Ex-cops turned into snitches?

Two Union County cops recently convicted of official misconduct in a fraud scheme may be forced to snitch on other members of their ring.

Roselle Boro police officer John A. Smith was sentenced this past Friday to a year's probation, a $5,000 fine and being permanently barred from public employment for his role in the auto insurance fraud scheme.

He joins his friend, former Plainfield police officer Samad Abdel, who received an identical sentence a month ago. The two are part of a ring that has defrauded State Farm Insurance and at least four other companies of millions of dollars in false claims.

State Farm filed a civil lawsuit in 2004, that paints the ring as --

a vast conspiracy that included 38 members who were strategically located in police departments, insurance agencies and auto body shops, making it "virtually undetectable."

With both officers now sentenced -- leniently, as some point out -- the question becomes, will they be snitching on the others in the ring?

That will be interesting to see.

Oh, and the name of the body shop the frauds were run through?

Creative Auto Body.

Worthy of Tony Soprano.

---

Archived stories--

• Courier (Abdel) - 05/26/2007: "Swindling city cop to pay $5K fine"
• Ledger (Smith) - 06/23/2007: "Officer loses his badge for role in insurance bilk"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Ka-ching! Homestead rebate applications on the way

Union County residents should find their homestead rebate applications in their mailboxes tomorrow (Wednesday), according to a story in today's Ledger.

Senior and disabled applications were mailed in May.

$2 billion has been set aside for tax relief, and the average property owner should see a $1,000 rebate, according to State Treasurer Brad Abelow.

Won't come in time for your shore rental, though. Betcha.

---

More --

• Today's Ledger: "Non-seniors' tax rebate papers going out"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Cost of living in Jersey: The Red Queen Effect

It's called 'the Red Queen effect' because 'it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place' -- as the Red Queen observed to Alice in Through the Looking-Glass.

As if you didn't know it already, the just released Monmouth U/NJ Monthly poll, finds that costs are rising faster than incomes can accommodate in New Jersey --

"The poll found 72 percent of New Jersey households earning below $50,000 a year and 64 percent of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 said their incomes cannot keep pace with the cost of living. So did 44 percent of those earning more than $100,000.

Most households earning more than $100,000 require a second income to reach that level, the survey found."

"The large number of upper income families in the Garden State who feel they can't make ends meet is something you just don't see in the country as a whole," said Patrick Murray, Monmouth U. poll director.

As if you didn't know, already. Read more on the Ledger blog.

---

More --

• The Ledger 'breaking news' blog: "Poll: NJ cost of living rising beyond incomes"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Poor publicity effort endangers development forum

Before we even get to development issues, we have to contend with the p***-poor publicity effort for Mayor Robinson-Briggs' forum, scheduled for tomorrow evening.

What on earth is going on with her public relations operation, if you can even call it that?

Grapevine has it that what was gotten out to the media was just a flyer, no press release. And at the last minute, yet.

Let's review.

At a Council meeting in May, after angry business owners had stormed the gates, City Administrator Marc Dashield allowed as how Mayor Robinson-Briggs would have a meeting on development "in June" -- no date specified.

The first I learned of the final date was at the Planning Board meeting last Thursday, June 21. Planning Board members were hoping they were being included in the process.

The tiniest notice appeared in the Courier online 'breaking news' section Sunday evening, but not in the print edition or Monday's online edition. Didn't even hit the dartboard!

Monday morning, the Chamber of Commerce sent around a flyer done up by a member giving the bare essentials. 'A' for effort (but a 'D' for sending it in Word, causing all readers to pause and fire up that old Microsoft dinosaur to read something that could very well have been put in the body of an email message).

Also yesterday, I posted on the forum and the Administration's general approach to development: "Planning & Development: A Tale of Two Cities"

Today, the Ledger had a brief on page 33 -- not online -- for the event. You have to give them credit for pitching in, too.

Also today, Bernice gives notice and a nice overview. Maria opines the forum should be rescheduled. Add to all that this piece and you get the general picture -- everyone but the Administration does the heavy lifting for publicizing this forum.

That's aside from the question of whether it will be all talk-down from the Mayor or a real give-and-take with business owners and residents. We'll have to see.

But I'll bet we'll be able to count on eats, hugs, and plenty of publicity pix of the Mayor doing her thing.

