##VIDEO ID:sTVCMiVkQck## [Music] in compliance with the open public meetings act PL 1975 chapter 231 the notice requirements have been satisfied the meeting dates for the year are confirmed that the annual meeting are posted on the public Bolton board within the first 10 Days of the New Year notice of this special meeting be the October 25th 20124 Sunshine notice has been sent to the record suburbanite northern Valley Press and has posted on the bulleon board and burrow website Omar are we doing the salute tonight right yeah of course please IED Al to the flag of the United States of America to the stands Omar could you please call the role Council corer Council men Council Michaels Pres council member Dr o Conor uh here council member Park here council member Ro AR mayor Zen here thank you uh I just like to point out we also have a member of uh of Congressman gothman staff here Co one you stand up and just wave hi to everyone thank you for being here tonight okay so um Chief Omar councilman men and just showed up please let the record show that all right Chief there you are okay so thank you for being here everyone one uh we appreciate your time uh we're having this special meeting as everyone knows because of the recent uh break-ins and home invasions and crime that's happened over the past few weeks in tenly uh which of course is very concerning to all of us um and we're addressing it and we thought it was important uh to put this meeting together so everyone has an opportunity um to hear straight from the chief of police and ask questions tonight's format is the chief chief why don't you come up to the microphone please Chief Chamberlain is going to um speak to this issue and then we are going to open it up to uh questions from anyone who has questions here Chief it's all yours all right thank you very much uh good evening everyone I'm Chief Robert CH ten FL Police Department 32ye member of the department um and she for 12 years um you just silence your phones so there's no interruptions I just have some information I want to get out to you so I think it would be beneficial to you and and if you could just save your questions to the end and I would do my best to try and address the questions okay uh so um we're having obviously an uptick and a new trend of criminal activity what that trend is is burglaries to occupy dwellings that's kind of the the legal ease of it what that really is is homes are being broken into that are occupied this is something that we have seen over the years my my my 30 years but very infrequently uh mostly because people don't want to encounter someone at home they don't want to encounter dog um they don't want to be be detected um all the information that we have about this something is that they are limited entry shallow entry um accesses into your house into your your foyer your mud rooms uh your uh as far as the kitchen and the counters um and they're looking to get your car keys to steal your car so that's all the information has right now you know something um I mean is there an outlier out there that may occur potentially but right now um in tenly in the surrounding towns the metropolitan area this is what's happening for the purposes of of our numbers so uh we have had four of these uh this year four over the over the spread of a year maybe not be all that bad but we had three in October so the first one was in July and then all of a sudden we saw a bunch in October and obviously through social media and Facebook Facebook and things like that some people communicated and rightfully saw they were concerned or something and that obviously got us to this point um we are creatures are habit um we all like to hang our keys probably in the same location I'm guilty of this my housewife the two daughters going through the house I got the four hooks right uh we've had I think a year or two ago we had an entry and uh the burglar is actually in the process of ripping the the hooks off the the the the wall as he's running out of the house um people put them in baskets people put the keys on your uh your kitchen counters the burglar are going in there to get the keys and while they're there they're going to steal your purse they're going to steal your wallet they're going to steal some Val valuables that are there we've had purses taken because obviously keys are in the purse or obviously it's a very expensive purse and there's things in there something then they're going to steal that also too and unfortunately with that is the credit cards and all your identity and all that aggravation uh to make the entry uh these bur what they're doing is that they're trying the doors to see if they're unlocked they're trying Windows to see if they're unlocked and uh they uh they'll look into actually we had one it was an open garage door they went to the open garage door wasn't even that late and they access the house through the open garage a door going from the garage door into the home and in two cases they actually use pry tools now out of the four one was done at 7 o'clock at night and the other three were done in the early morning hours of the of the night where people were sleeping for uh perspective purposes just give you an idea about burglaries that we experienced Through The Years so burglar is from 2016 to now so 2016 13 20176 20188 20199 2020 11 2021 11 2022 102314 and then 20 2413 to date we have two more months to go when I got hired back in 1994 we used to do 30 a year the old mayor mayor Rustin he knows very well uh that we were under siege and that was a different type of crew and they were uh they were terrorized us so we've seen some improvements from that point but then again we have other crimes happening with auto thefts and things so things have have changed a little bit so out of the 13 that we had this year and I gave you tell you the four of them were for houses that were occupied nine of them were uh just regular traditional residential burgies and of the nine five were commercial so one was nickak Country Club one was The Franciscan no yes sisters um one was a business in town that got hit three times I still feel terrible about that and then one was a shed to steal a bicycle and then we that leaves three houses that were were burglarized um and a uh traditional burglary basically is they're going into the house for get the car keys they're going for your jewelry they're going for your cash they're going for other valuables and they're going to try and make entry the same way they described that they're doing now try and unlock door and unlock window but they will Resort also to now to prying and breaking and smashing so historically in the past a very popular method and we do see this from time to time is the Smashing grab and this is what plagued this 30 something years ago where they're actually kicking the dorm with their foot they're they're they're gonna hit the door with their hip they're going to break a window with a with a big rock and they're going to Dart to your master bedroom and all creatures are have it they're going to go to your dresser drawer and they're going to take the jewelry off the top go to the top drawers they going to go to your nightstands take those look under your mattress look under your bed maybe look in a closet M the bedroom and they're out the door it's quick take a pillowcase they throw all your stuff in there haven't seen a lot of that but that does happen from time to time alarm so so the alarm obviously is very very valuable I'm going to get into that the Smashing grabs a lot of them were taking place um with with hous houses that had alarms on so we were responding as they were leaving and the way that this works and I'm not trying to um limit the value of an alarm and I want you to use alarms but you need to know this we all have about 30 seconds in an alarm to basically get into our house we go to the keypad to put our our code in correct so 30 seconds takes place when that doesn't happen happen What Happens the alarm company calls the house right so now ring ring ring nothing happens so then the alarm company calls the police department how can we help you okay BR okay then the police department then dispatches a car and then the cars to drive you see what happens you see how much time there is still valuable what the alarm does for you is it it it limits that longterm long duration burglary which we've had a few of where people are in a house for a long time and they get to go through a lot of your stuff and it's a lot more damaging a lot more harmful the the ones with alarms it's it's hastily done they got a little bit of time they miss a lot of stuff but they're out the door so that everything okay okay so with beries um so the smash and grab not so much but we do have the ones the the syruptitious you know entry into homes and maybe you read about this also too but there is there is uh some sophistic sophisticated groups out there that are terrorizing the area