Should gang truce organizer blog?

When someone signing themself as 'Tayir Pugh', one of the organizers of the recent 'gang truce', commented on the Plainfield Today post on the East 6th Street Posse/Liberty Street Gang shootings recently (see here, and here), an intriguing suggestion emerged: that Tayir consider starting a blog.

With 27 comments logged in on the two posts and indicating considerable interest, an anonymous reader on Saturday said --

Tayir Pugh one the things you could do to help all of us in Plainfield is to start your own blog. Tell us how you see things in Plainfield and in the world from your point of view. In order to solve Plainfield's problems we need everyone's input, criticism and feedback.

June 19, 2011 9:25 AM

-- which strikes me as a worthwhile proposition.

Why not learn about Plainfield from how yet another person sees things?

What would be wrong with widening the conversation about what could be done to make Plainfield a better place for everyone?

Tayir, if you're reading this, please chime in and let us know your thoughts about joining the Plainfield blogsters.

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• Plainfield Today --
• "Did Mayor Sharon do a good deed, finding jobs for truce organizers?"
• "Despite 'truce', Plainfield's gang wars continue"
  
• Courier:  "Feuding Plainfield gangs call truce, meet with mayor""
  

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Did Mayor Sharon do a good deed, finding jobs for organizers of gang truce?

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs

Did Mayor Sharon do a good deed and find jobs for some of the organizers of Plainfield's gang truce?

The following comment on Plainfield Today's June 9th story on the shooting incidents between the East 6th Street Posse and the Liberty Street Gang came in last night --

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!

First, let me say I have no way of knowing if the writer is indeed Tayir Pugh, which is just the way anonymous comments work (you can see the comment on the original blog post here, and the original Courier story by Mark Spivey on the gang truce here).

Secondly, the writer refers to three of the truce's five organizers getting jobs 'from the Mayor'.

I'm sure Plainfield residents would appreciate an update from Mayor Robinson-Briggs on this good deed.

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• Plainfield Today:  "Despite 'truce', Plainfield's gang wars continue"
• Courier:  "Feuding Plainfield gangs call truce, meet with mayor"

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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.

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• Courier:  "Students unharmed in daytime drive-by shooting"
• Ledger --
• "Booker forms 'Safe City Task Force' to address violence"
• "Booker calls for residents' support to reduce violence"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield gang warfare moving to 'collateral damage'?

Tags in investigation of bullet holes in vehicle.

 

Is Plainfield 's gang warfare moving to 'collateral damage'** -- attacks aimed at targets other than gang member themselves?

Could be.

While the City Council wrestled with filling a vacant seat, rejiggering the layoff plan and other business on Tuesday evening, it appears the gangs spread their violence to a quiet corner of the Second Ward.

In an early morning email on Wednesday, I was told of 5-7 gunshots reported around 8:45 PM on Tuesday, in the Watchung/Carlton/Cedarbrook Road neighborhood.

Two cars were hit on Carlton Avenue and, I am told, the house of the parents of a gang member was shot at.

This was confirmed by other residents later.

In addition, got word that the home of a well-known 4th Ward figure was shot up by gang members.

How can the police ever cope if they not only have to shadow gang members, but worry about extended family members' homes, and attacks on property?

Where is the so-called 'plan' Mayor Robinson-Briggs told Gov. Christie at the Frontiers breakfast that her administration is working on (see here)?

Meanwhile, I am told that Public Safety Director Hellwig is on an unnanounced and unexplained leave as of today, and that Capt. (and former police chief) Edward Santiago is in charge of the Police Division.

Nothing but drama with Robinson-Briggs.


**'Collateral damage' is military language for unintended casualties or civilian property damage as the result of a military operation.

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• Courier:  "Christie in surprise visit to Plainfield in wake of 2nd homicide"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Fatal shooting mid-afternoon Thursday

A 17-year-old was shot in the face shortly before 3 PM at West Front and Clinton.

A truant Plainfield High School student (the Courier identifies him as Spencer Cadogan -- 6:00 PM) was shot in the face shortly before 3:00 PM this afternoon at the corner of West Front Street and Clinton Avenue.

The 17-year-old was transported from the scene by the Plainfield Rescue Squad to the Muhlenberg SED, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

I am told police are treating the shooting as gang-related.

I happened to be in the area taking photographs at the time and was asked by a police officer if I had seen 'a guy in a  blue jacket'. Plainfield and Union County police responded to the area, blocking off the crime scene and diverting traffic to Myrtle Avenue.

