It is being live streamed. It sounds >> we are now. Yep. >> We are good to go. Welcome everybody. Good evening. Um okay. Um so I could bring let me see if I can
share my screen and bring up our agenda. We'll start with the uh Maplewood Police Department uniform crime report statistics. Chief, I uh took this first part of the agenda directly from your report. So, you can walk us through uh
for those who don't know, this is the first time that we can see a yearover-year comparison between all of 2005 compared to all of 2004. So, we, you know, we're now catching up with the data here. And it does show a decrease
um from December 2024 to December 2025 and from the year 2024 to 2025. But I'm going to let the chief do the talking on that. >> We're we're not seeing what you want to share. >> Uh because I haven't brought it up yet.
So I am bringing it up um right now. All right. Can you see this? >> We can see it. Deputy Mayor, I just want to acknowledge we do have from the community board on police with us, Diana Cameron.
>> Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you for being here. Okay. All right. Chief, take it away. >> All right. So, um, I'll just read the first paragraph. Overview. During the month of December 2025, the township of
Maplewood showed a decrease of 45.95% in major crime compared to December 2024. Overall major crimes year-to- date in 2025 are 35.25% lower compared to 2024.
Shoplifting, package thefts, and unlocked vehicles rumaging remain an issue within the township. >> Scrolling down to show the charts as you keep um sharing with us. >> Okay. Yeah, even that we um show so um
shoplifting and thefts um are are always an issue, but we've have seen a decrease as you can see there. Um thefts down um over 33%. Um if you but I'm going to go back to
the robberies. So you see the robberies, you see an increase by one. Um we had uh seven robberies in 2025. Most of those were in the beginning of the year and they were uh mostly u
juvenile related and related around the high school. Um we haven't had a robbery since November and that one was um the two people known each other so it was um a known incident. So um really to me
that's um you know we're kind of down on robberies still. We haven't, you know, knock on wood, haven't had um a robbery in some time. Um burglaries, as you can see, um decrease
over 47%. Um you know, 22 burglaries last year. In uh the last eight burglaries we've had, six of them are cleared with arrests.
So, we have arrests. Um we just cleared two burglaries from 2024 with arrest. The um January we've had uh three burglaries, but that was before the
arrest we made. So um we feel and and those we have um possible suspects in those cases and we should see arrests uh coming for those. So um big decrease in burglaries, a lot of arrests and
burglaries and um you know the patrolman and detective bureau is doing a good job with that. Again working with other agencies using technology to uh make these arrests. So, with the burglaries, I'm looking at
the numbers and from 2022 to 2025, going from 29, 31, 42 down to 22, that's definitely a decrease. During the month of December, 8 is kind of a a bit higher than previous December. And you know, I
just um am focusing on burglary because it's something that our residents, you know, we talked last month about the residents who reached out to us and it, you know, it it continues to be a concern. Um the arrests are are are
wonderful. Um you know, and and the numbers going down overall are really wonderful. just it continues to be, you know, it's it's scary as a resident, right? When you know somebody's coming into your home, >> right? Right. And um out of the eight,
six are clear. One of them was a uh was a business. So uh we have one at uh one at large that I think we might be able to make arrest that too. So it might be 100% of those eight
um or or seven of them will be cleared. So um >> yeah and and with with those arrests it it uh it definitely slowed it down the amount of burglaries we are receiving. >> That's good news. That is very good news. And flipping it over to theft, if
you look at the numbers in the parentheses, those are the numbers for December of those corresponding years. And going from thefts in the 20s down to nine. That's that's that's really good good to see. >> Yes.
And even with those, we made um those are harder to uh make arrests a lot of times because it's, you know, stealing somebody's cell phone or something to that effect. But um we had one in particular where um suspects took a license plate from another vehicle and
our officers were able to make that stop and make that arrest right on scene there. So >> any others that you want to highlight? Um th uh those are the ones the burglaries that theft um auto theft has
been you know decreasing every year uh statewide. >> Yeah, I see that. >> Um and which causing all our our incidents to go down. >> Does anyone on the committee have questions? So I'm going scroll back up here to the
top of the agenda. there were certain things that um that chief that you listed on the uh report >> that that the department is doing and I wonder if you could go through these you know and sort of explain for for residents and for us you know some of
these um actions that you're taking. >> Yeah. So, uh, number one, we, um, we do a, uh, police plotter once a week and we highlight all the crimes that happened during that week. And in that, we, um, we let the citizens know that we do home
surveys that, um, if you, um, even if you're not a victim of a crime, we have free home surveys where you can uh, contact us by phone or you can go to our website and sign up and we'll, you make an appointment. will come out and do a
free home survey to um make your house more safe. So, um that's we get the word out that way. Uh township neighborhood association meetings. Um we we will respond if we're invited. We'll come out and uh speak to the associations.