we've had a little dip here in tly but these things go in Cycles uh this group is new they're not into the Smashing grab they're into getting into your house or something without detection they also this group does a lot of second floor stuff so they will get up to the second floor of your home whether they're pushed up there where they climb a pillar they get up to a second floor Landing a deck a porch and they go in through doors in in in bedrooms to that deck or through Windows a lot of us don't have alarms on the second floor because we're like who's bringing a ladder to burglary just what some people can get up there without a ladder so not trying to spend you money and some the tips I'm going to give you everything is for you to consider some people are alarm some people are not you know some by some people make PE my my advice or not that's up to you you may want to consider getting some detection upstairs possibly some motion detectors upstairs some window breaks window break information upstairs that could be Auto thefts so I'm here really here to talk about the the obviously the the BRS occupied dwellings and and I'll get in that a little bit more but I think it's it's a good time for me to tell you about all the crime that we have and give you information basically about all of it so the auto theft so give you some information about auto theft which you knew was a problem in the past and uh just give you some numbers here so going back to 2016 seven cars stolen 17 eight cars stolen and 17 eight cars stolen in 18 13 cars stolen in 19 TW 16 cars stolen in 20 21 cars stolen 20121 29 cars stolen 2022 eight stolen in 23 10 stolen in 24 so it was problem was a problem for us it was a problem for a lot of people um we were making it too easy I apologize I'm not here to offend anyone and we're not Iden but it was irresponsible behavior on people to leave their cars unlocked with the fobs in them we were making these crimes too easy and we were perpetuating the crime the last thing you want is hey you're not TL it but that's easy picking let's go up there something they everyone leaves their corn love I want everyone and when at home you know something to be you know we're going to be the town that you something tly now don't go to that town they got their stuff together you know something um we're going to move on you something they're listening listening to the the advice or whatever so that's where we need to get to and and while I was really pleased to provide the the uh the eight in 2023 and the 10 in 2024 uh over the weekend we had a car stallen on I'm not gonna mention any streets I'll embarrass anyone on a Lower East Side um East Hill uh Street down toward downtown it was a rental the car was on locked with the keys were in it and and then they moved on and they they they entered We call we call them car burglaries they entered five other cars nearby and they went and they got contents so we had five other cars unlocked and then we had the car unlocked with the so I'm not here to to to upset anyone but we need your help we we've done a great job but if we all Lo it's simple you know something and I know it's a pain but if we just get into that habit uh they will start to move on and I do believe technology is going to catch up here and eventually something we're GNA have Josh got Congressman got HR something we spoke years ago a couple years ago on the dock of uh downa Port Elizabeth or Newark or something and I I believe that the fob while it's while it's giving us great convenience it's caused a lot of problems I think cars need to be started with a pin code on the you know you put in your four digit Cod like your ATM card or it's your phone or something but the uh but we'll get there but right now which we're we're in a process proc of of managing um so so to the C so we did a good job right eight in 2023 10 in 2024 well this is we're seeing this across the board folks we did such a good job but now we've created the new problem being fous here but this is why they're breaking into our houses now because the car the auto theft industry is still a booming industry and they need these cars right and and let me back up here why do they steal cars they steal cars for a variety of reasons they steal cars to sell them outright high value uh we get a lot of cars back most of the cars we get back Believe It or Not couple years ago we had a Bentley you think of something one of the more the higher value ones that didn't have tracking almost every BMW Mercedes I I can't figure that one out that car was seen on a license plate reader in nework five times and vanished I'm pretty sure that it's not here it's overseas they St give me back up they steal a car to sell it outright for for money right they steal a car to deliver it to someone for a fee because someone says you know I want a G wagon or something and they'll go out and get it all right be careful you have G wagons they love those cars I'm not trying to deter that but that's I'm serious you go to the mall be careful about being followed a G wagon yeah uh it's a mercedesbenz it's a I apologize what is the actual model of a G wagon G wagon the boxy one the boxy SUV looks like a box yeah there's some car the the bmwm series I'm not trying to scare anyone to hurt any car manufacturers bottom line here but there are some cars something they lay they like they steal cars to commit other crimes right so something so a lot of the the the crimes that we are investigating and we have a car information and and it's still very helpful they're driving a stolen car in town so how do you track who's driving it we have ways I'm not going to give those Secrets away but we will we will find them uh we've had cases where we get a call my car's missing okay we go up there and the car the BMW is missing and they left the BMW I saw BMW next to the driveway so they were in a BMW and said that one's better and they and they switched it it it's but but the numbers are are really really you're doing a good job we need you to need you to continue uh uh doing a good job you something and and to really uh to slow this problem down um now it's time for me me to tell you something what we're what we're doing and how we can try and something obviously improve how we're doing so obviously something we Patrol we're out something to Mark cars Mark cars are out there patrolling something to high visibility to deter crime you really can't measure deterrence because you don't know what your deter turnning you just have to make an assumption right could be a burglar and someone say more I'm going I'm going to cresc today we know what happening but we don't there's no measuring stick to that but we're out there we have onar cars traffic purposes and this and that but also two that out you have been trying to do some detection also too I uh we also I I went to the ber County sheriff and requested their assistant they've helped me in the past and some of you remembering something we were having a problem the year with the the high numbers still cars and some burglaries and they help us out and they some saturation controls and you should be seeing some Sheriff's Department Mar cars in the area and the prosecutor's office is going to be helping me also to helping us some of this is on the the short go because while we're having some problems you know other towns make request and then they have to spread their resources out I rely on surrounding towns Mutual Aid Mutual Aid allows us to go to the city of angua to help them or crcll or Alpine but vice versa when we need help they come to us so month or so ago an officer two officers patrol officer with a field training officer around routine Patrol they see a vehicle suspicious they go to stop and it takes off the vehicle is uh probably in town trying to trying to steal uh I don't if it was stolen or not but obviously something probably looking to steal a burlar at home we get into Pursuit Pursuit goes through town in the middle of the night we have to terminate the the pursuit because we have a lot of rules we got to we got to abide by You' scratch your head but we had to ter ter the pursuit but they continue on they think we're still in Pursuit and they crash oh you know too bad no one got hurt but we get to the the the car the doors are open airbags deployed they're gone but a a shoe is found nearby like like like Cinderella's slipper um we call ppip paltin State Parkway police creskill surrounding towns and a little while later a Pal inate Park police officer who's helping us here in town because we do the same for them Mutual Aid stops uh a a rod share car I'm not going to mention the name and this an occupant in there with one shoe so you know so we're out there we're doing the best that we can we do we do have rules of engagement that you know something like we have to be careful how we pursue and how we how we we we uh investigate with a professional organization and uh we do a