An undercover police vehicle was seen patrolling the paths in Green Brook Park looking for the suspect and three police vehicles were parked along the road near the park's playground.

After being chased away by a female cop who said, 'You don't look like family to me, so you'll have to leave', I learned that police were at the parking lot across from Muhlenberg, interviewing those who showed up at the hospital.

A resident phoned as I am writing this to say that a State Police helicopter is reconnoitering the area.

This is the sixth homicide in 2010.

Spoke with Mark Spivey, who was on his way to the scene. Look for further news on the Courier website later.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Gang wars continue with victimless shootings

At least two unreported shootings since last Thursday show Plainfield's gang warfare continues -- even if victimless for the moment.

Thursday evening I am told there was gunfire at Prescott Place and West 3rd Street, with two males being shot at though not hit. Shell casings were found at the scene.

Last evening -- Monday -- three males were shot at in the vicinity of Clinton and Myrtle Avenues. None of the intended victims was hit, but again shell casings were found at the scene.

The second shooting occurred in a neighborhood that was at the center of an uproar over the proposed gunshot-spotting technology which the Administration has had to table in light of the city's current fiscal situation.

Police regard both areas as gang territories as evidenced by gang activity.

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Mayor sponsors 'forgiveness workshops'

Header of online (incomplete) version of flyer.

A trip to Plainfield's City Hall is not complete without browsing the literature table in the rotunda.

So, it was with some surprise that I came upon a flyer last night on the way to the Planning Board meeting announcing a series of two workshops sponsored by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs entitled 'Conflict Resolution Through Forgiveness'.

Strangely, the first workshop was scheduled for -- tada! -- that very day.

I did not see the flyers on an earlier jaunt at City Hall this week, and had not noticed them on the city website's public notices page. But when I got home from the Planning Board and checked, there were not one, but TWO copies of the flyer posted online with the headline: 'REVISED - DATE CHANGES' in such large type that the title of the workshop was squeezed off the page.

But that was only the beginning of the 'forgiveness' adventure. The back of the hard copy found at City Hall had detailed dates for the two workshops and trips for the youngsters who enrolled, plus a list of guidelines for participation and an outline of the workshop's goals.

All of that page 2 information is missing from the City's website copies.

How will people know what to do? And when?

I'll forgive Mayor Robinson-Briggs for the mess-up. If they fix it up, they may actually get some participants.

While the flyer was evidently originally created on 9/3/10, the update was made
the morning of the 16th, the day of the first event.

In the meantime, those interested in the Christopher's Program, of which the Plainfield series is a part, can read up on it at a Ledger article that ran in August here.
And stop by City Hall rotunda or the city's website to see if the complete and corrected information is available.

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• Ledger: "Union County adopts innovative 'Christopher's Program' to help preveent gang violence"

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BREAKING: Two shootings on Labor Day

Plainfield did not escape the Labor Day weekend without more violence.

I am told there was a fight with shots fired about 11:30 PM on Labor Day night at East Third Street and Wiley Avenue -- taking the violence to the East End, which has so far been largely spared.

A few minutes later there was a shooting in the 1100-block of West Front Street, with a 17-year-old male shot in the leg.

As one officer said to me, 'Of course, retaliatory shootings are imminent'.

Of course.

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Hispanic gangs feud in weekend stabbing, machete attack

MS13 gang tag spotted at 6th & Arlington.

Plainfield, it appears, is also facing rising violence among Latino gangs, as witness two incidents from this past weekend.

I am told that the stabbing incident on West Front Street on Saturday reported in Plainfield Today on Sunday (see here) and in the Ledger today (see here) was gang-related.

Saturday's stabbing (and stomping) is said to be by members of a local branch of MS13 who attacked a man said to be a member of the 18th Street Gang.

On Sunday afternoon an Hispanic male said to be a member of MS13 was attacked in the 500-block of West Front Street by a group of Hispanic males, one of them hacking his arm with a machete and nearly severing it.

This attack, not yet publicly reported, is said to be by members of the 18th Street Gang in retaliation for Saturday's attack.

I am also told that a previous incident on North Avenue several weeks ago may be related to the same feuding groups.

Tag showing MS13 as killers of 18th Street Gang.

MS13, or Mara Salvatrucha (see here) is a gang that originated in Los Angeles but is now found countrywide, also being involved in the deadly drug wars taking place in the Mexican states along the border with the U.S.

18th Street gang tag.

