An inside look at how police say new strategies are driving down violence
IRVINGTON -- Irvington Detective Chris Jenkins maneuvers his unmarked car through the town's historically violent streets on a warm October night. He calls out to gang members by their street names and lists off details of each crew as his eyes scan the blocks of well-maintained homes, corner stores and abandoned buildings.
That night near Ellis Avenue and Hopkins Place, police learned gun violence might be brewing and responded by deploying a team of uniformed officers and mobile lighting in this often troubled section, near the Newark line.
As a member of the Irvington police Threat Assessment Criminal Intelligence (TACIT) unit, Jenkins and his fellow officers are examples of what officials say is a new way of doing business in the approximately 160-member department. Instead of only reacting and chasing 9-1-1 runs all night, specialized officers collect intelligence on gangs and drug traffickers. The new model is aimed at preventing the violence, and the department leadership lives by real-time data on crime trends, officials say.
SHARP DROP IN KILLINGS
For police and town officials, the results are counted in lives saved. As of Oct. 20, Irvington logged three homicides when the township saw 14 total slayings in 2015, law enforcement records show. Shooting incidents too have plummeted from 34 in 2015 to five cases to date this year.
"In our community, the average was anywhere from 25 to 30 homicides per year before I took office in 2014," said Mayor Tony Vauss, who added his focus is on making the township clean and safe.
"You can't bring new businesses in here if the place is not clean and it's not safe," Vauss said. "I can't bring a developer in here to build if it's not clean and it's not safe. Once you start to tackle those two important facets, everything else will fall into place."
Vauss and Irvington Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers credit the TACIT unit and Special Enforcement Response Team (SERT) for driving much of the crime declines in this township of about 55,000. SERT officers do not handle routine service calls, but instead intervene in serious crimes, including aggravated assaults, robberies and armed suspects.
TACIT is tasked with gathering intelligence on both possible suspects and victims in an environment where investigators say today's shooter is often tomorrow's shooting victim.
"They gather data on people we feel are going to commit crimes or be a victim of crimes," said Bowers.
Police officials also pointed to the department's focus on prevention, planning and quickly addressing concerns from residents.
After complaints of drug dealing surfaced on 22nd Street, off Springfield Avenue, Irvington detectives worked to build a case. With help from the State Police tactical unit, authorities conducted simultaneous raids on two adjacent homes. A convoy of unmarked vehicles unloaded heavily-armed troopers, who searched the residences before Irvington's TACIT detectives moved in, seized crack cocaine and made three arrests.
HOW COPS ARE DEPLOYED
In an office at police headquarters, Bowers and law enforcement consultant Joseph Santiago review documents detailing data ranging from the ages of shooters to crime trends. These analyses drive police deployments and have allowed investigators to identify specific gang areas to focus resources.
"We put the men on those dots," Bowers added.
In response to two killings less than a week apart, township police launched investigations in several known high-crime areas, he said.
Guns, cash and various drugs seized by the Irvington police (Photo: IPD) TACIT detectives learned the "Jungle Boys," a violent Bloods gang set relocated to 20th Street, where police arrested seven reputed gang members on drug charges, according to Bowers. In another case, detectives targeted a house feet from a recent shooting. Detectives seized $15,000 worth of marijuana and prescription drugs, along with two guns.
Over the course of a week, raids netted nearly $50,000 worth drugs, six guns and more than $13,000, the director said.
HELP WITH PARKING TICKETS, PAPERWORK
Not all of the changes in Irvington are about targeting violent criminals. Seeing police officers too often tied up on minor incidents, Vauss said he hired unarmed Community Service Officers to handle parking tickets and take routine reports that don't require a law enforcement response.
"We had a lot of non-emergency calls that took the police away from actually fighting crime," Vauss explained.
The mayor said a new bike patrol program, officers walking beats and an anonymous tip line are also among public safety advancements he's put in place.
"We are getting police officers that were working inside the office out on the streets," Vauss added.
The mayor also pointed to increased morale among the ranks, and streamlined police and fire operations under the public safety director. The reforms come after a history of turmoil in the agency. A state report once called the department a "dysfunctional environment with little accountability."
Santiago, a veteran law enforcement officer who led police departments in Newark, Trenton and the State Police, was credited with reforming and modernizing the department when he took the helm as police director in 2008. Bowers, an Irvington-native who worked his way up from a patrolman to heading the department's detective bureau before being named director, called Santiago's experience an asset.
"There's no monopoly on a good idea," Bowers said.
POLICE SEE IMPACT
At the Camptown Gardens public housing complex on Crescent Lane, police patrol on foot through what's long been called a high-crime area. One of the town's three murders of 2016 occurred in an apartment there.
Late Oct. 9, 38-year-old Lawrence W. Bennett was gunned down in a Crescent Lane residence. A large memorial with candles and balloons remained in the courtyard. On a recent warm night, children were playing outdoors as Sgt. Jamie Velez and uniformed officers with his unit were stationed at the apartments. Two officers walked through the buildings, taking time to stop and chat with residents and building security.
While the statistics show a sharp drop in killings, police see the impact of their work on a more personal level. A block from where SERT officers moved in to head-off potential bloodshed, a young boy was in a front yard with an older woman.
"Years ago, they wouldn't come out and play," Jenkins, the detective, said as he drove by the yard.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.