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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Despite 'truce', Plainfield's gang wars continue


Bryant Park is a hub for the East 6th Street Posse.

While thankful for a partial gang truce that seems to be holding, Plainfield's problems with youth violence are far from resolved and, it appears, the gang wars continue.

Amid much fanfare and media attention, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs greeted a recently announced gang 'truce' with a photo opp that included Her Honor hugging the young men who worked out their agreement at the IHOP in North Plainfield before trooping over to Robinson-Briggs' office.

While the 'truce' involving two of Plainfield's many gang sets, the 'Liberty Street gang' and the 'West 3rd Street gang', has apparently held, the 'East 6th Street Posse', a gang that considers the heart of its turf to be along East 6th Street from Franklin Place to Berckman Street, centering on the Bryant Park playground, is engaged in a new war.

This past week alone, I am told, there have been THREE SHOOTING INCIDENTS involving the 'East 6th Street Posse' and the 'West 3rd Street Gang' -- CORRECTION: should read the 'Liberty Street Gang'.

One of these, as I suspected after reading Mark Spivey's report in the Courier (see here) on Election Day, was the drive-by shooting at Canela's convenience store on Liberty Street, where the later-recovered vehicle was described as having been stolen on East 6th Street.

And the long, hot summer is just getting under way.

For those who are interested in a different take from Mayor Robinson-Briggs' on how to address the issue, Newark Mayor Cory Booker offers a constructive alternative with his 'Safe City Task Force' idea (see here, and here).

Among the actions Booker is taking in Newark --

  • Flooding the street with cops in uniform;
  • Recruiting community organizations as crime-prevention partners;
  • 'Community Roll Calls', where cops report for duty and are inspected in the open air;
  • Mobile Command Units stationed in neighborhoods; and
  • Curfews: Enforcing the 11 PM curfew by taking under-age youth to area churches where clergy and community groups will mentor the youngsters and direct them to summer programs.



-- Dan Damon [follow]

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18 comments:

Rob said...

Cory Booker plans and acts...Sharon doesn't plan and simply reacts.

One is a success and will be going places on their own merits, the other is a plastic bag floating in the wind.

Pat Turner Kavanaugh said...

Dan: I happened to talk to Donna Morris at the City Hall Annex this morning about this very issue. We discussed the possibility of a gun buy-back. She said her pastor Rev. Thomas at Shiloh has been very active on this issue. We came up with a pie-in-the-sky proposal. Suppose instead of a typical gun amnesty and buy-back, those who turned in weapons would get job interviews and a genuine chance at employment. It's far more work than raising some money and handing it to people who turn in weapons, but think of the long term value,

Keeping It Real said...

Is anyone surprised that these creeps are just going to keep terrorizing everyone around them.

The Governor needs to get involved, bring in the National Guard, round up these hoodlums and cage them - - white, black, latino, asian, whatever! They're hateful, angry individuals that don't have a place in our mainstream society until they can prove they can function in a civil and respectful manner with their fellow human beings.

We are all tired of this; feeling as though we can't leave our homes after dark because we don't know what's lurking in the dark!

Until I moved to Plainfield, I thought there were other answers to this problem (i.e. show them you care, show them you want to help, show them there is another way) - -there is no other way until you retrain these people. The rest of us should not have to suffer the mayhem these bumbs create.

Enough is enough! The cops know who these people are. Let's stop skirting the issue and take this head on!

Zero tolerance is the answer at this point!

Anonymous said...

The Block Association would be a great community partner. The problem is that the administration runs the block association meetings. They are run like everything else in the city - poorly.

Anonymous said...

Minor point .... but it was acutally to be called Bryant School Park, to keep the sentiment of the old school building intact

Victor Reynolds said...

I used to see Plainfielders look down on Newark as if Plainfield was the better city. However, look which city is facing its gang problem head on, and which city is in denial.

Anonymous said...

Pancakes for Peace

Anonymous said...

Time to drag the Police motorhome back out and resume handing out flyers.

Maybe Sharon should have invited the 6th street posse to breakfast too!

Anonymous said...

ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE PANCAKES A CHANCE
PANCAKES NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANYMORE

Anonymous said...

Gun buy back.
Do you really think these gang members are gonna give back their guns. Are you that out of touch with the world?
OMG if the adults are dimwitts
one wonders whats become of their offspring

Anonymous said...

Jobs for guns? Seriously? Thugs would receive preference over law abiding citizens and be rewarded for their bad behavior. Just when you thought you heard it all ....

Anonymous said...

We need a Cory Booker type for mayor!

Anonymous said...

@Rob-

How did you compare a plastic bag to Useless Sharon? A plastic bag has far too many uses than Jerry Green's MiniMe handpicked puppet mayor!

I will agree she does suck in and blow out a whole lotta wind; just not enough, at this time, to blow her far away from New Jersey.

Anonymous said...

Cory Booker are you kidding me that fool laid off the cops and now the new dodge city.
Are you out of your Fooking mind.

Rob said...

The fiscal crisis in Newark caused by the state suddenly NOT paying their bills and keeping the patronage wheel turning in Essex County has led to the cops being laid off...

There could have been others laid off too, but there would still have been cops laid off.

He and his administration had gang and violence measures that were working as proved by statistic.

Not once do I think Cory Booker went out in public plastering cars with photocopies of "hug your Mayor for peace ".

Tayir..!!! said...

Hello, plainfield residents my name is tayir pugh and yes iam one of the guys from the truce that took place..and I see alot of people gotta lot to say about alot of things like they were born angels..the truce was made and since that day it has been held up!!! I see alot of feedback from anonymous people, personally I think its a shame that a person has to hide when expressing there feelings, thats not my cup of tea. The mayor is a very wonderful person and I think is doin a great job cause if she wasnt then why is she the MAYOR? Remember she was voted in by the citizens but it seems everyone forgot that... Everybody that criticizes her wat she has done needs to take a look in the mirror and asked themselves "am I perfect" ?. Things take time to change !!! the people that got jobs from the mayor (3 of us that made the truce) works very hard! Call the job and asked about us..sorry to you naysayers that didnt get the memo! And my name is a "TAYIR PUGH" by the way, I do the anonymous thing im too outspoken for that, something like a MAN before anything! & the pancakes were great! Lol nice soft and fluffy..(but there's nothing soft about me or anybody that was there)!!!! I guess thats why Im so outspoken and dont hide behind my feelings & words!

Anonymous said...

Albeit not the most effective outcome in her actions, a good way to tackle an issue like this is to go to the heart of the problem. Ask the people involved what they feel would be a good start to solution of the problems in this city. Getting people on the outside looking in, who have NO concept of the realities in this neighborhood, to resolve ongoing conflicts and issues clearly isn't working. Showing these men and women that SOMEONE isn't writing them off as a lost cause just may be the initiative they need to turn things around in this city.

Dan said...

@ 12:40 PM -- Yes, Bryant School Park, but the map is from Google, which used the name someone else gave them, and notice they don't spell Bryant right either.....