The 18th Street Gang also originated in Los Angeles (see here) and has spread throughout the U.S. as well. It is sometimes referred to as 'The Children's Army' because of its recruitment of school-age youngsters.

While these two gangs may operate relatively invisibly from the point of the view of Plainfield's dominant 'Anglo' culture, we do not yet have any idea of their impact on the city's growing Latino community.

Meanwhile, as the Robinson-Briggs administration contemplates making the expensive (starting at $1M, with annual fees of $100,00 or so) foray into gun-spotting technology, it is important to note that NEITHER of these incidents involved guns.

ShotSpotter, it seems, will be no defense against machetes and knives.

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• Plainfield Today: "Gang shooting, other violence and possible arson Saturday"
• Ledger:  "Man beaten, stabbed on Plainfield street"
• Wikipedia:  "MS13/Mara Salvatrucha" | "18th Street Gang"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Gang shooting, other violence and possible arson Saturday

Four gang-related incidents in recent days are highlighted in red.

Plainfield's string of shooting incidents continued overnight Saturday, with a male being shot in the leg in the 600-block of Clinton Avenue.

This followed an earlier incident at West 3rd Street and Rushmore Avenue, where shots were fired. No one was hit, but police recovered a handgun at the site.

I'll bet both are gang-related -- the shooting incident is just steps away from Lyman Place where a man was shot in the back Thursday night. A car had been stolen in front of a convenience store in the same area last weekend, possibly to be used in the gang shootout that took place in front of a West Second Street building in the Housing Authority's Elmwood Gardens complex.

Last night's shootings bring the total since early May to at least 22 shooting incidents, with at least 18 persons injured and one death.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs' Tuesday night walks through various neighborhoods continue. The administration went before the Planning Board for a second time on Thursday, trying to get the gunshot-detection technology put on the city's capital improvements plan.

To date, the Robinson-Briggs administration has not come up with an overarching plan for addressing the root issues behind the rise of gangs and any concerted effort to head them off.

Everyone agrees there is no possibility of arresting our way out of this, so what is Robinson-Briggs going to do?

As if the gang-related violence weren't enough, early Saturday evening saw two other incidents --

• The playground equipment at BUF's daycare at West 7th and Central Avenue was burnt up completely, possibly arson, and
  
  
• A Hispanic male was stabbed and beaten by a group of Hispanic men on West Front Street; the victim was transported by ambulance to RWJ.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Victim hit 5 times in another gang-related shooting

Plainfield's gang warfare evidently continues.

I got word shortly before 10: AM this morning of another gang-related shooting last night.

The victim, said to be a member of the Liberty Street Gang, was hit 5 times.

That may explain the helicopter I heard at 11:41 PM last night as I preparing to go to bed.

My house is in the flight path from RWJ to Hub Stine Field, and I can hear them pass from southwest to southeast and then the descent at Hub Stine.

Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig and Capt. Steve Soltys were at the Planning Board last night (for a second time around) to answer questions preparatory to the Board's adding the Shot Spotter gun-detection proposal to the five-year capital improvements plan.

More later.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Gang shootout erupts over weekend

A shootout erupted at Elmwood Gardens early Sunday.

Gang warfare broke out again early Sunday morning in Plainfield, just days after a multi-agency task force made 40 arrests (see Courier story here), targeting gang members involved in violent crime.

Shots were fired from a vehicle at a group of a dozen or so people who were outside one of the West Second Street buildings of Elmwood Gardens. The vehicle returned some time later, once again shooting at those outside the building, but this time members of the group in front of the building returned the gunfire.

Police found shell casings at the site, but apparently no one was injured.

I also learned that gunshots were fired Sunday evening at Plainfield Avenue and West Front Street, just around the corner from the previous drive-by shootout.

Clearly, the multi-agency task force involving eight jurisdictions, including the FBI, State Police and Union County Prosecutor's office as well as the Plainfield Police Division, which worked for three days last week to identify and arrest the large number of suspects, had done a good job and made what appeared to be a dent in the violent crimes that have plagued the Queen City in recent months.

However, Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig may have overreached when he told the Courier's Mark Spivey, 'people who should be off the streets now are off the streets'.

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• Courier:  "Multi-agency sweep nets 40 arrests"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Gangs & Violence: A West Ender's view

Ran into a friend, an old-time Plainfielder, over the weekend. Like me, she lives in the West End.

Being of a certain age, she does not get her news from the Internet, relying instead on old-fashioned face-to-face encounters with neighbors and friends, supplemented by the Courier News.

Out to get her lottery tickets, she had not yet read the papers.