I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to try and figure out what product are we getting for the $200,000 or so being spent on 'communications professionals'.

---

Publicity for this forum --

• Listed in CLIPS' 'Happenings' section continuously from 6/23.
• Plain Talker (6/26): "Mayor's Forum on Redevelopment"
  
• Plainfield Today (6/25): "Planning & Development: A Tale of Two Cities"
• Crescent Times (6/24): "Development/Redevelopment Forum"
• Crescent Times (6/22): "Planning the City"
• Courier (Breaking, 6/25): "Economic development forum Wednesday"
• Ledger (6/26): Print edition only, not online.

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Ledger's Moran tags Whitman a 'wimp'

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman
at a Real Estate Roundtable award event

Christie Whitman was on the hot seat yesterday over her handling of the message on air quality in lower Manhattan in the days and weeks following 9/11.

But Tom Moran lodged the most serious complaint of all -- that Whitman was a wimp for not protesting White House happy-face rewrites of her agency's press releases.

I knew Christie Whitman as governor. She visited Plainfield several times (Corzine has not), to promote her urban programs or announce grants to the City. She has always seemed a decent and competent person to me, but she bit off more than she could chew taking on the EPA assignment.

It became clear after the White House pulled the rug out from under her on a couple of occasions that she was just window-dressing for an Administration with other things on its mind, other priorities.

So, Rove et al rewrote her press releases.

Another instance of White House criminality?

What do you think?

---

Check it out --

• Ledger story: "Whitman: Bristling on the hot seat"
• Tom Moran in the Ledger: "Unavoidable bad day for a wimp"
• NY Times story: "Ex-E.P.A. Chief Defends Role in 9/11 Response"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Secretly flawed Chinese tires on your vehicle?

Tire separation allegedly caused fatal crash

To the list of deadly Chinese imports you can now add tires.

A small Union Twp. (Union County) importer, Foreign Tire Sales Inc., may go out of business as a result of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration order to recall and replace 450,000 tires its Chinese supplier secretly manufactured without safeguards that prevent tread separation. If they do, thousands of customers will be left to their own devices to replace the potentially deadly tire sets. The tires were sold under the brand names Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS.

Associated Press and New York Times stories today detail that suspicions about the tire defects go back to October 2005, and that the manufacturer confirmed to the supplier in October 2006 it had secretly omitted the safeguard.

Yet the importer did not notify the NHTS until June of this year. The agency says it will not assist in the recall.

This is the same sort of issue that caused Firestone to recall and replace 6.5 million tires in 2000, after 271 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The damage to the Firestone brand was so extensive that it was retired and replaced with the Bridgestone label.

So now we have to add faulty radial tires to the list that contains contaminated animal feed, lead paint on toys and poisoned toothpaste.

So goes the globalization of the product chain.

---

Background --

• Today's ChinaCSR/AP: "American Lawsuit Causes Huge Chinese Tire Recall"
• Today's NY Times story: "Chinese Tires Are Ordered Recalled"
• Consumer Affairs: "Chinese Tires Blamed for Fatal Van Accident"
• Company Profile: "Foreign Tire Sales, Inc."

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Bolden relents on gay kiss but still stumbles

Kiss that caused an uproar

Newark schools superintendent Marion Bolden offered a written apology to East Side High School's Andre Jackson for blacking out the picture of his smooch with his boyfriend in the school yearbook, according to today's Ledger and New York Times.

Did she meet with him privately?

No.

But her spokeswoman went public with the assertion a tentative meeting had been set up. Jackson said he had not heard of a meeting.

Why wouldn't she meet with him first and issue the apology later?

This parallels some of the confusion that went on when Plainfield's former superintendent Paula Howard tendered her resignation. Reports were made that a meeting was set up between Howard, Board members and the County Superintendent.

Turns out the Board members were not notified, and the announcement of the meeting reflected haste and confusion -- if not disingenuousness -- by the organizers.

Moral of the story: Don't say something is going to happen if all the parties have not been asked or agreed to participate.

Bolden's reputation takes a double hit in my humble opinion: for blacking out the picture in the first place without reviewing the whole yearbook, and for flubbed crisis management.

