Vigil for shooting victim

One evening a few days back I was in the area of 5th and Vine Streets, where Jeffrey Moss aka "man man" was gunned down.  There was probably close to 100 people present, and I heard much more were there at sunset to hold a candlelight vigil for the shooting victim.

Nobody deserves to be killed over something so stupid as probably a verbal dispute gone bad. 

What sort of annoyed me about the people present for the makeshift memorial (which I despise, place flowers at the cemetery!)  was they brazenly blocked the road off to thru traffic without going through the proper channels, to memorialize a career criminal, yet if I don't get a $5 permit for a yard sale on my own property I am immediately taken to task over it.  Something so trivial, yet a sign of the lack of respect so many share toward society in general. 

I realize the police department had to act with diplomacy, because judging by the 28" rims parked for blocks around, and dominant color of red clothing with underwear showing above belt lines among the crowd, any effort to simply open the road to traffic would have been met with such a large backlash it probably would have attracted national media attention, even though authorities would have been acting according to law and ordinances.  

If only this group of 100+ people paying honor to a man who lived his life robbing, stealing and hurting others could organize and hit the streets to supervise and parent the youth, imagine how fast the community would improve!

Instead, many more children will grow into a life of entitlements, lawlessness and hopelessness.  Mr. Moss will be buried, the R.I.P. shoe polish on car windows and t-shirts with his mugshot on them will fade, and his legacy as nothing more than a criminal will be forgotten.  Life will go on for countless other people down the same path toward crime, prison and unfortunately for some, an early death.

There is no worse death than to die in vein.  Will this be the death that changes a society?  Or will it be life as usual...      R.I.P.   "man man"

Not so smart drug dealer

There is a black mini van (Kia model?) driving around Millville doing drug deals. NJ Reg. #R84-AFD. The driver is a heavyset black male with braided hair. He usually has a large black male passenger riding along with him, and they like to blast their rap music at loud levels. Real good way to keep a low profile fellas...

I have seen this van conduct suspiscious "deals" at the car wash at 7th and Main Streets a few times, and also behind McDonalds on 2nd street.

How it works is people will park in a public location and contact the man in the mini-van via cell phone. A few minutes later the van will show up and an order will be placed. The person will then be given instructions to follow the van to another location to pick up the stuff.

One night a few weeks ago a heavyset caucasian female in her 20's driving a white dodge neon contacted this mini-van, who met her at the car wash. The driver of the van could clearly be heard asking the girl what she wanted and if she had the money. The girl was then instructed to follow the van to an address in the 200 block of North 7th street to finalize the deal. I was unable to pinpoint the house address just yet, but am working on it.

Oakview??

There is a photo gallery on dailyjournal.com today titled "police investigation at Oakview apartments" with several photos of police and yellow crime scene tape, however I cannot find an article or information as to when or what may have happened. Anybody heard anything?

We need these signs

Millville should invest in these signs, and the first one needs to go in the vicinity of 2nd  and Vine Streets. There is a church and nursery school where our enterprising young women ply their trade.

Drug Raid on 3rd Street

The Daily Journal was first to break the news of a drug raid on a nuisance property on 3rd street in Millville this Friday. The house involved was 4q4 N. 3rd street, owned by William and Joyce Goelzer of 611 Glenside drive, Millville, NJ.

Police arrested four people Friday after conducting a drug investigation on the 400 block of North 3rd Street.
City police executed a narcotics search warrant at the home after several months of investigating the property for its role in narcotics sales, said Millville police Sgt. Ross Hoffman, a member of the Organized Crime Bureau for the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police raided the same home Dec. 8 for the same issue and made two arrests then, including one man who also was arrested Friday, he said.

This house is a known nuisance property. It is a shame that the owner lives in Millville, but apparently could not care less about the plague that nuisance tenants bring on this city. Millville has long advocated that landlords utilize a Crime free lease Addendum, a totally free procedure that is but one tool to protect the landlord's investment in their property as well as helping to ensure that our neighborhoods are safe and clean.

Kudos to the MPD for their investigation. The next step the city MUST take is to hit the landlord with a notice of condoning a nuisance property under Millville's "Excessive Use of City Services Ordinance". it is bad enough when out-of-town slumlords destroy the fabric of our neighborhoods by maintaining nuisance properties. After all, they have no stake in our city other than as an income source. But to have Millville residents that are so careless as to turn a blind eye to the crime that is rampant is truly irksome.