"What's goin' on," she asked.

"You know the Rev. Al is coming to town?" I said.

"Really," she replied, adding without dropping a beat, "Who's paying for that?"

"Don't know," says I, "he's part of the mayor's town hall meeting on gangs is all I know."

"Well, I hope he tells us something we don't already know," she said.

"It's too easy for these kids to have guns today," she continued, "and they have better guns than the cops."

"Yeah," I said, "a friend from Calvary Baptist Church was making the same point just the other day."

"You know, I was watching Dancing With The Stars one night recently and I heard a commotion outside," she said.

"Some kids had been out there, sitting on my car, when somebody drove by and shot at them. They didn't hit the kids, but one of the shots went through my front passenger window and the driver's seat headrest and the slug ended in the door panel right behind where my head would've been. I'd have been dead if I'd been getting out of the car," she said.

"Scary," was all I could muster.

"You know," she said, "I appreciate that the police are trying to do all they can, but you just can't arrest your way out of this business."

"These kids need jobs. Look at them out on the corner, trying to make some money. Would they be doing this if they could make a decent living? Maybe some, but it wouldn't be like it is now. I hope they do something about finding these kids something to do," she ended.

How could you not agree?

A check with the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Plainfield's unemployment rate for June 2010 is  estimated at 11.2% (see data here), and reports in the media are that the unemployment rate among Black youth (ages 16-24) is over 40% (see chart below).

Jobs needed indeed.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Could mayor's anti-violence campaign draw a lesson from Newark?

As Plainfield tries to come to terms with its gang problems, it could be useful to check in on what one Newark leader, Yusef Ismail, and his organization are doing to deal with gunplay and gangs among its youth.

Here is a press release on an event Ismail is hosting today --

STOP SHOOTIN' INC. LAUNCHES SUMMER YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM

NEWARK, N.J. -- (www.stopshootininc.org) – Stop Shootin’ Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to ending senseless gun violence in urban communities will launch its 2010 Summer Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) during a “Breakfast Kick-off” on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm at the Stop Shootin’ Inc. headquarters, 458 Washington Street, Newark. The YEP program will commence by welcoming the new class into the program by sharing inspiring stories of success from both local business owners and YEP staff.

The Stop Shootin’ Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP) is a community based summer program designed to provide young people with an opportunity to learn how to develop a business idea and possibly turn it into a successful business venture. The overall goal of the program is to inspire young people to view entrepreneurship as an option for success while helping them grow in personal development and become positive leaders in their communities.YEP will target in-school youth between the ages of 14-19 who live in underserved communities in Newark, NJ. During a six-week program, YEP will host up to 15 young people who will participate in the program and meet four times a week for 4 hours. The six-week teaching process will culminate in the participants’ creation of full business plans and delivery of 5-minute oral presentations to an executive judging panel during a one day business plan competition. Three cash prizes ($500, $300, $100) will be given to participants for the best business plans.

As a grassroots community organization focused on youth development, Stop Shootin’, Inc. recognized a need to provide the resources, tools, and positive experiences necessary to address the challenges faced by inner city youth. Stop Shootin’, Inc. Executive Director, Yusef Ismail states,

“Our program is not only a benefit to the participants, but to the community as a whole. I believe it is becoming crystal clear that the days of government and multi-national corporations providing jobs and taking care of our retirements are long gone. There is simply no better vehicle for job creation than fostering entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs create approximately three million jobs a year. As our community continues to work through this exceptionally trying recession, we can look back on our history and say with confidence that we will get through it - and when we do, entrepreneurs will be leading the charge.”

The Stop Shootin’ Youth Entrepreneurship Program was developed with the help of an innovation grant from the Prudential Foundation and a partnership with the Newark One Stop Career Center. For further information, please contact Yusef Ismail at 973-732-3280 or visit the Stop Shootin’ website at www.stopshootininc.org.

New, well-thought-out, consistent and long-range thinking is being brought to bear on a situation where public funding is no longer a viable expectation.

Might there be lessons for Plainfield here?

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Yet another Plainfield shooting Wednesday

Plainfield's gang wars evidently continue. I am told of yet another shooting, Wednesday night, in the 900-block of West 3rd Street. Victim known to police as a gang member. See more in Friday's Courier story here.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Shots fired on Arlington Avenue

Shortly after the homicide at Plainfield Avenue and West 4th Street on Wednesday evening, there were reports of shots fired on Arlington Avenue near Randolph Road.

