Trenton officials outline new initiatives to curb crime trend near city hall
Trenton officials move to hold businesses responsible for 'Club City Hall' issues
City leaders in Trenton are taking measures to curb large, late-night gatherings outside City Hall that have escalated into disturbances including street fights and assaults on officers.
TRENTON, N.J. - There are growing concerns surrounding crime in Trenton, prompting officials to come up with a new safety plan.
What we know:
City leaders in Trenton are taking measures to curb large, late-night gatherings outside City Hall that have escalated into disturbances including street fights and assaults on officers.
On social media, the gatherings are being tagged as "Club City Hall," which the mayor acknowledged during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The mayor, council president and police presented their growing concerns and the ordinances the city is proposing to curb these challenges.
What they're saying:
"What we want to say is enough is enough," said Mayor Reed Gusciora, City of Trenton. "This last weekend, we had four arrests. One of them was for aggravated assault on a police officer and that is not acceptable behavior."
"The officers' orders are to disperse or disrupt disorderly conduct. They’re not harassment, they’re not trying to escalate issues, but also, we’re not going to tolerate our officers being assaulted. That behavior will get you arrested," said Captain Lisette Rios of Trenton Police.
Why you should care:
The city is now proposing three ordinances:
- The first would limit hours in the entertainment zone to midnight or 2 a.m. for bars.
- The second ordinance would require businesses attracting crowds larger than 50 individuals to hire off-duty police.
- The third ordinance holds businesses attracting crowds responsible for cleanup costs and off-premise damages.
"We do want businesses to come to the City of Trenton and they will not come if we allow this type of behavior to continue," said Council President Yazminelly Gonzalez, Trenton City Council.
The other side:
Ed Forcion is the owner of NJ Weedman’s Joint on East State Street and said he reached out to the city dozens of times these last several months to ask for additional support before the situation escalated.
"That’s ridiculous. They set up an Entertainment Zone and provide no police department and say when chaos happens that it’s the owners of the businesses’ fault," said Forcion. "The owners of the businesses now are going to be required to provide outside security on the street. That’s ridiculous."
Big picture view:
Mayor Gusciora said it cost the city $10,000 in overtime for personnel to be out there on both Friday and Saturday night.
He said, "Unfortunately, what it does is take away from our police presence in the other neighborhoods and to keep other neighborhoods safe. In order for us to continue this, we would essentially need to establish a party tax so we can police out here on the weekends when large crowds are gathering."