Star-Ledger: "Newark relents on covered-up yearbook photo"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Why no female security for Mayor Robinson-Briggs?

Some cops campaigned for the Mayor; some in
this picture were assigned to her security detail

Though I have yet to meet a single person who thinks Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' security detail is really needed -- after all, for what reason would someone want to harm her? -- a thoughtful observer raised an interesting question recently: Why are there no women police officers assigned to her security detail?

Why indeed?

Unreconstructed sexist pig that I am, it never dawned on me that all anyone had to do who wanted to do Her Honor harm was to hide in the Ladies' Room and wait for their chance.

After all, her male bodyguards don't go in with her when there is a need for a mayoral tinkle, do they?

Thinking to do a little research, I asked a female cop over the weekend what she would think if she were offered the detail.

"Is there any overtime?" was her only question. An interesting question, indeed. Bears further looking into.

Meanwhile, someone should look into fixing this gender oversight at once!

After all, this is NOT a boondoggle, it's serious business!

Right?

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Planning & Development: A Tale of Two Cities

Today's Courier carried an interesting story on how North Plainfield's leadership is planning to involve residents in the process.

I immediately thought of those 'compare-and-contrast' questions we all so hated in high school. Except this time, it is a truly enlightening exercise -- comparing the approaches of Plainfield and North Plainfield.

Like twins joined at the hip, the two communities share a boundary -- the Green Brook -- and function pretty much as an economic entity, far as I can tell.

But the way the two towns are approaching their futures strikes me as markedly different.

In the Courier piece, North Plainfield officials --

• Paint an overview of what's going on;
• Solicit public participation -- and 'court new people';
• Involve the business community.

By contrast, in Plainfield --

• Who knows there is a development forum scheduled for Wednesday evening unless they read the blogs?
• The working style is top-down and command-oriented; public participation is not really sought out;
• The business community? One reason for Wednesday's meeting is that the light manufacturing businesses -- an important element -- were left out completely in the Mayor's transit-obsessed development plans.

Will Wednesday's meeting truly be a forum where business people -- especially those who showed up at last month's Council meeting -- will get a chance to air their concerns and get some straight answers to their questions?

Or will it be another highly-scripted, Rove-ish production number, all meringue and no substance?

You might want to check it out.

---

Community Forum on Economic Development/Redevelopment

Wednesday, June 27
7 PM

Hosted by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs

Washington Community School
427 Darrow Avenue
Parking in Spooner Avenue lot and on street

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

'Leadie Eddie' - Saving kids from lead poisoning

Paul Flynn was obsessed with making sure kids avoided lead poisoning.

You may think this is just a problem of urban neighborhoods, but you would be wrong. When I was active in selling residential real estate back in the 1980s, we were trained to caution any seller who lived in a home built before 1970 that the chances were very good that there was lead-based paint somewhere in -- or ON -- the house.

1950s ad for lead-based paint

One day a private investigator came into the Burgdorff real estate office in Fanwood, where I was an agent, with an aerial photo of a residential neighborhood where the National Lead Company (Dutch Boy Paints) had advertised in the 1950s that all the homes' exteriors were painted with lead paints of their manufacture.

After checking some other maps, we concluded the neighborhood in question was most likely at the southern edge of Westfield, snuggled up against the railroad tracks that separate it from Clark. I never heard any more of that particular investigation, but it was a lesson permanently etched in my mind: Lead paint, at one time, was nearly ubiquitous.

Not only exteriors, but baseboards, windows, cabinets or doors painted white (lead was the most common ingredient in white paint at the time), were immediately suspect. But we were also warned that lead paints were also custom-tinted, so almost any color could actually be lead-based.

The danger, of course, is that small children can ingest chips of flaking paint. But adults can also be affected, especially if restoring an old home by using a heat plate to soften layers of old paint on woodwork to make it easy to remove.

Flynn developed an educational outreach program -- with Leadie Eddie as its distinctive mascot -- to teach youngsters the dangers of lead paint. What better way to do effective public health outreach than to educate and motivate the very audience most likely to suffer the ill effects of lead poisoning?

Paul Flynn with 'Leadie Eddie'

Sadly, Paul Flynn passed away -- too soon! -- a week ago at age 39 from congestive heart failure.

A very sad loss.

