Body cameras could be fully deployed by September, says Chief Darren McConnell. (2016 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
As they will across New Jersey, police-worn body cams will soon be the norm in Red Bank, officials said.
But state funding for the devices and related data storage will only cover about a third of the cost, said police chief and acting borough administrator Darren McConnell.
Henry Perez with opossums orphaned when their mother was hit by a car in 2016. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Howls of protest are expected Wednesday night when the Red Bank council considers a proposal to scrap its in-house animal control service.
In addition to eliminating the position of animal control officer, held for the past 18 years by Henry Perez, the council would shift the work for the second half of 2021 to the Monmouth County SPCA, a change opponents say would delay responses.
Animal Control Officer Henry Perez with a bat removed from a Madison Avenue home in 2013. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In a move that has animal advocates alarmed, Red Bank is looking at jobbing out its animal control operation.
They say replacing the in-house service with the Monmouth County SPCA would reduce response times and service.
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank police arrested a borough man four times in April, most recently on charges related to his alleged harassment of and physical contact with a woman downtown, police said Monday.
Screengrab from a post by Nina Ferrante on the Red Bank New Jersey Facebook page Sunday. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s police chief disputed a claim of excessive force posted on Facebook Sunday, telling redbankgreen that there was “no physical contact at all” when officers encountered a couple on New Jersey Transit property Saturday night.
Red Bank police arrested a borough man on drug charges Friday, Chief Darren McConnell said Monday.
Red Bank police arrested a borough man on drug and weapons charges Wednesday, Chief Darren McConnell said Thursday.
An increase in violent crime in 2020 mirrors a national trend, said Chief Darren McConnell. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s crime rates continued a long trend of gradual decline in 2020, police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
One glaring exception: an increase in reported rapes.
Patrons of the Dublin House in Red Bank gather at its outdoor Temple Bar on June 20. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Tapping the brakes on his economic restart effort, Governor Phil Murphy indefinitely postponed a planned resumption of indoor restaurant dining Monday.
The move is “prudent” in the face of rising COVID-19 infection rates in other states, Murphy said at his daily briefing on the pandemic.
He also cited “overcrowding, a complete disregard for social distancing, [and] very few if any face coverings” at some New Jersey bars that he did not name.
Downtown shoppers will be able to park in designated spots for quick pickups from restaurants and retail stores throughout town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With merchants starting to emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown, Red Bank officials unveiled a temporary parking plan Monday aimed at helping them regain an economic toehold.
Visitors to Marine Park appeared to be maintaining social distances Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank parks reopened Saturday without any “significant issues,” police Chief Darren McConnell said Sunday night.
But redbankgreen‘s strolls through the facilities over the weekend prompted questions about whether behaviors said to slow the spread of COVID-19 could be realistically judged, let alone enforced.
Red Bank police busted up a car rally in the parking lot of the Molly Pitcher Inn early Sunday afternoon, police Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen.
Police determined that the gathering violated Governor Phil Murphy’s March 21 “stay home” executive order barring a wide range of activities, McConnell said.
“The participants were cooperative and left the area without incident,” he said. (Click to enlarge.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank police are seeking the public’s help in finding a man who assaulted a female jogger Sunday morning.
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 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.
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.
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.
Read More
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.
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.
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.
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.”