L.A. Parker: Keep city police vehicles inside city borders
A Trenton police vehicle parked at Suburban Plaza in Ewing produced concern on Tuesday. The photo snapped at 3:38 p.m. Vehicle No. 215 stayed parked for 15 minutes, although no way existed to determine how long the officer had been there.
receives occasional reports about city police vehicles parked for extended periods of time in Hamilton or other suburban locales.
Even if police say they were on lunch break, one would hope that they could find places to dine within city limits.
A police presence matters in Trenton, especially from a law enforcement department that claims reduced numbers caused by layoffs prevents them from walking assignments.
If that community policing agenda remains out of step, then at least give city residents the courtesy of keeping our vehicles here.
Joe Santiago, a former Trenton police director, solved the problem of wayward officers with installation of devices in police vehicles that tracked their whereabouts.
Officers considered Santiago heavyhanded but the devices kept city police vehicles inside city borders.
Santiago’s Big Brother approach eventually delivered an unexpected result. Following a deadly car crash on Route 29, family members of the deceased said the accident occurred as police pursued the vehicle.
Police, thanks to Santiago’s initiative, were cleared as the city car tracking system identified the position of every police vehicle at the time of the crash.
Interestingly, those vehicle location devices were disconnected the moment Santiago resigned.
Seeing the Trenton police vehicle in Ewing proved not a good look for our police department.
Perception matters.