But we have as a legacy the movement he built -- just check out the range of resources at the end of this post.

Paul Flynn might have appreciated the motto of Antioch College,

"Be ashamed to die until you win some victory for humanity."

Paul Flynn could die proudly, having won many small victories for kids.

A life we could profitably ponder.

---

Resources --

• Bob Braun: "Paul Flynn: An irrepressible spirit who gave Newark his all"
• Plainfield Today (5/23): "Loss of lead poisoning grant would affect kids"
• Leadie Eddie Website: "Leadie Eddie"
• ClearCorps: "CLEARCorps/New Jersey" -- Dedicated to lead poisoning education.
• Gateway Maternal & Child Health Consortium: "Leadie Eddie Coloring Book"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Solar beach tote charges your phone, iPod and more

Solar-powered beach tote

It had to happen! The perfect confluence of ecofriendly beach gear and gadget accessibility.

This heavy duty cotton canvas tote from Reware comes with a FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANEL and universal connector so you can charge your gadget while basking at the beach.

No more worries that your cellphone or iPod will die at the beach, leaving you trudging back to the parking lot to plug into the car's cigarette lighter for a recharge.

The flexible panel is detachable, so you can wash the tote or use the panel in another location.

Cool idea! Check it out!

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Gay Yearbook Smooch - Bolden's Bad Call

A smooch is a just a smooch, no?

Marion Bolden, Newark schools superintendent, stepped in it big time when she decided to have all copies of a gay student's smooch with his boyfriend blacked out of the East Side HS yearbook. The Ledger broke the story online Friday night and it appeared in Saturday's print and online editions.

Reaction was instantaneous and predictable -- even Steven Goldstein felt called upon to comment! And the Ledger blog where the story broke (which accepts comments posts) got several thoughtful entries (see the blog here, and I have archived them here -- in case they get taken down).

As Bolden says she saw it, the photo was 'suggestive,' 'provocative,' and 'fairly illicit'.

Problem is, she apparently only looked at the page in question, and not the other pages of straight couples kissing -- and, evidently, in even MORE provocative positions.

Looking at the pic myself, all I see is a smooch. The rest must be in the eye of other beholders.

Seems another problem for Bolden is that there are no written guidelines for these personal pages -- for which the students pay $150 apiece to have their own photo and text selections included in the yearbook.

Can you say lawsuit?

Andre Jackson says he was embarrassed and humiliated. I think reasonable people will agree.

His pain should be assuaged.

And I'm sure it will be.

---

Where it's at --

• Ledger (Friday, breaking story): "Gay pair's photo blacked out of yearbook"
• Ledger (Comments): COMMENTS (8) as of 9:23 PM, Sunday 6/24
• Ledger (Saturday): "A picture of teen love Newark couldn't face"
• Ledger (Sunday): "Obscuring yearbook photo is illegal, gay advocate says"
• NY Times (Sunday): "School officials black out photo of gay student's kiss"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

PoliticsNJ's 'Power 100' - Giving Charlotte her due

Charlotte DeFilippo
Union County Democratic Chair

PoliticsNJ released its 'Power List 100' a few days ago and it makes fascinating browsing. The site's avowed intent is to put together an 'insider's list' -- that is, the people who may be out of the limelight but who have influence --

"We looked at policy makers, party leaders, fundraisers, lobbyists, labor unions, businesses, and associations and have assembled the ultimate list of New Jerseyans with clout, with an impact on politics and government in the Garden State. We selected names based on a fairly unscientific curve: we allocated spaces on this list for a dozen different categories within the New Jersey political community -- so #11 on the list of important fundraisers or donors doesn't make the list, but the most influential congressional staffer does."

The top ten got pictures.

But number 11, Union County's own Charlotte DeFilippo, didn't rate a headshot. Plainfield Today offers to correct the omission.

Here's the entry, with a photo of DeFilippo.

---

Charlotte DeFilippo

11 CHARLOTTE DEFILIPPO Union County Democratic Chair

Because of her close alliance with powerful State Senator Raymond Lesniak, the Union Democratic chair is one of the most powerful party leaders in the state. And her team has not lost a general election since 1995.

