RED BANK: BARBER SHOP CLIPPED
A Red Bank barber shop that had continued operating after a state-ordered shutdown of personal care businesses closed after a visit from borough police Saturday morning.
MAN CHARGED IN THREE JOGGER ASSAULTS
By JOHN T. WARD
Little Silver police have charged a Red Bank man with assaulting a female jogger Sunday morning.
Authorities allege he’s the same guy who knocked a Red Bank jogger to the ground last month, and attacked another in a similar manner five months ago.
RED BANK: STOP LEADS TO DRUG BUST
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank police found a stash of illegal drugs in an Aberdeen man’s car following a traffic stop Tuesday, redbankgreen has learned.
Separately, a Morris County woman is facing charges she assaulted three borough cops.
RED BANK: CRIME RATE DROPPED IN 2019
For the sixth straight year, no Red Bank police officer was found to have used unwarranted force in 2019, said Chief Darren McConnell. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s crime rate saw a sharp drop in 2019, police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
In addition, incidents in which officers used some degree of force in dealing with the public were at an “all-time low,” and none were found unwarranted, he said.
RED BANK: JOGGER ASSAULTED
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank police are seeking the public’s help in finding a man who assaulted a female jogger Sunday morning.
RED BANK: CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGED
A Red Bank man is facing charges of sexual assault on one child and offenses against another.
Police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen that officers arrested Dannel Wars, 42, of Bank Street on March 12 at Riverview Medical Center, where he was visiting a patient, and charged him with invasion of the privacy of a child and child welfare endangerment.
RED BANK: COPS ARREST MAN IN FRAUD TRY
[UPDATE, AUGUST 9, 2019: The charges described below against Phinehas Alabi were dismissed on July 18, 2019 by Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley.]
Red Bank police arrested a onetime professional soccer prospect Tuesday in an alleged fraud case that should serve as a warning to all consumers, Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
RB, FH & LS COPS HOST ‘NIGHT OUT’
Police in Red Bank and Fair Haven once again host annual local entries of National Night Out Tuesday, offering residents and police an opportunity to meet in a casual setting while offering kids games and some instruction in safety.
Details below.
RED BANK: HAVE A CUP WITH A COP
Press release from Red Bank Police Department
Tomorrow morning, April 4, Chief Darren McConnell (pictured) and the Red Bank Police Department will be hosting “Coffee with a Cop” at Readie’s Cafe, 39 Broad Street in Red Bank. Beginning at 8 a.m., Red Bank police officers and community members will come together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, and drink coffee.
Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by The United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The program provides a unique opportunity for community members to ask questions and learn more about the department’s work in Red Bank’s neighborhoods.
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RED BANK: DRUG OVERDOSE CASES SOARING
A “heat map” showing the concentration of drug-overdose deaths in Monmouth County last year. (Map by Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One-hundred-sixty-five people died of drug overdoses in Monmouth County last year, almost double the number just four years ago, the prosecutor’s office reported Tuesday.
Despite the widespread, often successful use of a fast-acting opiate antidote, the number of overdose victims continued to soar last year, rising 35 percent, the agency reported.
Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell said the number of overdose cases in the borough over the last two years is “ridiculously higher” than he’d seen in the first three decades in law enforcement.
RED BANK, FH, LS HOST A NIGHT OUT
Bounce houses are part of the evening’s activities, as police departments in three local boroughs (Red Bank, Fair Haven, Little Silver) invite families to take part in the National Night Out initiative on Tuesday.
It began 32 years ago as a simple promotion in which police departments across the nation encouraged residents to keep their porch lights burning as a show of solidarity against crime. It evolved in many communities into a public-welcome event that mixed family-fun activities with a serious message of safe streets (and made a celebrity out of a trenchcoat-wearing dog named McGruff).
Here in the charged election-year atmosphere of 2016 — where statistical declines in violent crime are countered by news stories involving the horrifically high-profile deaths of police officers and civilians — the annual occurrence known as National Night Out takes on a newfound significance, as an opportunity for police departments, public officials and community members to meet and maintain the dialogue.
On the evening of Tuesday, August 2, both Red Bank and Fair Haven continue their now-traditional participation in the nationwide initiative — and this year, they’ll be joined by a third municipality on the greater Red Bank green: the bordering borough of Little Silver.
RED BANK: NO BODY CAMERAS, FOR NOW
Body cameras are being tested by RBPD’s traffic unit, but Chief Darren McConnell said he’s holding off on adopting general usage. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Eight months after his department won a grant to purchase body cameras, Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell says he’s holding off, waiting for improvements in the technology.
Routine use of the cameras is inevitable, McConnell tells redbankgreen. But he’s not a strong believer that they’re necessary, and at present, they’re beyond his budget, even with the free money.
ON THE GREEN: MEET THE FOLKS IN BLUE
The chance to dunk-tank a local official is just part of the free, family-friendly fun as the Fair Haven Police presents its 13th annual National Night Out Against Crime community event. Police departments in Red Bank and (for the first time) Little Silver also offer the community observances on August 4.
It’s a coast-to-coast community initiative which, in Fair Haven’s case, can be traced back 13 years – or, in the case of Little Silver, is being offered for the very first time.
On the evening of Tuesday, August 4, the Red Bank Police and its neighbor departments on the greater Green will once again invite all members of their communities to take part in National Night Out — the nationwide outreach program designed to “promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live.” Or, as familiar spokesdog McGruff puts it, to “take a bite out of crime.”
RB, FH: A NIGHT OUT, A BITE OUT OF CRIME
A demonstration of driving with “Drunk Goggles” is part of the programming in Red Bank, as police departments in two local boroughs invite kids to take part in the National Night Out initiative.
From press materials furnished by Red Bank Police Dept., Fair Haven Police Dept. and Sen. Jennifer Beck
There’s an Inflatable Dalmatian Bounce House. A gaming tent, face painting, cookout favorites, prize giveaways — and even a chance to Dunk Tank a local official. It’s not the Street Festival, Block Party or Fireman’s Fair, but an altogether different kind of event that makes itself at home in the community each summer — the annual Night Out in Fair Haven and Red Bank.
Presented by the Police Departments in both local boroughs on Tuesday, August 5, the 12th annual event is once again part of a National Night Out community outreach program, in which law enforcement personnel from coast to coast invite the youngest members of their communities to learn about safety and police work in a friendly and fun setting.
Introduced in 1984, the Night Out initiative is designed to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie, and the sending of “a message to criminals, letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.”