Um number three is more on the technology part. We we use license plate readers from other agencies. um uh evidence we gather from the scene we use and we get in contact with the Essen County Prosecutor's Office um
crime scene unit which is able to get us a lot of information that we receive. Uh the Maplewood Detective Bureau uh has developed relationships with other agencies. We have worked with the state police, of course, um our municipal partners and also the um the
prosecutor's office who has um who has approved a lot of our u arrest warrants. They approve our arrest warrants once we have enough um identification and evidence to make that arrest. um sally
details. We were doing that um in 2024 more so when we were having a lot of um uh incidents of burglaries where we would have uh marked units in certain areas um where we these crimes were
being committed. And so that's that's helped us as well um as a deterrent. And um of course the detective bureau behind the scenes doing the investigations making all these arrests. >> I like the name Sally Details. >> Right.
>> Any questions? All right. I'm going to stop this share and go over to our >> Sorry, I was um was Nixl name is is Nixl's name something different now? >> No, it's still Nixl. >> It still is Nixl. Okay. Yes.
>> Right. I was told it was something else like evergreen or something like that. >> No, as far as I know, it's still Nixon. Still >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, so our our our next attachment with the traffic enforcement and also parking enforcement is
separate. So, I'm going to stop this share and bring up that new sheet. Uh, courtesy of Mayor Duca. Give me one second. My computer is a little slow. Um,
bring that up and Okay, here we go. Move this up. All right. Okay. Uh, Mayor Duca, if you could help us a little bit, walk through. We're looking at this a little differently.
Um, we're going to start with these are overnight parking tickets. And this is, uh, I think because of where we are on the data, we're able to compare 2024 with 2025. And we can see here that we're we're up quite a bit.
>> Yeah. So the the you know the green is uh this year and blue last year uh or 2025 and 2024. So um I mean we had a I don't know what happened in March that we got so high and I took these from the
summons reports that we get in those monthly reports. uh the reports the the numbers I was using before were from the um uh the patrol sheets and uh and looking at everything I realized that one it
didn't include it did not include parking or the parking enforcement officers and two it did not um have tickets that were issued by superior officers or those not working on the patrol on the three different shifts or
so. So, so I then moved to the summons report. The one thing we don't get in this is the stops, the vehicle stops, but I think we get a lot of other good stuff here like the overnight parking tickets, which are just, you know, pretty incredible the amount of people that park overnight, >> right?
>> And these are other parking tickets. And these are just the enforcement officers. So, these aren't the police officers. And chief, I think you want to be uh strutting your stuff over November and December where you see those big jumps. >> Yeah, that's that's pretty
>> 416 almost 500 in December and that's I think with the effort you were doing in the village and the addition of the PEO officers. >> Right. Right. And um yeah, the PO officers do a great job down there. has pretty much uh zero tolerance with them.
>> You can see it, >> right? Right. >> I wonder if we can top 500 this year. We'll see. >> Let's hope people stop doing it, you know, they get they wake up, >> right? >> Yeah. You know, I I think it's the A lot of it is the delivery drivers, honestly.
>> And I do hope they stop doing it, you know, and realize that this we're not going to tolerate that. Here's >> these are just these are just other parts. Yeah. >> So, um >> those are just other parking tickets that um are not the overnight or not
done by PEO. And then the moving violations, >> the moving violations are also up. Um >> yeah, anytime you see a green above blue, that's good. >> Yeah. I hope people getting the message. I'm anecdotally hearing from time to
time from somebody who got gets a ticket and and this is crazy, but no one that I know who has said that they've gotten a ticket has been upset. They've all just kind of been a little sheepish like I shouldn't have, you know, I I should
have slowed down a little or you know so >> well some some of our POS get the business down the center you know when they're issuing but you know >> they do a good job
>> and these are radar so going down radar violations um and these are warning notices. is >> yeah you might see a decrease in the warning notices because the um actual summones are going up >> right
>> here we go here's summones so we can see um PEO that's parking right parking enforcement office >> yes >> and then both of them together and we can see all three of them increases
so I mean across the board it's um quite a year of work, Chief. Um increases um on all of these the parking and the moving violations
um and then also decreases on a lot of those crime numbers. >> Yes, these guys did a good job, great job uh last year. >> Any other questions from the committee? >> I have a couple questions.