Shell casings were reportedly found, but no victims. The area is known by police to have a set of the Crips gang, distinguished by the wearing of orange as opposed to the usual Crips blue.

It is not known if there is any connection with the homicide on Plainfield Avenue.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Shooting Wednesday night becomes homicide #3

The absence of shootings in Plainfield for almost two weeks was broken early Wednesday evening when a man was shot in the chest at Plainfield Avenue and West 4th Street.

I learned of the incident shortly after 9:00 PM, and saw that the intersection was still blocked by police vehicles shortly before 10:00 PM.

As of 10:20 PM the victim reportedly had died, making this the third homicide of 2010.

I am told the victim was known to police as a member of the Libside gang.

The question now is whether there will be attempts at retaliation.

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Relay for Life, yet another shooting Saturday night share more than one connection

Hundreds walked in hope against cancer at the overnight Relay For Life.

The overnight 'Relay for Life' event rallying people in the fight against cancer literally rubbed against another side of Plainfield on Saturday night when the victims of three violent events -- a shooting, a slashing, and a beating -- all drove themselves to the Muhlenberg Satellite ER for treatment about the time the cancer walk's huge candelaria display** in the bleachers at Hub Stine Field was scheduled to be lit. The ER is literally across the street from the site of the overnight event.

The shooting makes the fifth in about a week. Though I am told the shooting, the slashing and the beating all occurred in the area near Liberty and West 3rd Streets, it was not known last night if the incidents were related to each other or to the week's prior violence.

What I was able to find out is that the three who betook themselves to the Muhlenberg Satellite ER are all known to the police to be gang members.

It struck me that besides the physical proximity, the Relay For Life event and the three incidents share a connection that is important to keep in mind: violence.

For cancer indeed is a violent assault on the lives and bodies of those who have it, as well as on the lives of their families and loved ones.

Relay For Life represents a response to this violence in the form of a plan -- a well thought out attack on the violence that cancer wreaks on lives and relationships. It is highly focused on supporting those struggling with cancer, honoring and remembering those who have passed, and raising funds to support continuing medical research as well as such services as transportation for cancer patients.

Gang violence, on the other hand, simply represents violence.

There is no 'point' other than the violence itself.

My favorite radio interviewer, Terry Gross of WHYY in Philadephia, conducted an absolutely riveting interview the other day with Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest in Los Angeles who has spent twenty years working among that city's gangs (see story here, listen to interview here).

Boyle was riveting for several reasons, but two in particular stuck with me. First, he explained that he had given up on a strategy that he spent years working out -- getting gangs to make 'truces'.

When asked why by Terry, Boyle said he had concluded that gangs are not like countries at war, that they do not have long-term strategic goals, but only short-term and immediate interests -- resolved by violence -- and that working 'with' gangs only served to legitimize them.

He decided that the best way forward was to work with gang members who wanted to get out of the gang life. That insight led to the founding of his jobs program for ex-gangbangers, Homeboys, Inc.

The second insight that Boyle shared was the one which is his foundational motivation in the first place -- that gang life essentially does not offer HOPE to those caught in it.

And HOPE, Boyle believes, is at the heart of his ministry as a priest and the only way forward out of gang life.

And that is what came to me as I learned of the incidents last night, with the image of Relay For Life candelaria spelling H-O-P-E in my mind's eye.

What Plainfield's gang members are waiting for is someone who devotes his or her life to valuing their existence and offering them HOPE.

Boyle observed that cops on the street (and some enlightened police higher ups) are well aware that gangs can never be 'busted' out of existence.

So, something else must be tried.

There are some I know in Plainfield who have been concerned over the years about how to address this issue.

But it seems we are still waiting for the person (or persons) who will devote their life to offering HOPE.

Whether in fighting cancer or gangs, it is HOPE that we need.


**The photo illustrating this post is from a prior year's event (taken with a 'real' camera, not my cellphone); this year's candelaria spelled out C-U-R-E, as a sharp-eyed reader pointed out.

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• Plainfield Today, 5/17/2010: "3 shot over weekend, pedestrian struck, plus unremarked bias incident"
  
• Courier, 5/21/2010: "Plainfield police investigating city's fourth shooting in five days"
• Fresh Air: "Priest fights gangs with 'boundless compassion'" -- Listen here (MP3).
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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NJ Newsroom caught by Dan in an ethical lapse?

NJ Newsroom is a highly-respected online news source.

When NJ Newsroom posted an item yesterday on the recent outbreak of gang violence in Plainfield, it caught my eye while preparing the daily CLIPS blog (see here).