As a side note, I did notice a patrol vehicle parked on the corner of 3rd and Mulberry for a good part of today. Some of the denizens that congregate on the corner did not look too pleased.

I can attest that our elected officials do have a vested interest in combating these problems. I understand that we can expect more news of this sort in the future.

Info sharing

http://www.nj.com/ today lists 2 of cumberland county's most wanted. One of these individuals is a Mexican male named Sergio Angel of the Bridgeton area. In the press release, it is listed that Angel has a tattoo on his left hand stating "SUR 13 STG." Just want to share the meaning of this so the community is aware who is among us:

"Sur" stands for Surenos, or Southern Hispanic. Most Mexican street gangs fall under southern/southside (Sureno), or Northern (Norteno). The # 13 is a number southerners represent by (Nortenos use 14).

"STG" is a term prisons use in classifying members of more notable gangs that pose a danger to the orderly running of a facility. STG stands for Security Threat Group.

The Surenos are on the high end of the pecking order. In prison, other gangs will fall in line to a Surenos member or clique. the Surenos' main function is to act for, and report directly to the Mexican Mafia, who ulitmately control all kinds of illicit activities, but especially the flow of narcotics coming from Mexico into the U.S. The Surenos will hold responsibility for distribution of the narcotics and any other bidding the Mexican Mafia wants done.

Seeing what the Surenos do on the street, and knowing the prisons classify their members as part of a security threat group, these people are not wannabe's, and are serious career criminals. the fact that this Sergio Angel has STG tattooed directly on his hand is an easy tell that he is no stranger to the penal system or criminal lifestyle.

Many of these gang members will blend in with migrant farm worker populations who travel all over the country seasonally looking for work. It is an easy way to maintain mobility and move drugs among networks for street level distribution.

more gun play at 5th and Mulberry

9PM Monday night,and more shootings at 5th and Mulberry. I will post more info as it comes in.

Attempted Robbery

Heard there was an attempted robbery a few nights ago on North 5th street of a Dominos pizza driver. In an awesome turn of events, the pizza delivery person was able to grab a chainsaw from the back of his vehicle to defend himself, which caused the suspects to think twice and quickly retreat! Good to see the driver was not harmed simply trying to earn a few dollars.

A message from Adotp-a-Block

Good afternoon friends,

Under the leadership of the Greater Millville Ministerial Association, the Adopt a Block Program truly made a difference in our neighborhoods last year. We collected several tons of trash and had an obvious presence in the community every third Saturday morning. After taking a short break, we’ll be back on the job starting Saturday, February 18^th and you’re invited to join us. We’ll meet at 10 AM at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 3^rd and Mulberry Streets to pick up our gear and then go out to spruce up our City. After an hour or so, we’ll return to St. Paul’s for refreshments and to share our experiences.

We do this not only to pick up trash but to engage our neighbors and invite them to participate. While we’re concentrated in Center City, any block in any neighborhood can be adopted, by any group, including within our Arts District. An individual can join with any group they want.

We also do this because it’s fun. You get a cool t-shirt and you get to hang out with cool people. And on a serious note, we know that we have significant challenges in our City. This is one of many approaches that we know works.

So we hope that you’ll join us on the 18^th. In the meantime, please print and post our flyer in your business, school or church. If the weather is bad, we’ll renew our program on March 17th. If you have any questions, please call me or Pastor Elizabeth Nees at 856-825-3008.

Thanks, Ed   

Edward C. Einhaus

Project Implementation Coordinator

Center City - The Heart of Millville Program

c/o AHOME Inc.

400 E. Main St.

Police Command Vehicle

Several years ago the MPD acquired a Police Command Vehicle. Now, the wisdom of outlaying that amount of money has been questioned - but to allay the worst fears, this was not paid for with property tax dollars; it was acquired through a grant that had a limited scope.  Anyway, coulda-woulda-shoulda- we have the vehicle now.

The question I am posing is this, "Where in the hell is it?" Okay, I know where it is. It is usally housed in a space at the Millville Rescue Squad, in space paid for by Office of Emergency Management funds. OEM headquarters are pretty much mandated to receive such funds, and ours is at the MRS. At least, that is how things stood last time I had any conversation about it, I don't know if anything has changed in the interim.

Anyway, this rant has a purpose. The PCM is doing nobody any good parked in a garage. With stepped up patrols throughout the neighborhoods, why not use it as a mobile police office? Park it in front of the known drug house on the 500 block of Mulberry Street for a month, and have the beat and bike cops use it as an office.

