Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has posted a lengthy synopsis of the recent “spike in crime,” where shootings have resulted in five fatalities in 12 days, where he acknowledges he is “responsible for solving it.”Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
In a lengthy Facebook post, Fulop says that he attended a meeting of the Jersey City NAACP last night to discuss the shootings thats have occurred in the city over the past month.
“It seems that after a quiet and historically safe summer in Jersey City, we have experienced a setback in the last month with a spike in crime. I’m responsible for solving it and we are working hard and will be successful,” he wrote.
“Tonight was a good community meeting on the collective solutions, both near-term and longer term, and I want to say thank you to all those that attended.”
Fulop also makes note that “each shooting is tragic” and sends his condolences to the victim’s families. He then cites continuing city initiatives, asking for the community’s help as well.
“Most importantly, I know even with regards to some of the individuals with extensive criminal history that were targeted over the last month and discussed tonight, each shooting is tragic and I want to express sympathy to the individuals’ families. We know that all these lives are precious, even those that have committed violent crimes before.”
“As many of you know, over the last 2 years, we have hired 150 new police officers, expanded job training programs, expanded prisoner re-entry programs and invested in recreation programs,” Fulop continued.
” … While we need to make sure we are policing effectively, we also need the community to be a partner in providing information to the police so that arrests for violent crimes don’t lead to people returning to the street as has been the cause of the latest violence. It is a partnership.”
Fulop’s appearance at the meeting was not advertised or promoted to the local media and was in conflict with regularly scheduled the Jersey City Council meeting.
The Jersey City Council meeting started at 6 p.m., while NAACP meeting started at 7 p.m.
Last week, District 31 Assembly-elect Angela McKnight submitted a letter to the editor reacting to the “heinous acts of violence in Jersey City” when there were three fatal shootings in six days.
