. “This will allow the residents and communities to rebuild stronger, safer and smarter.”

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