great job we do make arrests I'm not GNA give you rest data some things I can't uh shed light on because obviously I don't want to jeopard jeopardize the investigations how do we do investigations well we do investigations through obviously something you know our guys going and you something and using their senses and and and trying to detect what took place we use some technology we have license plate readers in town I can tell you where they are some people had some concerns about about license plate readers but just so you know you know you're driving past license plate readers in every town everywhere so it's I wouldn't be worried about one particular area they're just out there and they're very very useful we use cell phone tower information not going get into the details about that we rely heavily on you you folks you watch the crime shows something they're farfetched but one thing it's not is that the call that you make to the police department and the information you give as a witness or whatever that's all valuable and you sometimes you're the Lynch pin you know something you're the you're the person that's that that basically ties someone to a crime that will never end um you know something you do a great job you something and then Ro is asking you you know something to be more involved and you do a great job and Ro is asking you something suspicious activity give a second some tips but uh that's that's that's how we uh how we go about it for transparency and to be realistic tenly is a town that's four and a half square miles we have we put out a few to several cars per shift four and a half square miles a few to several cars per shift now we have police officers very close and surrounding towns but you got to recognize it's a big area and the the the the area that we have to patrol with a finite amount of people our police force Ross is doing some hiring we have a meeting police commission meeting next week we're discussing obviously the potential for some more people you know people will go you got x amount of people you know something and we're having a problem at this time of night or something you know something and like why isn't like you see them all there well I know a lot of you know this but um we have to provide 24hour 7 day a week service to the town to all four corners of the town and all hours and all days so uh while yes I can move people around for special assignment and I do do that during the day we have uh School traffic we have accidents people have heart attacks uh our schools you know you want Cops to be around the schools to provide quick protection so we have to be balanced you something I can't just move everyone to one you know like right now it's uh almost eight o'clock so the midnight shift just came on but they were sleeping all day because they have to because because they now are going to be on from 7 PM to 7 am so just to give you a little idea of how this works and people have to be off so it's not so easy with Personnel uh um a little bit more on on on what we do so our officers will go to scen just something and they'll do some detection our detectives Bergen County investigations which is a a part of the Bergen County Sheriff comes out to do the crime scene investigations uh the Dust for prints and things like that and and uh pick up blood we made an arrest many years ago uh with a um a dust dust mask a a dust mask this is before Co someone was bringing a dust mask and through DNA we were able to identify um someone said make an arrest um ex so in the technology I'm just do this so now I just want to go on to oh so lastly when it comes to what we can do something and and some of the strides that we've been make making something so law enforcement and and and the community something have been you know set with some of the leancy and the recidivism something and you know why the people keep repeating and and the majority of people that we do catch doing these things have priors and they're not in jail and some have served and come back and and and and and repeated but you know something there is the revolving door so just recently you know something I'm happy to announce that the um the crime of a home invasion which is uh and I know the May home invasions historically home invasion really is to us is someone going to your house and tying someone up and more a robbery uh home invasion has kind of been reclassified as going into someone's home and threatening them putting them in fear and they and and they have a weapon on it not necessarily using it that is considered a home invasion and that now is a first-degree crime that's a good thing and now residential burglaries which now used to be a third degree crime are now a second degree crime so what that means is and and and and these folks something like criminals they're not Geniuses but they're not too dumb to recognize and that enhanced uh degrees carry stiffer penalties and stiffer sentences they do know this that's why historically these burglaries they want they don't want to encounter you they just want your stuff they don't wanna because that in the past would would upgrade it well we had some changes and it is upgrading it this is going to take a little bit of time to to fil through because people have to get caught but most of these people do get caught they priors eventually you get caught and now the penalties going to be high the the incarcerations you know something could be mandatory and that is something I I believe something it's gonna it's a good thing for us the Community Law Enforcement but it's going to take a little bit of time to uh to see benefit just want to go through a couple tips here something that some people some you know may do these things maybe maybe not and uh you know again these are considerations please if you don't want to do them that's that's up to you and then I'll close it out something for some question and answer so when it comes to calling us does anyone know our direct number yeah so if you do that's great otherwise you want to call us you call 911 and that's great too right 911 it becomes the three-way call so if you if you're an if it's an emergency and you can't remember a number by all means means down 911 a 911 operator is going to say what is your emergency see his tenly they're going to direct it to ten ofly and it's going to be 911 10i dispatch and the court if you call us directly it's just it's right to us but that's but when you panicked and you can't remember that that number down 911 please report suspicious activity sh that number again oh sure well it's it's it's a web 2011 56 568 510 2011 568 510 this may sound silly report suspicious activity immediately the amount of times that we get you know oh you know this person looks suspicious hours later day later and it was a burlar suspect whatever and listen I get it you know something and we don't want to be overzealous and we're afraid of making false accusations but pay a lot of money right tax we're out there this is our job let us decide give us a call we're not going to say you know something this this this woman she she called we'll never do that doesn't matter nymous let us let us let us vet it out you we we'd be very happy to do that uh arm burglar alarms um the last one that we had I believe the last burglary to the occupied dwelling the people had the alarm in the alarm in the stay mode so basically they're sleeping and they have the alarm on I'm guilty not doing this I usually do when I'm when I go away um people made entry they were alerted and then I think they even yelled out and the folks or something obviously they it definitely it rushed the the the the theft and they only got one out of three cars but they were alerted again you're something I don't always do this uh but but something to consider not for everybody but definitely when you when if you have an alarm and you you're going away or or use it again it reduces that that long duration burglary and uh some and a lot of the burglaries that we had in the past B the house had an alarm but they didn't use it and it's not it's not a guarantee but it's gonna make us come faster make your home look lived in I know you've you've heard this one but you know High Grass most people have landscapers but lawn mode the leaves take you know attended to but like your mail like you don't want mail or newspapers or packages or you dry cleaning all hanging out in the front what does that tell you you're not home bring that in my my my kids do this they leave it like get the packages what are you doing um you know something so something to consider and sometimes you are H something just just something just just just giving you some tips but try and get them brought in uh timer lights so this is big something so historic when I when I went back to when I was telling you about my days when I started 30 years ago we were getting 30 burgies a year we were getting burlar rized like now actually five