Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss introduced the Township’s Summer Crime Plan at Irvington Town Hall. The presentation was made to an overflow audience. The Mayor was accompanied by several partners to the plan, including: Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo; Essex County Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray; Essex County Chief of Investigators Anthony Ambrose, III; Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontura; Irvington’s Acting Police Director Musa Malik; Irvington’s Senior Officer in Command Captain Dwayne Mitchell; and, Joseph Santiago, consultant to the Irvington Police Department. All of the speakers committed the resources and programs of their offices to work with the Mayor to make Irvington safer. They also commended him on having a plan in place at the beginning of warm weather months when many places experience an increase in crime.
“This plan is based on our partnerships with the County and the involvement of the community,“ said Mayor Vauss. “I speak as the mayor as well as a resident of Irvington. Our strategies and targeted programs are an important part of our plan but the involvement of the residents and businesses is necessary for any of this to work.”
Some of the components of the Plan include the existing placement of police officers at Housing Authority properties as well as the schools. Detective/Captain Lester Wilson will oversee the operations of the 2015 Summer Plan. There are several units that have been developed and deployed for the summer challenges. They include, with their corresponding directors: the Threat/Shoot Team – Detective/Lieutenant Elijah James; Criminal Investigations/Detective Division/ NITRO – Detective/Lieutenant Frank Piwowarczyk; Detective Division – Detective/Sergeant Quaasim Austin Turner; NITRO – Detective/Sergeant Anna Perez; Special Task Force SAFE Operations – Detective/Sergeant Taj Jackson; and Communications Section – Lieutenant Raymond Hoffman.
Mayor Vauss also announced that the Housing Department’s Code Enforcement Inspectors, under the direction of Housing Director Ted Green, will be focusing on code enforcement violations. Along with the Civilian Service Officers, the Housing Inspectors will make sure that quality of life violations are noted and penalized. Traffic violations will also be a focus of the plan.
“Criminals and violators are put on notice that if they plan on doing anything wrong, Irvington is not the place for them. We will not tolerate it,” said Mayor Vauss. “To my fellow residents and business owners and operators, I say: ‘If you see something, say something.’ It is only together that we can make Irvington safer.”
For additional information, please contact Police Director Musa Malik, at 862-400-1117.