What what qualifies as a moving violation? >> Anything that's anything that's not parking. >> So, speeding >> speeding. Uh careless driving, reckless driving, making a left turn into a parking space. Uh >> a stop sign,
>> going over double lines, uh you know, it be a whole bunch of things. >> What is the current fee for a parking violation? >> I don't know. I couldn't tell you that. I don't know the fees. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
>> For uh ticketing that happens on Parker Avenue when people uh unlawfully drop off or pick up, that would be under moving violations as well. >> Yes. >> And how is that looking over there? Is that looking a little bit better? I
think when I drive there, it looks a lot more clear. Yeah, we have we have this been having the snow there for the last, you know. >> Well, the snow. >> Yeah, we haven't. >> It's hard to drop off when there's snow, >> right? You'd be in the middle of the street. >> Get out of the car. >> Yeah.
>> Um, yeah, it's looking pretty good over there, I have to say. Over by Columbia, the drop off. Uh, the only thing I see is sometimes the barrier isn't on Kensington.
Um, so you end up with cars that go all the way to Parker and then are going right or left, but it's a lot more clear. The whole all of Parker is a lot a lot more clear of cars. So, very good. That's really good. Um, okay. I'm going
to stop that share and I'll bring our agenda back up. Um, okay. All right. Here's our agenda. Okay. So, um, Okay. I'm going back up to So,
traffic enforcement and pedestrian safety. Chief, I was looking at all the trainings. You guys did a lot of trainings last month. The one I I wanted to pull out that caught my attention was the pedestrian safety enforcement training. Um, and this was training that
teaches strategies to enforce traffic and reinforce pedestrian safety. And as pedestrian safety is one of the big issues that we've heard from residents all year, I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell us a little bit more about this training. how many officers,
you know, roundabout how many officers were involved and, you know, how this is going to help uh the department um really focus on pedestrian safety this year. >> Yes. So, we so as everybody knows hopefully that we have a traffic bureau. We have uh two traffic officers and one
traffic sergeant assigned to it. Uh the traffic officers are were able to go to this training. This training um allows us to do pedestrian u um details as far as um yielding to pedestrians
so we can so eventually we u soon we will be doing details at crosswalks with u pedestrians crossing the street and hope and hopefully educating and enforcing um yielding to pedestrians
which is the state law everybody knows But a lot of times people violate um as we see on Springfield Avenue in our major streets. So um that's what uh that training is. It's um training our our traffic bureau on um
uh conducting successful um pedestrian uh crossing. >> So how do we teach drivers to yield? Well, >> by having your officers there, >> well, you know,
from the beginning of I don't know, for a long time that's been a been the thing. We have literature to hand out along with it. Um, and you know, just our presence and uh enforcement and you
know, training hopefully it will uh you know, take hold. >> Yeah. Yeah. that I mean that might be something I know your officers do a really good job of making those videos >> um you know for the community and for your social media. I mean that's they
could probably do something with that you know reminding people >> you know that it is it is a law it is a law to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk >> right >> um so I wanted any any questions from anyone else?
Uh so I wanted to bring up okay this new law uh communicate and so it's the new the New Jersey ebike scooter and three-wheel electric vehicle law was effective. It was signed into law by Governor Murphy January 19. The grace
period gives us until July. Um there are um so this law basically eliminates the previous three tier ebike classification system and now regulates all ebikes the same as motorized bicycles. significantly changing licensing,
registration, and insurance requirements. So, I wanted to just check in with you and this is something that we can, you know, continue the conversation as we get closer to July, but I wanted to start the conversation and see what information, what you know
about this, what you're putting into what you're doing to get ready for this. um cuz obviously I believe that there's going to be a communication part to this and telling residents what this means and then eventually there will be an enforcement piece to this. So I just wanted to check in with you on this.