Park it on the 200 block of Vine Street for a month so that the plethora of hookers that hang out around the church and nursery school 24/7 will be forced to move their base of operations.

And, to really mix things up, strategically place some undercover operations in the likely areas where the dealers, pimps and whore will relocate.

Just an idea...

Another Millville Homicide

Last night we had the second shooting related death in five months.

City police continue to investigate the shooting death of a man at the Delsea Village Apartment complex Tuesday night.
Police have yet to release the identity of the slain man, and Delsea Village residents wouldn't discuss what happened last night.

There is one thing of which we are fairly certain, none of these incidents involve innocent bystanders. There is an entire underground culture that is swiftly overtaking the city. There is no easy answer, especially when you are stuck dealing with the aftermath of such atrocities as Delsea Gardens, a government project foisted on us by narrow-minded, short-sighted individuals who sold the soul of our city back in the 1970's.

Police Chief Tom Haas assures me that there is a plan, and the MPD is doing all that it can within the legal restraints to combat the gangs that are behind this reign of terror.  This infestation, that is fed by Cumberland County's idiocy in accepting 35% or more of the state's inmates and then allowing them to remain here upon their release rather than busing them back to the county where they were sentenced, has to be curtailed before we can see any real improvement in the neighborhoods.

I know we have quite a few people that follow this blog, I encourage anyone that has serious ideas or input to please comment.

Breaking News

Approximately 45 minutes ago, www.NJ.com is reporting a gunshot victim and ambulances needed (as well as a medical examiner which is not good) on South 2nd Street at Delsea Village Apartments. No other information available as of yet.

Adopt-A-Block 2012 schedule

February is just about here and that means Adopt-a-Block will be kicking off very shortly!

Please, mark your calendars for this years clean-ups.

Date/Time: 3rd Saturday of each month @ 10:00am

Place: St. Paul's Lutheran Church

Corner of 3rd & Mulberry

Millville, NJ
Event: Clean-up of Millville City Blocks

Saturday, February 18
Saturday, March 17

Saturday, April 21
Saturday, May 19

Saturday, June 16
Saturday, July 21

Saturday, August 18
Saturday, September 15

Saturday, October 20
Saturday, November 17

These clean-ups will be held at 10:00am at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church with food and drinks for everyone who participates following the clean-up.

Hope to see everyone at the clean-up!

Also, don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook or "Follow us" on Twitter (you can do so with the links below):

Follow Us on Twitter

Join Us on Facebook

Thanks,

--
Adopt-A-Block



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Center City Crime Watch holds first meeting

Center City Crime Watch of Millville held the first official meeting tonight.

The Center City Crime Watch of Millville held its first meeting Tuesday evening on the 100 block of 4th Street to a small group with big plans.
Mary Messeck, the leader of the initiative, was involved in the city’s crime watch involving the Third Ward and Millville Gardens during the 1990s and hopes to bring back the awareness and put the attention on the center city.
Her newsletter will soon be available at Bogarts Bookstore, as per her networking with the shop’s owner, and available at all city commission meetings.

I had other obligations tonight and was unable to attend this meeting. However, we did endorse the meeting and Mary at the recent CiPAC (Citizen-Police Advisory Council) meeting last week. If you are not already subscribed, we encourage you to add Center City Crime Watch of Millville to your Facebook account.

Also, we ensure privacy and confidentiality to anyone that would submit tips via this website.

Millville gets another police dog

Millville just added a fourth police dog to the force!

Imagine a police force with every patrol officer assigned a K9 partner.
Police Chief Thomas Haas does.
“A lot of people, where they don’t respect police, they do respect the dog,” Haas said. “Also, a dog’s nose is a lot more sensitive for drugs.”
Realistically, Haas said, six K9s might be the most the police department can expect. And that goal got closer last week with the delivery of its fourth working dog, a male Belgian Malinois who now answers to the name “Treu.”

Haas used drug forfeiture money to purchase the dog - police dogs do not come cheap. I guess you can call that a unique form of justice - karma, if you will. You operate a 24-hour drugstore on our streets, your money goes to purchasepolice dogs!

825-UGLY

It is an easy number to remember. USE IT! 825-UGLY is a hotline that allows any Millville resident to call in a code violation anonymously. It is a recording, you don't even have to leave your name.