---

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Lightning strike misses reader -- just

Lightning blew away part of tree from top to bottom

It sounded like an explosion, and nearly jolted reader Ted Turner out of his chair. 'It' was a direct lightning strike on a 70-foot oak tree in his neighbor's front yard on Thursday evening.

That would be the same night the Plainfield High School graduation ceremony got rained out.

The night I sat with other visitors at the Planning Board meeting in City Hall and watched the storm move down from the Watchung Hills and sweep southward across the city.

The force of this particular strike blew a strip of the tree from the tip to the ground clean away, scattering chunks of tree and bark across the lawn. Some pieces weighed maybe 60 or 70 pounds, and would surely have been fatal if they had struck anyone.

Reader Ted Turner left a voicemail-- "You gotta get over here right away and see this!"

Looking up the trunk of the damaged tree

Yours truly with the damaged tree

So, what DO you do when lightning roars?

First, as Gerri Hirshey says in today's New York Times, you disregard the folk wisdom.

You also check out NOAA's Lightning Portal, and the National Weather Service's Lightning Safety page, where you learn today is the beginning of Lightning Safety Week.

Just in time.

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Ledger Litter - you can get it stopped!

Not everyone is thrilled by those Ledger baggies tossed in the general direction of the driveway every week, as you may know.

But who knew you could do anything about it?

Well, it seems Maplewood is trying to -- and more power to them.

Last night's Eyewitness news carried an item in their '7 on your side' feature on the township's efforts to come to some accommodation with the Star-Ledger about those ubiquitous plastic-bagged ad sheets which arrive, unsolicited, on a regular basis.

A house on the market in my neighborhood is vacant. If I don't pick them up every week, it's like a billboard saying 'Look! Over here! An empty house!'

Supposedly, the Ledger is changing the info on the bag, to more clearly advise how to stop delivery of the circulars if you are not interested in receiving them.

For now, try (888) 782-7533, the number on the bag photographed in my driveway recently.

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Crescent Neighborhood Yard Sale

Adblock

The Crescent Area Neighborhood Yard Sale is today and tomorrow.

• Saturday. June 23. 9 AM - 5 PM. Crescent Avenue Neighborhood Yard Sale. Starts at East 9th Street and Park Avenue. You never have enough stuff, and besides it's for a worthy cause! Van Wyck Brooks HD will also have a table.
  
  
• Sunday. June 23. 10 AM - 4 PM. Crescent Avenue Neighborhood Yard Sale. Starts at East 9th Street and Park Avenue. You never have enough stuff, and besides it's for a worthy cause! Van Wyck Brooks HD will also have a table.

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Cab cam catches assault, helps solve theft

Cab cam catches assault, helps solve theft

PLAINFIELD: Using images taken from a recently-installed video surveillance camera, police have identified five people involved in a confrontation with a city taxicab driver and the subsequent theft of his vehicle.

Detectives were still searching for three men in their 20s, who allegedly took part in the June 14 incident that happened at 5:30 a.m. on the 1400 block of East Second Street, said Police Chief Edward Santiago.

The car's video camera captures one of the men punching the driver in the back of the head. A complaint has been issued against him, although he had not been arrested as of yesterday afternoon. The driver was note seriously injured in the theft, police said, and the car was found about three hours later on the 600 block of East Front Street.

The victim, in his 40s, works for Plainfield Yellow Taxi.

Police have spoken with the two women, one 16 and the other 18, but have not charged them, Santiago said.

In recent months, United, Caribe and Yellow cab companies have installed small video cameras in all their vehicles to protect drivers after a few were assaulted.

The Association of Owners and Chauffeurs of Plainfield, along with the Latin American Coalition, have scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. today at 171 North Avenue to discuss the issue.

Published in the Star-Ledger, Friday, June 22, 2007

This story appeared in the print edition only; there is no link to an online story.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Needle exchange programs start without Plainfield

The needle exchange program long sought by urban communities which bear the brunt of HIV and AIDS cases is finally getting under way -- at least in some of the communities designated for the pilot program.

Newark, Paterson, Atlantic City and Camden have all passed the required enabling ordinance and their proposed projects are being reviewed for final approval by the state.

The lifesaving program will begin without two other formerly expected participants -- Trenton and Plainfield.

Trenton officials withdrew the city's application earlier this week.