>> Yes. So um yeah, July 19th we'll be able to um this grace period now so everybody learns u the new law. Um so we we would train our officers in the new law so everybody's familiar with it. Um that's
where we're doing first and then also we are um our community engagement unit is going to speak with the school and hopefully uh and do some kind of training with students there that are going to start driving well that will
start that ride these bikes um so they they learn um what's about to come out you know is right now it's awareness make sure everybody knows that this is about to happen >> okay >> you have to license to ride these ebikes.
>> Have you um have you talked with the school district yet? >> Uh we have not yet. >> Okay, I'll send you the principal of Columbia High School sent an email to students today. It literally is like everything's like happening today. Uh he
sent an email to students just letting them know, same as we're talking about today, just letting them know that this is coming. So, I'll send that to you. Um, but I think this that this is a perfect time that he's now sent that email. It's a perfect time for you to
have a conversation with the school and, you know, and take it to the next step of of really um, you know, what's coming and what's next, >> right? And and deputy mayor, you and I and Jennifer are going to be taking a look at this and then we're going to be interfacing with the bike folks who have
who have >> said around the state asked uh they asked us and they asked other towns to go slow on the enforcement because they're seeking to make amendments to this bill. uh probably not going to happen. But I think what we want to do
is be prepared ourselves so that we can meet with them to understand what their concerns are as we roll out the enforcement. >> Yeah, absolutely. I I agree with that. Um some of what I'm seeing is that this is not even close to being able to be rolled out that even the applications
don't exist. The insurance >> doesn't exist. So, you know, this is sort of just putting it on all of our radar that this is coming. Um we will be talking with the bike groups um chief um you'll you know be talking with the
school and we'll just keep all uh in communication about how this is how this is going as this gets rolled out. Um but I I definitely agree this is a take our time on this. >> Miss Herman, I have a bit of a uh an update from the township attorney as
well on this. So, we spoke today and and I know she had updated the township committee last meeting and was going to update you again at our next township committee meeting. The state has not published the chapter law on this. So, the final version of what was voted on and and signed into law has been
published. I checked on the state's website just before the meeting. So, when that's published, then we expect likely the attorney general will issue guidelines on that. So, those will be very important for for us to have when we start um rolling out the final
regulations to the uh to our residents. And I know DMV also has uh quite a bit to set up regarding the licensing and registration of these. So, still a lot of work to be done and we'll keep an eye on it. Yeah, I feel like we need to know some of these details before we even
honestly before we even have some of these conversations with residents because this is just more like this is coming. So, you know, we're all aware that it's coming, but um yeah, a lot of the details are yet to be known. So,
um Chief, do you want to give us any update on the overtime report? I think I I I glanced at it. It didn't look like it was too out of the out of the range. >> Yeah. Um usually the first um in January
um excuse me, same thing happened last year where we um are ch we change our schedule. So some guys work extra hours just to get they had to work extra days because that schedule was changing their assignments changed. So that caused a little bit of overtime in the in the
beginning when we're moving from uh the old year to the new year. So they're work so they might have to you know we're um four on four have to work um six days in a row. So that causes a little overtime until they are adjusted into the new schedule.
>> Okay. That that that helps to explain. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Thank you. Uh, so speaking of things happening today, not sure if anyone saw so I I so I put under for other police items ICE activity. Governor Cheryl said her
administration would create a database to collect images of federal agents interacting with the public. She has urged residents to use our cell phones to record immigration officers. If you see an ICE agent on the street, get your phone out, she said. So today, I don't
know if you guys saw, they have now announced this database, hot off the presses. This is brand new. So, um, seeing that it's brand new. Um, uh, Chief, I'll send send you what I've
seen. There's I believe there's a database and then there's a link for know your rights. Yeah, it's a portal. That's right. It's a portal. Um, and I'm hearing folks, they're kind of a little tentative to start using it right away. It asks for your name and your address
and the location and bunch of information and then to upload a photo or video. So, I wanted to bring this up and just start a conversation on um how how you see this working in our community.
um you know how this would affect your response in these cases, you know, and especially keeping in mind that we you know, our goal is to keep our residents safe. >> Yeah. Just like any other incident
involving a um you know, ICE or a law enforcement um action, I don't obstruct. You can record all you want but just stay away and u don't obstruct. That's the same thing. I
mean you can record everything and document and put it in the portal but just don't obstruct what the um action is taking place. >> Uh Mr. Davis. >> Yeah, like the chief said um and as you
said, Deputy Mayor, so the portal is live today. Uh, Governor Cheryl and her attorney general, Attorney General Davenport, um, had a press conference this afternoon where they announced that the portal is now receiving these video
submissions. These are submissions taken by citizens who are witnessing ICE activity in their communities. Uh, Governor Cheryl and Attorney General Davenport stressed over and over again what the chief just said.