The highly-respected website devoted to New Jersey news -- featuring some of the state's best journalists as well as wide-ranging OpEd opinions -- has not previously, to my memory, ever done a story on Plainfield, nor can I recall a story of such 'street-corner' detail.

It is far more likely you would find a carefully thought out piece on an initiative by the governor or the Legislature, with its implications statewide carefully laid out.

But a run-of-the-mill gang story (after all, Plainfield is hardly the only town with gang issues)? Most unusual.

Scanning the story before putting the link up on the CLIPS blog, it did not seem to add anything to previous coverage in the Courier (see here) -- in fact, it had an identical quote from Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig as reported by Mark Spivey in his original Courier story --

From the Courier: "They don't seem to care," Hellwig said of the gangs' attitudes toward the increased presence of law enforcement. "We've been trying to keep the peace down there, because there's certainly been some things brewing." (see story here)

and from NJ Newsroom --

"They don't seem to care," said city Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig. "We've been trying to keep the peace down there, because there's certainly been some things brewing." (story archived here)

It is not unusual for different media outlets to cover the same story (in fact the Ledger covered this one also -- see here), however competing media take great pains to strive for a slightly different perspective, or additional telling details, and there certainly wouldn't be word-for-word identical quotes unless all the reporters had been in a press conference or group interview.

What caught my eye about the NJ Newsroom piece was that it DID NOT have any additional information or distinctive angle. So, I decided to quickly reference the Courier article alongside it and move on, leaving this entry --

Gangs: "Bystanders caught in middle of Plainfield gang feud" -- Story makes NJ Newsroom website; contrast with original Courier article here.

When I got back to my computer yesterday evening, I had been tipped that the story was taken down. The page I had left open all day without refreshing displayed the story as originally posted.

Screenshot of NJ Newsroom's original posting of the story.

This allowed me to capture the original text as posted on the NJ Newsroom site, which I have archived here.

Upon refreshing the original page, I got this error message --

Screenshot of error message when reloading original page.

Now, I have a high regard for the NJ Newsroom folks and dropped them an email early this morning suggesting they create a 'corner' on their website where they could post corrections or clarifications for the reasons stories are either modified or taken down altogether. I hope they take my suggestion seriously.

Here is the text of my email --

Good morning,

NJ Newsroom ran a story yesterday AM on recent gang activity in Plainfield.

I aggregate links to news stories of interest to Plainfield readers on my blog CLIPS, and posted a link to the story in my usual fashion.

As I scanned the item preparatory to putting up a link, it seemed very similar to my recollection of the Courier News item "Three injured in Plainfield shootings as gang feud escalates" of 5/17/2010, and I put a link to their story alongside the one to yours. (The story was actually broken on my local news blog, Plainfield Today, early Monday AM as part of a roundup of police news -- "3 shot over weekend, pedestrian struck, plus unremarked bias incident")

I was told by someone yesterday afternoon that your story had been taken down, and that Plainfield police director Martin Hellwig had confirmed that no one from NJ Newsroom had contacted him about the story, though there was a direct quote in your piece.

As a news junkie (and retired public information officer for the City of Plainfield), I have had the highest regard for NJ Newsroom since its inception and admire both the news stories and the wide variety of opinions expressed on issues of concern to New Jerseyans.

This experience, however, has left me feeling uneasy. In print media, there might be a correction or a small notice about what had gone awry. Scanning your site, I don't find somewhere that a reader could turn for clarifications or corrections or admissions that a mistake or ethical lapse had been made.

I hope you will consider a little 'corner' for such, so that your deservedly good reputation will remain of the highest order.

Sincerely,
Dan Damon

Meanwhile, a Google search for a text string from the NJ Newsroom story shows that it is still online in its original form on at least two other websites as of the time of this writing: Hoboken City Guide (see here) and The Black Urban Times (see here).

We'll see what happens.

---

• Plainfield Stuff: "Gangs | Bystanders caught in middle of Plainfield gang feud | NJ Newsroom"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield Gangstas: Dyslexic or Illiterate?

This graffito was spotted in the alleyway alongside 132 East Front.

Two graffiti seen around Plainfield raise the question of whether our local gangstas are dyslexic or illiterate.

To this day, my 'baby' brother (now in his sixties) spells 'girl' as G-R-I-L -- one of the signs of dyslexia -- as he has done since we were kids.

On the other hand, our local gangstas may just be illiterate.

What's your thought?

This graffito is in the vacant city-owned lot
on East Front Street, across from Hugo's.

---

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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