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Trenton,
NJ – Attorney General Anne Milgram
today announced that the inaugural operations
launched this summer in connection with
Governor Jon S. Corzine’s Strategy
for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods resulted
in the arrests of 1,844 suspects for crimes
ranging from murder and attempted murder
to armed robbery and drug trafficking, and
resulted in the seizure of illegal narcotics
with an estimated street value of $4,010,732.
The
operations, conducted by the State Police
and county prosecutors in 19 of the state’s
21 counties, also resulted in the seizure
of 162 guns, including 22 assault weapons,
and $857,769 in cash seized in connection
with the sale of illegal drugs.
The
statewide initiative, the first organized
under the Governor’s anti-crime plan
and directed by Jose Cordero, the statewide
director of gangs, guns and violent crime
control strategies, led to the arrest of
29 suspects in connection with 17 murders.
Another seven suspects were arrested in
connection with three attempted murders.
About one-third of those arrested had violent
criminal backgrounds and 530 were suspected
street gang members, belonging to various
sets of the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings and
other gangs.
“The
success of our inaugural initiative –
conducted in all corners of our state --
is due to the strong cooperation among local,
county, state and federal law enforcement
agencies,’’ Attorney General
Milgram said. “We aimed our attention
at the most violent of violent criminals
and the toughest of street gangs trafficking
in illegal drugs and guns and terrorizing
neighborhoods and communities.
“But
we can’t ever claim victory if citizens
don’t feel safe to run errands in
their neighborhoods or don’t feel
safe to let their children out to play,
which is why this is just the start,”
Milgram said. “Let me put the drug
dealers and the gun traffickers on notice:
We are in this for the long haul.”
The
Attorney General said similar operations
that are based on intelligence gathering
by police will continue, and she said she
planned to create “Gangstat,’’
a Compstat-like intelligence-led policing
model which will allow prosecutors and law
enforcement officials throughout the state
to share gang-related information.
The
Governor’s Strategy for Safe Streets
and Neighborhoods, unveiled last fall, adopts
an intelligence-led policing model which
focuses on targeting resources against the
most violent criminals in areas in the state
hit hardest by drug and gun trafficking.
Uniform Crime Report statistics for the
first nine months of 2008 show a continuing
decline in the violent crime rate statewide
and in the state’s 15 most urban cities
and cities participating in the CeaseFire
program.
The
overall statewide violent crime rate in
2007 dropped 7 percent compared to 2006.
For the first nine months of this year,
the rate declined another 7 percent. In
the 15 urban cities, overall violent crime
dropped 3 percent, with murder dropping
4 percent, robbery with a firearm increasing
1 percent, and assault with a firearm decreasing
8 percent.
Planning
for the various county takedowns began last
spring, and results have been announced
throughout the summer and fall. Morris County
was the first to announce its initial results
in August when county law enforcement officials
arrested 11 people, including one suspect
charged with attempting to murder his father
who was part of a competing drug ring. The
last takedown occurred last week (Thursday)
when Essex County officials, working with
the Drug Enforcement Administration, announced
the arrest of ten individuals and seized
more than $1.2 million in crack cocaine
and heroin. Those arrested were Bloods and
Crips.
The
State Police conducted two separate operations.
Operation Swarm targeted Nine Trey Hillside
Beehive Bloods in Paterson, and netted 21
arrests, including 12 gang members, on charges
of racketeering and conspiracy to commit
murder. Operation Fire Extinguisher targeted
the Bounty Hunter Bloods operating in New
Brunswick, North Brunswick, South Brunswick,
Franklin Township, Burlington City, and
Asbury Park. Eleven suspects were arrested,
including nine gang members.
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