The idea here is not to encourage people to interfere with ICE or to in any way endanger themselves or others during that activity. They are to record. They have the right to record as we always have the right to record any law
enforcement activity, even our local law enforcement activity from a safe distance. They said that over and over again at the press conference and if they wish they could submit the video. The reason for the portal and their
submissions is not to collect data on citizens. It is to give the attorney generals uh an opportunity to document ICE activity in New Jersey throughout our communities and to allow this new
attorney general, this new administration to come up with additional safeguards and protections and possibly legal guidance and other protections to ensure our safety in light of ICE activity in our communities
against our will. Um so so it's really important for us to get that information out there and to stress this idea of keeping at a safe distance, not interfering, not escalating and not uh in any way endangering the safety of
anyone. I encourage us to distribute this information along with information that we will be providing um as a township officially very soon. um that will uh do the same thing, talk about the portal and also lay out people's
rights as it relates to ICE activity and how we could safely uh be witness bear witness to this happening in our communities. how we could come to the aid of those um you know subject to ICE
activity without uh endangering our safety, their safety or anyone else's safety. What MPD's role will be, how our co-response model can be engaged to further ensure deescalation and community safety. Um, we're going to put
out that guidance and the attorney general this afternoon, as you stated, Deputy Mayor, also put out some of this guidance. Uh, it is nj.gov/nowights. nj.govnyourights. And it's a wonderful compilation uh from the ACLU and immigrant rights groups and
legal experts and others that out um outline and provide guidance uh for the community um in how to respond, how not to respond um and what all of this means. Furthermore, Governor Cheryl and Attorney General Davenport announced
today that officially as a state of New Jersey, strengthening our sanctuary status to also include um that ICE is not allowed to do what it needs to do on state property.
Um so you know we already um so anyway that was one of the protections that advocates were asking for and Governor Cheryl and Attorney General Davenport um laid that out. So I presume Chief that the AG's office will be providing a
directive or guidance to law enforcement units. They they announced that they would be doing that. Uh but you probably haven't seen anything like that just yet. >> Yeah. Thanks for that overview, Mr. Davis. Um, if can you uh do you think
you'll you'll have the the guidance that you're working on ready to present at our next month's meeting? >> Most certainly. >> Yeah, that would be great because I think that sharing that guidance as well as this database and the know your rights um and you know, really just kind
of putting it together in a way that we can share with residents would be um would be really helpful. for sure. >> Any other questions, comments?
Um, so the next thing on the list is a bit of a kudos. Um this um chief I I believe I this is this has been a couple of weeks now but I believe I forwarded you there was a a thank you email from a resident and I believe that it was it
might have been the South Orange rescue squad or the South Orange Police Department who were the first responders on the scene. but she was thanking them for their their the way that they attended her child who is um
neurodeiverse, I believe autistic. Um and some of the things that she mentioned in the letter were, you know, getting down on the child's level, speaking in soft voices, you know, she asked the officers, you know, please don't touch her child, you know, cuz
she's touch has a sensitivity to touch. She asked that they not use the sirens in the vehicle. And these are just some things, you know, from a mom who who definitely knows uh the triggers of of her child and she was very complimentary
of how they handled that situation. And so I I just wanted to share this, you know, sort of adjacent kudos with you because I know that your department has been working on the blue envelope program and has done training in the past on working with autistic and
neurodeiverse residents. Um, and I I wanted to just, you know, um, share that with you and see if you had any thoughts or, you know, I don't know how recent the training. I think the blue envelope training you just did, like that was some very recent training. Um, so I
wonder if you could share a little bit about your officers and how they're ready to, you know, be able to interact with neurodeiverse residents. >> Yes. So our our whole department um has uh developmental disabilities training they they they get and also uh crisis
intervention training. So those are two trainings um that um our officers are trained in to handle a situation such as that. Also, our officers are trained that uh if we respond there and a
guardian or a parent is uh giving us uh information on how to deal with the child, our officers will listen to that and follow with that. So, that seems like that's what happened in this situation. >> Um but we're we're also welcome to any
training um that's out there that's provided to us that can um assist us even further. So >> that's really good to hear. Um this is this is really just a you know sharing the kudos from this parent you know because it you know I know that your
officers do so many calls and you know this is one where so many so many calls and and maybe you don't hear back from a lot of them and here's one where you know the resident did um reach back out with a big thank you. Um so it makes a difference these trainings that they do.
