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Dear Neighbors,
This is a special issue to provide more
information on the recent gang and gang
related activities and the actions being taken
to address them. The goal is to provide more
information on recent events and the actions
being taken by the community.
First
Some Background:
In the months of April and May, Lumberton
experienced a rash of serious crimes including
a knife incident in the middle school, an
alleged gun incident at the Freeman Park, and
several graffiti incidents. The knife
incident and some of the graffiti were gang
related. The alleged gun incident was
not a real gun, and the police do not believe
it was gang related. The police made
three
arrests: one for the knife incident and two for
the graffiti incident at the middle school. For more
background information, please read the May
17th Lumberton E-News which provides more
details.
Safe
Community
Task Force Meeting: In response to
the sudden surge in gang crime, the Township
Committee decided to form a Safe Community
Task Force to develop a plan to combat the gang related crimes in the
middle school and some of our
neighborhoods. The first meeting was
held May 30th. The meeting was attended
by the Burlington County Sheriff, members of
the Township Committee, a Lumberton Board of
Education member, the Lumberton Middle School
administration, members of the community, the
Lumberton Police Department administration and numerous other
gang experts from the NJ State Police,
Burlington County Sheriff's Office and the
Mount Holly Police Department.
Additional
Information from the Safe Community Meeting
- The gang active in Lumberton is the Bloods.
The Bloods are coming down
from Trenton and are becoming more active in most towns in Burlington County.
- According to law enforcement experts outside
Lumberton, the gang crime that Lumberton has
experienced has also taken place in most other
middle class and upper middle class towns in
the area.
- Mount Holly
has a serious gang problem with the Bloods,
Crips and some other gangs.
- The police
suspect that the Bloods in Lumberton have been recruited at
Rancocas Valley High School by gang members
from Mount Holly. These Lumberton gang
members are recruiting other gang members
from the Lumberton Middle School.
- The Lumberton
Police estimate that there are 10 active gang members in
Lumberton and 50 people the police classify as
affiliated with gang members.
- The police are
charging all individuals arrested for gang
related crimes to the maximum extent of the
law regardless of their age.
- The Mount
Holly Police Department recently made
another arrest of a Lumberton resident
allegedly involved in gang related
activities.
Actions Being Taken: The Safe
Community Task Force
agreed to the following actions:
-
The Lumberton Police will continue to maintain
a stepped up
presence in neighborhoods including increased
vehicle, bike and undercover
patrols.
-
A Lumberton Police
Officer will be present at all extracurricular activities at
the Lumberton Middle School.
-
The Lumberton
Police will provide gang awareness information
to the community on June 22nd from 6:30 - 9:00
PM at the Lumberton Middle School
auditorium. The purpose is to
provide information to help parents, teachers
and residents identify the signs of gang
activity, prevent kids from being influenced
by gangs, and report gang activities to law
enforcement. All adults in the community
are encouraged to attend. Nobody under
18 years old will be permitted to attend.
-
The police will
look into establishing safe houses near the
community parks and playgrounds.
-
The township will
work to establish a neighborhood watch program.
-
The township will
coordinate with the police and school system to establish
a more efficient way to communicate public
safety information to the community. The
township has already set up a special page on
the township's web site for public safety
information - http://www.lumbertontwp.com/police/safe_community.html.
-
The schools will
coordinate with the County Sheriff's office to
provide age appropriate gang awareness and
prevention information to the students in the
Fall.
Community
Calendar:
- Gang
Awareness Training Seminar: June
22nd from 6:30-9:00 PM at the Lumberton Middle
School auditorium. The seminar is
for all adults in the community.
Again, nobody under the age of 18 will be
permitted to attend.
- For more
community events, visit www.LumbertonEnews.com
and click on the Community Calendar
link.
I
hope you found this information useful.
As I get more information, I will bring it to
your attention. As always, if you have
any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Pat Delany
122 Kingsbridge
Drive
Lumberton, NJ
08048
(609) 560-8045
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