We discussed the 825-UGLY number last night at the Citizen-Police Advisory Council (CiPAC) meeting. besides getting word out to residents to call 825-UGLY when you see he illegal dumping of TV Sets on the curb, or slumlords allowing trash to sit on the curb four and five days before scheduled trash pick-up, we are urging the use of the number to report the locations of sneakers hanging from telephone wires.

The issue was addressed as a question from Sgt. Cramner to Mayor Shannon - what action can be taken to remove the shoes hanging from telephone wires?

As most of our readers already understand, shoes hanging from power lines are signs that there is a drug dealer in that vicinity. On Sassafras Street, the drug dealers hang out at 412 Sassafras, and often at 409 Sassafras. Also, the brand of sneaker will often be a clue to the gang that has claimed their turf.

Mayor Shannon said the city maintenance yard does have a bucket truck. He will be coordinating with the police department to remove the shoes from cable or telephone lines. The city cannot risk playing near the electrical lines due to safety issues - so possibly we need to coordinate an effort to force Atlantic City Electric into taking care of any shoes on power lines.

The police will note the shoes during the course of their daily routines, but we also are encouraging citizens to call the locations in. It takes 15-seconds, and it sends a message to the drug dealers that we are claiming our streets back.

Gunfire hits man, more shots fired this week

A 21-year old city man was hit in the leg this week as more gunfire erupted in center City, Millville.

A 21-year-old city man was shot in the leg Friday, and his East Vine Street residence was hit by several bullets four days later, police said.Bullets struck another home in that neighborhood on Sunday, police said.

I spoke at length with Chief Haas last night, and the MPD is taking corrective action. Changes are being made, and the department is using creative techniques to combat the current resurgence of gang activity. The chief agrees that this is all gang related. You can rest assured that none of the targeted houses or so-called victims are innocent bystanders. That doesn't make the situation any less dangerous.

Thanks to vocal anti-government groups such as Millville First, the police department is working with a less than optimal staffing level. However, creative solutions are putting more cops on the street when and where needed. The Chief also assures me that the Sheriff's Department is assisting with the deployment of Sheriff deputies working in town.

He also wants to get the word out to ask people to call in tips. 825-7010, and hit "0" to talk to dispatch - leave tips and call in immediately when you witness anything that warrants closer scrutiny from the police department. of course, if it is an actual emergency or life-threatening situation, call 911.

Interesting possibility

As seen at www.homenewstribune.com New Brunswick NJ is forming an all volunteer auxilliary police force. Having grown up in New Brunswick, I am familiar with the area and think this will be a valuable asset not only to that community, but perhaps something Millville should pursue also.

I also lived in Toms River for several years. Toms River had an active auxiliary force while I was a resident. They assisted in things from maintaining a presence at large public events, to traffic control at accident and fire scenes, to providing additional patrols in township vehicles on weekends or busy holidays such as Halloween/Mischief night. They would also do ride alongs with full time officers frequently to learn and share information about happenings in the community.

I believe Millville could benefit from such a volunteer force. Younger adults who may aspire to get full-time positions in law enforcement can begin to build a resume and learn basic functions of community service. The local community college criminal justice program may be a great place to recruit volunteers. Retirees can find joy in volunteering in their community, and almost anybody who cares about their community may have an avenue to get involved if they choose.

By utilizing a group of auxiliary volunteers, the town would have extra eyes and ears at a minimal cost on the streets to interact with the community and bring concerns back to city officials. These same volunteers would also be trained and able to handle tasks such as traffic control and/or community policing to free up full time officers to concentrate more on serious crimes and issues affecting the city.

Report of a shot fired

In the News this afternoon:

A police officer on patrol Wednesday in Center City reported hearing a gunshot at about 11:20 p.m. in the area of North 4th Street. Investigation did not turn up any information.

Millville Police promise to protect your identity

The News of Cumberland County published a helpful article today. Millvilel police will not leak your identity if you call in a violent crime. I have said this many times, and it is good to see it in print.

...it is pertinent that the witness be kept anonymous.
“It depends on the crime, but in the situation of random shootings, they can remain anonymous completely,” Haas said.
Just in the past two weeks, Millville has experienced four reported shooting incidents, as well as a stabbing on Thursday.
“In the situation of the shootings, the identity of the witness is not needed in court,” Haas said. “If someone is being shot at, or sees someone shooting a gun, they need to tell us.
“There again, if they want to handle it themselves and not speak up, that doesn’t help us.”