o'clock right so now a lot of people work from home you know something with remote employment or something and that's obviously you got more people at home so it's not not so um consistent but a lot of us would be nin to- fers right so this weekend we turn the clocks back at St at 5 o'clock well most people aren't getting home till 6 6:30 7 o'clock right because your Comm right your house is Pitch Black you could drive down and go home home home not home easily right and um we was we get burglary these would be the smash and grabs or something and it was very very frustrating so you know the timer light something this is where it comes in very handy something so have interior and exterior puts the lights on it puts that question mark in their mind something that's what you want to do you said man maybe it's someone home someone the motion light the motion some of you have them all right so and we've had some of these crimes where Bas Bas people have come to the cars have been emotion like and you don't see much activity but the motion like does help because the burglar C they don't know if you turn the light on or just came on automatically again that question mark you put in their mind make make them feel uncomfortable so you don't want them to be comfortable this is something that that I do that that um it's not for everybody but um leave a TV or radio on that puts a big big question mark like someone sitting there watching TV you know something now some people don't want to burn their tube out I don't think you can burn tubes out any anymore so the new technology I even saw a gadget it was pretty neat it was a gadget that was like a color spectrum it was a box with a wheel you could buy them and a light projects through it spins around what it looks like it looks like TV channels changing on the wall and it's to give the illusion the TV is on that and and I'm talk about put this on when you go away for a week why not and some lights on you know so just put that wasn't you know that question in someone's mind and then also to um might be well surprised by this but I'm G to recommend that you do not engage anyone who comes in your house but that's do not that's up I'm GNA recommend you do not engage anyone that comes into your house physically that's that's my opinion because I I care about you and I don't want any you know thing to happen to situation get any worse what I want you to do is I want you to call us right and basically secrete yourself we're coming and we're coming hard when you thought this was a b we're coming hard as hard as we can come help us on the way if you can't secrete yourself right call out you know get out of my house police a call get out of my house please a call I think that's what they did the other day you something and they they'll run out they're not there to harm you and when they're detected they want to get out of Dodge the last thing uh well the parking car car in the garage and when you park the car in and it's a pain you shouldn't have to do this you know something it's a nice town you know something you leave your nice car in the driveway until further notice put the car in the garage if you can and sadly lock the car remove the fob from the car in the garage because they're making entry into the garage and then using the garage door opener to get out or they're using cars outside to get the garage door open something so the last thing you may be surprised that I say this but not the last second last thing is when it comes to the Keys you know and I've seen you something if if they're going to steal keys and they're just inside the door the mud room the foyer right you know well maybe I just I'll hide my keys or I I'll bring them little further into my house I personally this is just me I don't want anyone coming deep into my house I if you want to come break into my house and steal my car the keys are right there but I I saw something about possibly having you know keys you know in your bedroom I don't want to come in my bedroom I you know that that's for you to consider that's something this is just just just some things to think about okay come come step in I I don't want you in at all but you want to come in two steps to my house and take my keys then have about it truly the last thing this be a good Witness believe it or not women supposedly have better Witnesses than men believe it or not I went to I went to Israel last year in June with uh about a dozen Chiefs executive development wonderful trip obviously before October 7th and we jerus the Jerusalem uh police department Tel Aviv uh naria wonderful people police academy iron doome everything it was it was it was like a a uh it was a tour of Disney like on Fast a tour of Israel like like Disney like Fastpass everything was because we had military and police went to the surveillance areas teen of people doing surveillance surveillance monitors and you know can you can you see what the common denominator is it's all women and apparently something women supposedly you know something can I guess recall I guess a description better I think it has to do with fashion I really do I think it has to do with they're more keen to clothing and they can just you know this gentleman here he's got a you know collar shirt green pants Asic sneakers glasses Bal like me so but but just try to you know some just as as a um an example something just I don't know in your own mind look at someone say I'm GNA try and describe it to the police right now just try to do it you know something it's a skill set it gets you get better in time something but again based upon your stress level you know something that's going to affect it also and and the last thing um is is try to improve your your situational awareness you ever anyone heard that that term situational awareness situational awareness is basically I'm here you're there you're there you know I know where I am you know another example is you're driving down a highway and the person the front left of you they're weaving what are they doing are they drunk are they are they texting someone's come behind you like gu way going way too fast oh this great light in front of me you know we're going have to stop we're all we're all multi multitasking we're all doing it and we only have the capacity to capacity to to to handle those tasks to a certain level so again something preaching to the choir here uh you know I'm as guilty as anyone but when you're coming home and people are in your neighborhood and there cars you know I'm I'm trying to focus a little bit more on that you know something instead of just what we have for dinner and I got to get S to the soccer practice tonight and I know that's just life but you know to just try and a little bit more aware of your surroundings um for your own safety you something and and to provide information to us so tonight mainly again you know I'm glad I got the opportunity to talk about other issues but we are really here for the the the activity happening in in October or this month with the this new in activity it's alarm I don't believe you you're in danger but you know something uh you know there no guarantees unfortunately this is the car industry and the car theft industry has has has has created this and this is a trend that we're seeing it's happening in other other towns unfortunately based based upon the information I provided you what you see in the media and who you talk to it's gonna happen again I can't I can't I can't sit here and tell you it's not going to we really didn't see it and also we saw uptick you know alarming uptick in a short period of time and we haven't seen anything since then maybe something you know with all you know some the tips I provideed you with you guys being you know more uh aware you know something and quick to call and and uh responsible with uh locking doors and things of such not saying you're irresponsible but some of the measures something and working together hopefully something and you know obviously with us with our proactive patrols everything we're going to try and do and hopefully with the rest in the future we're going to see this not continue but it was it was important enough to have this this meeting to bring it to your attention I've been chief for 12 years we never did this but we all felt something that the community needed needed to know right away and this is a very safe Community we have like no violent crime something and I'm not trying to jinx ourselves and we're committed to that but um you know something but we we we have had these crimes over the years for 30 years and before me and it's going to continue it's a nice town you have you know it's upper middle upper upper class town and how you know possessions are more valuable cars are more valuable people know that so that's what I want to bring to your attention I will do my best to try and answer any of your questions to the best of my abilities anyone have any questions are