OFF THE WIRE
According to a New Jersey State Police report issued last month, there are 23 different gangs and 119 gang members that call the tiny borough of Hightstown home, making it second only to Trenton for gang activity in Mercer County.
But Hightstown’s council, mayor and residents alike have only had one question regarding the gang presence in the borough since the report came out: Where is it?
The disputed numbers come from the 2010 Gangs in New Jersey survey by the state police.
The borough council members and mayor, Steve Kirson, issued an official press release Wednesday saying that the numbers representing Hightstown in the survey, which originated from a yet-to-be-named officer at the Hightstown police department, "appeared not founded on fact."
The release goes on to apologize to the public for the "apparent misinformation" and acknowledge that the allegedly skewed numbers have created a deeply embarrassing episode for the borough.
A spokesman for the state police said Wednesday they could not answer specific questions about how the survey information was compiled or verified without first speaking to a representative from Hightstown.
Borough police chief James Eufemia said in an early February press release that "the amount of gang activity in Hightstown is nearly non-existent, with only one documented incident."
Eufemia chalked up the purported high gang presence to Hightstown’s proximity to major roadways, saying the numbers actually reflect an estimate of gang members who pass through the area on the heavily traveled roads, such as Routes 33, 130, 571 and 539 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
He said the purpose of the estimations was to give local police a sense of who was passing through, to aid with intelligence-led policing, and that "there are no specific, documented gangs operating in Hightstown."
According to the state police report, the gangs present in Hightstown include 14 different denominations of the Bloods, along with the Latin Kings, MS-13, the Pagans Motorcycle Club, the Eighteenth Street Gang and the Vatos Locos. The report also states that "4-6" gang-related school incidents happened in the borough in 2010.
No gang activity was reported in neighboring East Windsor, which surrounds Hightstown and also includes segments of all of the major roadways mentioned as conduits for gang activity.
A scheduled attempt to have Eufemia clarify the situation at the council’s Feb. 7 meeting, held just a week after the report was released, was canceled when the chief told council members he was too sick to make it to the meeting, angering many of the residents who attended that night.
Eufemia was present at this week’s meeting, but was summoned by the council to speak on another matter. After being released early when that issue was nixed from the night’s agenda, Eufemia declined to comment on the gang report.
"The report is disconcerting," Kirson said after Tuesday night’s council meeting. "I live here. I’ve walked and jogged throughout this town, and I know there are no gangs here."
The borough is still waiting to get more information from the local police department about the submission of the survey questionnaires, which they feel is necessary to have before scheduling another public meeting on the matter. Kirson said he hopes to have enough information to summon the police chief to speak about the situation at the next council meeting.
"This is a very sensitive issue," Kirson said. "We want to make sure the message is correct. We don’t want to (disseminate) any more misinformation."
Borough residents at both Tuesday night’s meeting at the Feb. 7 meeting showed signs of shock, alarm and anger over the report, with most contending that they believed the numbers were incorrect. Many residents who spoke at the Feb. 7 meeting also said they were upset that Hightstown and an alleged high gang presence were now forever linked, thanks to the internet, and they worried about how this new image would affect their town.
"My property (value has) been driven down because of gang issues," resident Rob Thibault said to the council at Tuesday night’s meeting. He was also concerned about why the issue was missing from that night’s agenda.
"Is this information true or not?" Thibault asked. "It would be easy for the chief to come in and say ‘This is the officer who filled this out.’ Why aren’t we getting that information?"
According to the state police survey, Trenton has 11 gangs and an estimated gang population of 1,330; Ewing has seven gangs and 50 members; Princeton Township has 3 and 36, respectively; Lawrence, 4 and 26; and Robbinsville, 1 and 15.
Princeton Borough has one gang and one gang member, according to the report. The Hopewells, Pennington and West Windsor have no gang members or gangs, the report said.