>> Yes. Uh any updates on police crossing guard staffing vacancies? I know that we've just approved a few. So that's all good news, right? >> Right. So we have we have uh one in training now that will uh make us full
and we're looking for two to three more um like alternates like um that could fill it. So we're we we're constantly looking for new guards. Um, so we should be full after the training and then we're looking for two more um just in case u you know you have a guard that
calls out sick or for whatever reason they can fill in. So that's where we're at. >> Great. Are there other police items from members of the committee? >> All right, >> I have none.
>> Thank you, mayor. Community board on police. Mr. Davis, do we have anyone today? We have Diana Keman who's a new member of the community board on police. As you recall, she was recently appointed and she's attending her first meeting tonight, public safety meeting, uh as a
representative from Cabop. Um and we welcome her. Hey Diana. >> Hi. Thanks for having me. I've just been taking notes and listening. Um happy to be here. Nice to meet you, Chief on Zoom. Hope to see you soon. Thank you.
And we don't have an update from Sabbop for this meeting. Deputy mayor, uh we had our first meeting uh just a couple weeks ago, I think it was. I forget what day we are at at this point. Uh and it was mostly to shuffle around chair, vice
chair, secretary, and introduce the new members to the existing members. Um, and we have a retreat coming up on March 7th and uh, we'll get the board up and running and doing some cool stuff this year. Report accordingly, subsequent
public safety meetings. >> Great. Thank you. >> Who is the chair now? >> Uh, we have two chairs. How dem democratic are we co-chairs? Ronnie Schwarz, uh, whom you all know, longtime community member and advocate, an
awesome person, and Sarah Rothman, who's been on the board for quite some time as well. So, Ronnie and Sarah, go women, female power, are going to be co-chairing CEO for 2026. >> Great. Great. Well, we look forward to
hearing your your guidelines regarding ICE next month. Thank you for the to the committee for working on that and um have a great retreat and Diana, thanks for being here and thanks for joining.
We appreciate that. Um and you can take all the notes from our meeting back to I think Mr. Daff has hopefully sent you an agenda so you can take that back and share. And if you have any questions, please reach out anytime. >> Certainly. Thank you so much.
All right. Um, next up, Office of Emergency Management, Mr. Weary. Uh, I just put down winter storm recap because it appears because that was a big it was a big deal. So,
>> it was a big deal. We declared a state of emergency. So, we were active. Um, yes. Late in >> Yeah. Share share with us what's the recap of how that >> I'm sorry. There's just a you you moved over Mr. Daffis and left Diana here. >> My
nice move. >> Now we lost the He >> He's invited back. Let's see if he rejoins. I can do it again. I think there's some little comm community community members.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Uh I don't know why he's not panelist. All right. He declined to be promoted to panelist. All right. I'll try again in a moment. Um so yes, late last month we had a very large storm. Um thankfully we
knew well in advance that it was coming. The chief and I went to a county OEM meeting that they called just for the snowstorm where they had a lot of um a lot of presenters and a lot of coverage. They had offered to assist the
municipalities in any way they could, including with salt, which was fortunate because we called them the next day and requested some salt and they delivered us a uh couple um thousand tons. So that was very helpful. So the county meeting was productive. We had a Maplewood OEM
meeting on the 23rd. We met with PD, SEFD, DPW, um, community services because they run our shelter should we need them and arts and culture because they manage a lot of the, uh, townships facilities. And we
had a very good conversation. We had a very good game plan. We did a lot of communications around it, which I've received positive feedback on. So, that was good. and and also helps us build out a template for things we're going to do going forward. So, all very helpful
for the storm itself. Uh, you know, came in kind of like we expected, a little less snowfall than that high level of projections, which was fortunate. The middle of the storm was snow was falling very quickly and it was difficult for DPW to get curb to curb like they normally do just because they were
trying to keep up with the pace of the snowfall. And then late in the storm it came down very icy which I think everyone realized the next morning when we started shoveling out snow banks and they were solid. So you know it's we're DPW this is not on the the emergency
side but DPW continues to do street widening uh after the storm and this is you know two plus weeks after. So it was uh by our records a a very big storm. We were fortunate on the OEM side. We didn't have widespread power outages. We
didn't have a lot of trees down, not a lot of other interruptions. Very fortunate that a lot of residents, I think, with the forewarning and the fact that it the storm fell on the weekend, stayed home. We our our DPW had a really a great opportunity
uninterrupted to plow streets. We didn't have a lot of larger emergencies that sometimes you see with these quick moving storms. And so, uh, we got a lot of snow, but we were very fortunate in kind of how it came down and the the, uh, amount of impact that we faced and