you ready I am yes so we're going to do our usual protocol let's go sorry we're going to do our usual protocol so it's nice and organized whoever would like to speak you're welcome to come up to the microphone um just give us your uh just your name only and ask the chief a question whoever wants to speak first please come up and we'll try to get as many questions in as possible hi my name is John fur thank you Chief um I've got forgive me a multi question so [Applause] hello is the mic on Omar hello hello okay I'll speak a little louder so I I guess a couple of questions um what is the plan to step up patrols and um uh it sounds like at night there are less officers on duty and that's something I think you said and then I guess my last question is what's a reasonable response time after a 911 one call or an alarm so three things so so I've already I've already uh provide instruction to increase patrols limiting limiting some time off trying to move some people around the sheriff's department something is obviously an addition so that's a force multiplier I have the surrounding towns have helped that also too um the evening time always has less people because uh and again I can move people around but but uh the daytime is something has a lot high call volume something that I have to respond to those needs during the day and the response time something they vary something so I would have to give you an average I don't have that information right now but sometimes a car is around a block and sometimes it's it's it's it's across town but the four and a half square mile basically we have different sectors and there sector cars it's it's it's not the smallest town but we can get across town pretty quickly something so couple minutes tops but quickly very quickly I mean I understand there was a there was a episode on the street that I live on and I was told I don't know if this is true that the response time was something like 5 minutes is this park yes sir yes so actually so um our officers want an ambulance call so and again it's about prior prioritizing so we have again x amount of people we have a higher call volume that's just happening and we have to prioritize something so sometimes we got to leave calls so uh but I think you folks recognize you see what's going on you know uh not to diminish you know uh our amul calls are are very high we have a a group an a residents a group of of residents or or citizens or something that are are living longer and are are we're going to exor an amount of ambulance calls which is taking up a lot of our resources something so but officers were on an ambulance call and that's what um they responded from there thank you just uh stay say your name josher now I can appreciate the work that you and your officers have done have seen some incremental patrols um I have a couple questions and your answers to the gentleman earlier made me even more unsound so question one is if I had a magic checkbook and Cole here from the congressman's office did a do you have all of the resources that our police department needs we'll never be able to protect these people but to deter it to a significant level as of right now the town has been very very receptive I mean we have the the plate readers we have the officers equipped with with with equipment um you know we have the patrol vehicles uh some of the tools that we use the investigative stuff something on the back end uh right now I I don't I don't have anything more manpower more everything you need so we we have a I don't want to get ahead of myself we're gonna be having a discussion police commission next week um and we're going to discuss the Manpower but but but but right now we are down a few few people we did we did hit a tough patch we had um which is very unusual we had a couple young officers leave us um just really quick something um I feel it's kind of warranted so historically we would get 200 people apply for a position to be police officer right one person I one one spot 200 people the last process we got 44 and 30 people showed up for the test we're doing a hiring process now we had 50 people apply 33 showed up for their Physical Agility 31 showed up for the so we're not people and and and the second way for that we had an officer that just said wasn't for him we had officer that decided to go be a fireman and it takes a long time to hire a police officer if you if you did a long way it takes about nine months to get a police officer hired and trained to totally understand I guess my question is if it's more manpower if it's cameras which I'll get to in a second I look at you the council and I think I speak also just so we know there's about 60 people that can't get able to zoom which is pretty embarrassing for a town of virs you can use my personal business account for those folks but nonetheless I look at you all here we're po pictures of EV charging stations and everything else nobody in this town cares about anything right now other than their family safety so if there's a penny that we can save from something else to give to the police chief or Manpower or cameras or whatever think I speak to almost everybody in this room that's what we need to do um second is cameras so we have about three times mileage of Aline and my understanding from people very involved here police wise as well as Alpine is they have three times the amount of cameras and they also have new AI cameras that can do detect irrational behaviors from Cars not asking you to reveal Secrets or anything here but I'm asking you to look at the amount of cameras I saw that recent ones have come from the Beren County Sheriff's but I urge you to ensure as part of our budgeting conversations that we have everything we need to protect ourselves from the camera perspective so I don't know you don't have to address the number we have well we we have a lot of cameras and we're going to be adding cameras or something and we have about 36 how many do we have say again they have about 36 how many do we have uh alprs I probably have about 26 okay uh and then we're going to be adding um to that we're also going to be adding also to not just plate but but just surveillance cameras in areas that we feel that they're necessary they budgeted it we're in the process of Contracting to have it done right and then the last thing is just so everyone understands the urgency of what's happening I was here last week with five of us so I love the turnout tonight um but but many residents have hired armed security for themselves and many neighborhoods and streets are getting together and funding $500 a family $1,000 a family a week and arming their streets With Private Security I think I speak for our community that's not what we desire it's a bad look for all of us so again I look at our elected officials to ensure financially that this gentleman has what we want so we don't have neighbors taking things into their own count so again I thank you I thank the council um for taking this seriously and scheduling this meeting thank you very much thank you yes please come up just give us your name please and speak into the microphone please into microphone yeah can you speak specifically to the we heard that there were four home invasions um and they went to get cars but they it's very unsettling they came in in the middle of the night people were home and sleeping people had alarms on that sounded so um were these people arrested has has this been resolved at all what should we expect going forward and the other question is if we are home and this happens what should we as homeowners do to protect ourselves all right so the first first question is um we have very good information I I I can't get into it to jeopardize the investigation but the the they weren't all done by the same people so it wasn't like the same group did all four but uh we have information then we are investigating and we are hopeful bring charges soon um but again you with our technology to these cases take a little bit of time and lots of times people that are doing these things are not just doing in our town they're doing other towns and lots of times when we make arrests we're making them with other towns like we find out who who did ours and and let's just say we made an arrest and this individual is wanted let other jurisdictions will come to us and will'll be hit with like 10 charges from all these different towns so that does happen that probably will happen in the future we're not right this moment um as to your last question about like what can you do well you know I mean obviously hopefully they don't get in but if they do get in I mean I want you to call us you know right away and I want you to protect yourself you something and and and and if you need to if you need to call out you know something Ste we coming but I I I don't know what you I mean I mean some people un unless they're coming at you you know there's some there are some non-lethal things