Mayor Doug Palmer is quoted by the Times of Trenton as saying

"This is an issue that I really want to see how it's managed in other cities," Palmer said yesterday. "I want to see how other cities are faring, what were some of the obstacles and use that information to have a better program."

At least Palmer is willing to go on the record.

In Plainfield, the situation is utterly different.

Not only did Plainfield's representative fail to show at the mandatory 'bidder's conference' in Trenton in May, to which the City was preregistered, but Mayor Robinson-Briggs has not made any public comment on why she is not supporting Plainfield's participation.

With about 500 residents with HIV or full-blown AIDS according to the US Census, Plainfield ranks among the top ten communities in New Jersey for infections.

There has been no public evidence that either the community or the Council would oppose the introduction of this lifesaving program, so the Mayor's silence on the topic is mystifying to those who work in the health care and social services field.

"When politics trumps science, people die."

--Robert Sharpe, policy analyst,
Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC

---

More --

• Plainfield: "Robinson-Briggs sidesteps needle exchange program"
• Newark: "Newark poised to pass needle exchange ordinance"
• Paterson: "Paterson approves needle exchange program" and Record editorial in support.
• Overview: "N.J. needle exchange program to begin"
• Trenton: "Trenton rejects needle program, pulls application as questions linger"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Jersey Justice - Naked cop gets job back

In a display of Jersey justice, Edison's 'naked cop' is well on the way to getting his job back.

Ioannis Mpletsakis, the Edison Township police officer who crashed his car into the rear of a truck in July 2005 while driving naked, initially fled the scene, getting a lift home to put on clothes and then being brought back by a fellow cop. A passenger in the truck was injured.

Mpletsakis was suspended in September 2005, and subsequently tried in the Dunellen Municipal Court. Though tried on charge of conduct unbecoming a police officer, assault by auto and leaving the scene of an accident , Judge John Leonard found him guilty of the disorderly persons offence of hindering his own arrest, for which he was fined $655.

The Edison police department subsequently terminated Mpletsakis in July of 20006.

Superior Court Judge Melvin Gelade ruled this week that this punishment was too harsh, modifying the decision to 30 days suspension without pay. The ruling did not touch on whether Mpletsakis would be due any back pay on his $72,000 annual salary.

Edison officials said they do not plan to appeal the decision.

Mpletsakis' explanation for why he was driving naked in the first place, why and how he got home and back to the scene, and the question of whether the Edison police properly checked for the role of alcohol in the incident have left many people wondering about the matter even though the courts seem to be officially through with it.

The Home News' bulletin boards have heavy responses to the story (see below) and one cop bulletin board also had choice comments on Mpletsakis' behavior and the case in general.

Meanwhile, if you think the Internet will turn up a pic of Mpletsakis, in the buff or not, you'll be quite disappointed.

---

In the news and on the bulletin boards --

• Home News Tribune: "Naked ex-cop may be rehired"
• From the Home News comments board: "Comments on naked cop story"
  
• Star-Ledger: "Cop who ran naked from crash reinstated"
• Edison Sentinel (July 19, 2006): "Judge orders naked cop removed from his job"
• All About Edison (July 17, 2006): "Naked cop guilty for story after crash"
  
• From the NJ Lawman forum: "Comments: Edison cop can return to force"
  

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

State Police host Latino recruitment seminar

To increase diversity within the NJ State Police, the organization is teaming up with the New Jersey Latino Peace Officer's Association to offer a recruitment seminar on Tuesday, June 26.

Latino men and women ages 21 to 34, who meet the newly reformed minimum requirements, are encouraged to attend.

"We are working tirelessly to increase Latino representation within the State Police and throughout law enforcement agencies in New Jersey," says Hector Ramos, president of the New Jersey chapter. "It is our goal to make the New Jersey law enforcement community representative of the communities we serve."

The seminar will cover the following topics --

• Hiring process
• Medical exam
• Psychological evaluation
• Written examination
• Physical fitness requirements
• Background investigations

As lunch will be served, prospective attendees are asked to RSVP by email to Antonio Hernandez, contact person for the event.

---

Latino Career Day at the New Jersey State Police
NJ State Police Museum
West Trenton
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
10:00 AM

Directions to the site:
NJ State Police Museum


The NJ Latino Peace Officers Association

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/