our that our residents faced. >> I would agree that the communications were really well done. Um, and video by the mayor >> was uh, was very good as well. >> And it was it was a nice transition. We did a lot of the pre-emergency
communications through township channels that were echoed through some uh PD channels and then during the storm the police department was providing updates uh you know strictly related to emergency through Nixl which is how that system is supposed to function and then
afterwards we had done uh you know some additional communications from township channels when the emergency was over. So, that was, I think, a a real nice kind of transition and handoff and it seemed to be well received by our residents. >> And how how how was the storm how did the the Maplewood Police Department
chief fair during the storm in terms of like the officers and I know we have folks coming from far distances and maintaining our coverage and helping anyone in need. >> Yeah, they they did good. They came in uh early and locked in and um I think we
had one accident. It was uh Moburn and Springfield Avenue, hit a pole. Um and um other than that, I mean, it's, you know, um officers were out there. They they pretty much stayed in place unless needed and we weren't
needed that much. So that was good. A lot of people, like u Mr. We said, a lot of people stayed home, which was great. >> That was great. I think the the one thing we have to do next time is um uh have better communication with the people who we
give overnight parking permits to because when we declare a state of emergency, they have to get their cars off the street. Uh you know what happened? I have somebody on my street, a couple people on my street that have um cars overnight and
their cars got plowed in and then what happened was uh they actually dug out their cars and then had a private plow come and plow out their parking space and made this huge pile in the street.
>> Um it was just weird. But I got complaints from Brown Street and Berkeley that with all the cars that were parked there overnight, they couldn't people couldn't um drive down the street because the you know there
was it wasn't wide enough and they couldn't get out of their driveways because the uh big mounds of snow blah blah blah. So I think we have to do a better job on that piece. And I'd suggest, you know, for next time, what we'd like to do is direct
communications to those overnight parkers. We now have lists of email addresses in our uh in our clerk's office, and we can use those and directly email through the township's uh communication portal to those residents.
And we've uh we've only done that once and it was just today or yes, maybe today we're emailing out to Jity passholders and similar you know now with a lot of those online registrations we have email addresses for passholders and we're going to start doing some more
of that direct type communication. So I think that'll help with the issue you raised because it certainly was an issue. you know, um it's it's not related to the snow, but it's related to Jitney's uh and just the train chief. Um Monday
is the start of the new uh portal cutoff and so it is a holiday. It's a federal holidays. We may not get as many people going to the train station, but um there may be instances where people are frustrated if trains come late or trains
come in full. We don't know what's going to happen that day. I intend to be there early. Um trying to get transit to have people there. Um but it just might be something to put on the radar uh for you guys to know that that first couple days
could be a little tense at the train station. >> All right. Any other winter storm questions or comments? Uh, the good news is I hear that the um warm weather is headed our way. So
hopefully this will melt pretty soon. Um, so I've gone back and brought up the South Essex Fire Department, which now we now have a look at our data from the full year. Uh, Mayor, do you want to
walk us through? >> Yeah. >> Anything on here that stands out? Yeah, just there's nothing really, you know, we we kind of knew what we know from looking at the monthtomonth is that, you know, by far the rescue and emergency
medical services, you know, are tops nearly nearly half of all of our responses. Uh, and again, that's just in Maplewood. So, um, a lot of the fire calls are, uh, mutual aid to out of town. Um uh the you know the good thing is when
we have a fire like we had at Gford Court, we certainly have um you know our three engines might show up with a ladder truck. Uh but then we get you know multiple engines from other jurisdictions. So it's really good that
backup. But um I will just say on that on the uh the Gford um you know there was an individual who was trapped in the house and the firefighters went in and got him. Uh and in speaking with the
chief, it's his opinion that uh those firefighters had a high degree of comfort to go into that house even without um backup there because they knew the backup was on the way because of of the way we run our system now. So,
uh, you know, they they were able to make that judgment, go in and rescue that individual, but typically if they had to wait for a second unit to come on mutual aid or something like that, uh, they may not have felt as comfortable about going in there and and getting
that individual. So, um, so that's that's about it. You know, we are uh we do rely just on that that 2400. Um that does include some mutual aid from the South Orange Rescue Squad.