that you can look into to protect yourself you gotta be careful how with encountering someone in in your home so that's really a decision that I have to be very careful about what I recommend I really can't give you any guidance on that that's to you uh in your home and how you're going to really react to that I mean for me and my kids I want my kids my if I'm not there my wife and kids are there I want her to basically call the cops and and secrete themselves and something lock themselves because I don't want them encountering any because you don't know you don't know what what it can turn into okay yes sir come up to the microphone please Vu did you have a question also for the chief I did um go ahead and maybe uh just before after this gentlemen sure yeah okay after um and chief thank you for coming out uh I think everybody's appreciative of you addressing the issue the um the question I had and I don't know if it was uh discussed in any um particular way um does something like a I'm not suggesting a formal neighborhood watch but does a neighborhood watch you know two three blocks that sort of thing does that help in any way it can and it's it's you know it's help helped in in different communities and but you have to get obviously people that that that want to do that something and and uh are committed to that what we see with some of these things then is that you'll see there's an uptick and crime and people are very concerned and and they're very focused right now and they're very committed and then as we see this drop off the interest wains a little bit and then you don't have the same involvement until we see an up so but but yeah and there some some some communities have had success with that s come up to the microphone please just give us your name please Josh Alin tenly thank you Chief appreciate it um obviously there's a disturbing Trend what's happening I've been in the area for a long time cars on the driveway they go in you can see that in your data car's locked they're going in now they they're been more bre going into the house it's only a matter of time like you said they going to go upstairs and en counter some so I'd like to learn more about with the new law they have have to have a deadly weapon what is considered a dead deadly weapon what are the rules of engagement if someone does come upstairs in my daughter's bedroom my wife's bedroom you know there there's a little bit of a gret so that's that's one question to you question to the city council and got representative is what what are you doing to Lobby the legislature to put pressure on the governor to change the laws so we don't have the type of repeat offenders and juveniles that are committing these crimes over and over and over again they nothing about you are our representatives to the state you so you need to go and you need to go to the governor and you need to tell them that what they're doing is not enough it's keeping it's going to keep happening and it's going to get worse it's only going to get worse you're our representative we're asking for help you've you have people here in tenly the residents that are getting armed security listen to what I'm saying in tenly new jerse armed security if I have to get armed security Can I submit the bill to you and you're going to give me a tax credit it's ridicul ulous so the uh the first question is something and and before I came to this meeting or something I I talk to my staff about that it's it's it's it's a question that I cannot give you guys ins on I can't that's something that U you could do research on but when it comes to I to be very careful about how I uh uh tell people you know how to use deadly force you for us police are not allowed to shoot bar period we lose our jobs we arrested telling you right now if someone breaks into your house and this is police and we're involved and they're trying to run away that is not a not a shoot them situation historically I'll leave it at this you something and it's not so simple but we used to use the mirror Theory mirror method what you see coming at you you can respond with but I I can't give you guidance on that something that you have to do your own research imminent bodily uh harm serious bodily injury to protect you and another but that's that's a game time decision that you're going to have to make that could have consequences irr um consequences something that but you know again go you got you gotta survive too but I that that I that I'm not Liberty to to provide you a guidance on I just can't do that appreciate that but the question to the congressman representative if you can answer it what what is the congressman and you doing to as are representatives in the area he lives in teni now so what's happening I'm not here on I'm not here to speak on hear him right he's here to just to interject he's here to report back to the congressman on this meeting I don't usually it's not a for I don't know if you can answer question that's okay so so I'm G I'm going to make one comment that you know you you raised the issue of uh the laws I mean the chief can speak to this uh the legislature passed recent changes to the laws um Chief correct me if I'm wrong where bergo is now a what is it a class one Chief what is the new uh the new change the upgrade to the prison terms and all that for Burg so so for the home invasion the home invasion is you're threatened they have a weapon or something and again you're GNA be making these decisions something under duress and then just a regular residential ver without that second degree crime so so I have to give I have to give the state some credit and and then also to that juveniles so juven one last thing juvenile something so juvenile something so a very popular um way that people would steal cars they would they would they would employ juveniles so there there are these these uh groups they they go out and they find juveniles they know juveniles get slap on the wrist well now it looks as though something they putting into into place it's a a mandatory detention now that doesn't mean prison s that means at least they're not going to get basically just released uh on their way and and what happened was we were having the problems with all the juvenile something that nothing was really happening um law enforcement State Police or the task force started charging the individual that was employing them and there's an actual separate charge for employing juveniles commit crimes it comes with a steeper penalty I think all those things actually contributed also to to everyone being more responsible and locking our car removing their fobs I think that also contributed to the dip in auto theft because arrest some arrests were made but there's always a new group that's coming up you know something or people are repeating but the Ju Just to be clear if a juvenile comes into my home at night unarmed looking for car keys and they get arrested you said armed unarmed for car keys or spe with the presume that they are unarmed because I'm not going to go downstairs and engage them right the penalties for them haven't changed from what from your knowledge no so so so so there's a mandatory detention now but they still have to go through the court system uh but but they're going to treat juveniles more LLY unfortunately and that that's just that's how it's been it's going to continue that way for a while thank you thank you yes go ahead so um I was recommended a box that supposedly you could put your keys in and it blocks Fab detection yeah um have you heard of it is legitimate is it something you know I believe it's Faraday Box you know something it's almost kind of like basically the equivalent to you put your Easy Pass in the Easy Pass sleeve because you're trying to you don't want to pay Easy Pass toll this is something that basically will block the signal of your fob and apparently there's some technology and it's more of a scare tactic but I guess it does exists where some people can actually from a distance capture the signal to your fob to a device and then start your car but we're not really seeing that that's not I heard that they're they're knowing where the their keys are because they have a detector outside that they know that your keys are closed to doors yeah yeah so if you have your if it's locked yes correct correct they don't see your keys anywhere I think it might deter a but but but but that's more basically yeah identify keys but also just really to trans steal the signal but they want the keys themselves that's not really preved from coming into your home but but that that's that's another that's another issue but we're not seeing really a lot of that okay um how we come up to the mic give us your name how we tly go I want to thank you chief for coming tonight and speaking on this and in the past I'll say the chief has been here to the council to ask for equipment I was here when you asked for cameras and she's very Progressive so thank you have a lot of confidence thank you um one thing I was going to ask if you could have the officers start doing surveys of the streets at night to see where lighting is needed for PS and J I know years ago I did ask on my stream and nothing ever happened ask for new light you have for lights to be fixed well some some of the street lights are out but some some of the street the lighting is very inadequate to begin with like a whole stretch of a block right we only have maybe two street lights Two Poles have lights on you know the town's been very receptive today I mean it's it's a nominal fee or something they usually when there request we usually if you have that request send it to us they're not going to do every single poll but but where where there's room for improvement uh usually something that gets gets gets uh installed uh the other thing I was going to mention is uh 911 now you can also text text to 911 so if anybody has somebody in their house you don't even have to make a call where they know that you're making a call just text it'll go to the county or the state police 911 Center and they can interact with you and then they can take over your your phone where you can send video they can see live video of what's going on I think you have to download an app for that but yes yes yes but thank you thank you thank you Harry we're going to take these two from the audience here then we're going to go to the online vote come up to the microphone yes I'm Mark cini uh appreciate this meeting appreciate the turnout it's more of a quick operational Point um I like the fact because I think the more representation the better that was the zoom opportunity tonight I went on to do it and it was at capacity couldn't get on it so I'm not sure if that's a technical thing or something went wrong but do that better thank you just to say that this is being um recorded right so people can grab it at a later time and they can't speak now but they can watch it at a later time okay thank you much thank you Omar after this speaker we're going to go online to see who else who online wants to speak uh Mitchell Gerber from tly so my house was broken into about two weeks ago uh officers responding were great was quick very helpful detective was great um I'm curious where you are in the investigation as to who did this you know are they the same people um one of the frustrations I have is that I don't hear anything about it right today you know they took my wife's bag and dishing my car today it's two weeks now today was the fifth check that was uh written trying to be passed and you know to me that's low hanging fruit you know you can you can backtrack where it came from I don't see anything being done the bank is useless they don't care okay you know they're just trust me I know that we do let me talk me talk to you offline because I don't want to mention your address or something but let me talk to you after the meeting okay okay so where are you where are you in the investigation I I don't want to reveal it right now okay okay fair enough yeah I I I I have to when it comes to arrest and things like that said was mulle actors something you can't really reveal it because then the other actors think actor's talking you know something so I I go to I can't provide so Chief you're saying you want to talk offline to the gentleman I'm G yeah after the meeting after the meeting the everyone listening the response was great officers were great thank you thank you appreciate no I I get obviously like everybody else you know if it's random then you know it's random but it seems like it's the same you know the same MMO it's the same you know you D guys coming in and I want to speculate but the people that are proba wri the checks not people that stole the car no of course not they pass that information out yes but to where they get the check that's where not so easy because they don't talk so much but was the family home when your house was broken into Omar is there anyone on I'd like to see if we have questions from anyone who's on Zoom right now Omar is there anyone uh what do they have to do raise their hand if you have a question raise their hand so if anyone on Zoom would like to make a public comment please raise your hand you seeing anyone scrolling you scrolling oh sorry yes I have a question okay go ahead and ask you just give us your name and ask the question please Deborah is my name and my question is once all these investigations are completed with the last four break-ins how can we get information to find out that you've made arrests or the outcomes are so we know that these people are not still out there I could I can make some some information information that that that won't jeopardize in investigations I will um try to I'll I'll get information out again I it might not be in the um complete form that you want but you have to understand something again we can't reveal everything we can't no I mean after the investigation is completed and you're not in the middle of it can we find out the result I I'm going to do my best my best to get that information to you yes thank you relase right we do press releases yes uh you know in if when it comes to certain people you know that we we arrest you know they become informants they work with us in the future it's not it's not that simple it's not so straightforward so Chief you know perhaps to the the information that you're able to release at the end perhaps we we figure out on the website where we have have a press release section then everyone knows they can go there and that's the information that's available okay that would be great something like that okay uh Omar next question sure I have um Inbal Miller she has her hand raised Inbal you have a question hi yes in first uh Chief I want to thank you for holding this very informative meeting um I was wondering if uh having a bar working dog inside the house deters these home Invaders it can it depends on the uh you know on the on the type of criminal I mean some may be afraid of dogs I remember years ago we had a burglary on the west side of town there was a pull in the house and the pull was in the backyard and that the house was was burglarize they got the dog to the backyard contain him in the backyard and burglarize the house so it's not so simple but yes I mean there there is a it does have a value with some but some you know uh they have tactics or something tactics to uh to uh deal with dogs thank you okay anyone else on Zoom have a question please yes I have uh chin family with their hand raised who is that chin family Chin Chin Chen hi Chen you have a question yeah um I wanted to know I keep hearing that there was four burglaries four Burg iies for break-ins and I Know It All Happened in the same week but I've been hearing that there are a lot more people piping up that don't just live in you know the east side of town that had burglaries so is there a ballpark number of the last 30 days how many break-ins into homes not just car thefts from outside but actual break-ins to homes that there have happened in t to fly in the last 30 days there was just three there was just a three Unfortunately they happened to all be occupied there it was just three in October the one on newom road I was told they were not home uh that's correct but that was beyond 30 days right I I think that was uh I think it was last month October 1 yes yes there was a bur on the west side of town and I'm glad you brought something so so again this is something that touches all four corners of town that's a West Side I I I don't want to give away addresses I don't want to embarrass anyone but yes it was that that that was not an occupied that was a regular burglary um but yes it took place not too long ago thank you Omar next question well no there's 13 there's 13 um this year nine are are are resident nine are are are are burglaries to homes with some commercial burglaries and four out of the 30 13 people were home Omar next question okay I have Jeff with his hand H who is it Jeffrey Jeff yes Jeff you have a question yes hi we wanted to know do they Scout your homes is it random and if they do Scout it is it during the day or or how is that happening we don't have any information that but I do know that that has happened in other communities that that can happen uh when it comes to the stealing of cars uh sometimes they know you have that car now yes could it be uh being opportunistic and they driving through and they see a car yes but um I I I wouldn't put it past them that they that some of them they know a c a certain particular car is at a certain location and they're going to come back when the opportunity is uh they feel they feel as good there have been cases in the past where some of these cars have been followed that's why I say something you know situational awareness something you're driving home from the mall something you're out in this car something some people you something they'll they'll follow you to a driveway and they'll drive away and also too I mean we could go on about a whole bunch of other tactics but I'm not sure some of you probably heard about the uh the uh what is it the Apple um what do you call that the uh air the air tags and they'll put some apple has an air tag that some people use their luggage or to I to locate their own possessions but they're being used by criminals to put in a car somewhere and then they'll just file they they'll they'll go to the car later time now this technology for you to recognize that the air you have an air tag with you that's not yours if you have that you know something we actually brought up right drive right to the PD come right to the police station something we'll try something we put our heads together something but don't go home you something because you you're probably being tracked if that is the case one more I have Deborah Deborah shre with her hand rais Deborah Spectre hi sheor my husband Steve who's gonna ask the question if it gets to the point of being physical to what extent can you take it I mean you don't want to you know you want to avoid it but if they're in the house and uh it get it gets to that point how far can you go I don't have a gun uh and if you had a gun I I don't I don't want to confuse anyone you're gonna you're gonna defend yourself and you're gonna survive the fight but if someone just breaks into your house and you hear stirring and you you recognize they're there you know I I I I don't want you to get hurt you know something and I want you to call us something and and I think it's it's it's prudent not to engage them because if you engage them and you block their entrance who knows who knows what could happen but if someone is assaulting you then obviously like in school I'm gonna get off topic here but you know there's something called run hide fight right and it's about you know for active shooter right something and you know kids are taught in their classroom something someone comes in to shoot you you know hide everyone hide right and then no one told them do anything after that well if someone gets into the classroom what do you do you got to fight back you you know something something so but that's that's something that you have to do on your own but you got to survive survive the fight can you use uh can you use uh you know weapons of any kind if you had a a baseball bat and and you and you somehow you cracked them in the head are you going to get arrested for uh for assault on a person protect yourself but yeah that's just you gota be very careful with that that's up to your individual self yeah Omar next question I see no more hands May no more hands on Zoom does anyone here in the chambers have a question did you yes please come to the microphone I'm gonna ask about that the sign that they the front door just give us your name please Sarah noono from tenly um thank you very much for allowing us to grill you a little bit tonight um can you say that cameras around door doorways Windows would be an assist to you in being able to identify people ABS yeah absolutely something so if we're installing yeah systems that would be a good thing to add so so so we use obious obviously our cameras but we use a lot of your Camas and then we go to you you we get your footage and we go to businesses get footage go to Banks and yes there's a value to them but a lot of people that commit these crimes uh are wearing covid masks because you know they're worried about germs you know um so it has a value yeah but more so probably for clothing something then we identify in a car whatever that you know but facial but yes there that absolutely value and if you have them you're something we're going to rely upon them okay um next question with the talk about private security Etc that some people are um investing in uh it seems to me that it might be a logical explanation as one gentleman said that people might be thinking about getting firearms and I know in Florida they have the Castle Law Dan Etc could you explain what the laws are here regarding Defending Your Castle no again that's that's that's something I'd be very careful I tried to touch on that again you know like obviously if I'm not asking you to tell us to do something not do something because you were very clear about that I'm asking about what the law is we don't have that here there's no castle doctrine there's no stand your ground here something um okay it's it's unfortunate uh I understand why we have that to a certain extent H but again if be very careful what I say but yes people have a lot of people have firearms and you know obviously you know they're used for a variety of different reasons and and some it's home defense and there may be situations where that is necessary um but you know uh it's going to depend on the circumstances and the Threat Level and it can be different for different genders and age groups but it's not something it's very clearcut and you have to be very very careful um because uh as you've seen something people are getting in a lot of trouble um for trying to defend themselves and uh States interpretting things a little bit differently and this one is not like the south is so if you can try and get the gist of what I'm trying to say there I mean thank you for covering that okay appreciate it Julie you have a question yes hi so Chief thanks again for coming I've been taking some notes on what you said and it it you really are pushing the idea of deterrence right yeah um so in the 80s there was something called the the club yes and I do they make it is that something that is I actually I still have one of those all right I still have one of those I never use it I I I I think it's I don't know why I still have um so uh do they still use it I don't I think I saw a car with it um sadly would it work it probably would but but with technology I mean we're moving away from that you hate to see we're resorting back to that and and here's the thing with the club I mean you if you have one you want to use it but who wants to put that thing on your car but you know some but hey you know something yes yes yes just asking yes yes all right does anyone he in the CH any more questions can I clarification to to the woman that was asking me about the bur and Nukem I apologize it was four in October and the one on Nukem was the second day of October something so my apologies I said three Chief do you have uh if there's no more questions any more questions from the council you have any closing comments chief yeah I uh you know thank you for um coming out tonight thank you for not beating me up too bad but that's okay you know something this is this is this is this is what we're here for the men and women of the police department Town we're committed to providing outstanding service to the residents in every which way and obviously Public Safety is one one of those those highest priorities I've been a member of this Police Department for 32 years and we've done a great job and we're going to continue doing that we have great uh Personnel we're going to look toward improve our technology and our our tactics and our methods and and our relationship with you because we're only as good as our interaction with you and we're in this together and I know you're scared that's why I'm up here trying something something to provide you the information and something for you to process and you your own way but uh you know hopefully we see a reduction and I'll I I will get more information out to you social media that's something that I willm I admit that the PD is lacking in I've gone to my my administrative staff and we had a Facebook account was it was a government account and it got locked up you know something but um I'm I'm phasing out with the the the the tech but I will the new generation coming in and you will communicate that way something so I'm I'm making a promise to you that I will provide more information on social media and um I'm here to you know something to help you something and I'm probably the most accessible Chief in Bergen County to a fault give me a call I call you back or I meet with you something so uh that's all I have so thank you and uh you know reach out you need something thank you very much thank you everyone on social media the residents who came here tonight I we wish every council meeting was this group here and online of course so thank you for being here as the chief mentioned we're having a police commission next week uh to talk about um uh the level the Staffing level of the entire police department and any extra technological resources the chief needs and uh we will report back to everyone in the community and more information to comeb it's a serious issue and we're taking it seriously so thank you for being here tonight you guys can't go yet thank you I know motion toour so moved have a second all in favor any opposed baby down are you in or are you out