We did have a meeting with them uh the other day. Uh Deputy Mayor, you were there and Mr. Weary and I and um you know, we we do appreciate we did send our appreciation to them for their work. They are celebrating their 75th anniversary next year and we'll help uh
in any way we can to promote them and and um encourage our residents to make contributions because they do serve our community and I think we we challenge them to get a little better at at spreading that message out and telling
that story. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um I they they do uh several hundred calls in Maplewood every year and um having that backup to our fire department so that when our fire
department is responding to another call that they're available as a backup is certainly very important. Um and then that that's that that rescue that you just described at the Gford fire uh mayor that was that was um exceptional.
Um, so it's a real testament to having that mutual aid. >> Yep. >> Available there. So, um, all right. Um, thank you. I'm going to stop share. Are there any other items
to bring up by anybody? Chief, uh, are you able to talk in and open about, um, our strategy on filling some of the vacancies coming up or do we need to go into closed? >> Uh, no. Uh, just that we um, Kane
University is having their uh, job fair uh, next month. We plan on attending that. Also, we are planning on going to um a couplemies alternate route um um officers and interviewing them. So, um
that's that's our game plan right now. >> Great. Um >> do do we have our own test coming up? Yeah, I haven't made I haven't I don't have a date yet, but it's going to be um I'm looking for uh mid to late April
for written examination for entry level. Yes. >> Do we have any items for closed? >> I don't. >> Chief from mayor. >> Nope. >> All right.
I think that's >> Chief. I'm I'm sorry. Just uh just a heads up. Uh Mr. Weary and I are going to uh Milbour tomorrow to meet with the mayor. Uh the mayor in in one of the in the mayor Milbour, one of the county calls mentioned um increase in crime in
Milbour. So, we're going to just talk to him, see see what he was talking about and and just say that, you know, anything that we can do jointly with them in Milbour. Um, you know, we would certainly be open to strategizing with them more if they
thought it would be helpful and that their chief can contact our chief. So, in case that happens, we'll let you know. >> Yes, definitely. And I'm I'm sure they're um, you know, like us getting burglaries as well. >> Yeah, >> cuz we were getting burglaries on that border. So, >> right.
>> Yes. >> Yeah. And then you're uh you can make more contacts for your detectives working these cases. >> Oh, they they know everybody. >> Yeah. They know everybody. But sometimes at the high level, you know, we chief, if you remember when we used to do joint
task force with other towns, particularly around the car thefts. >> Yes. So it's just helpful because uh that each you have each jurisdiction in the car they kind of share information they develop a relationship and uh you know they can do some crossber stuff.
>> Yes. >> Well thank you and um I and I did get I'll share one more one one last kudos. Uh there is a family in our community. Um they actually just they lost a member
of their family, but they were home. The mother was home with her three kids and uh the fire alarm went off and they said that um uh there was a very quick response. I think this is alsex fire department, but I believe there was
also I think a police response as well. Um that was very quick and it made them feel very secure and they they kind of they they took it as like a you know their dad looking down you know protecting them. So I thought that was
be a nice a nice thing to share with you. You never know who you're responding to but it made a big difference to them. >> Very nice. Well, thank you everyone for the meeting tonight.
Follow-ups and uh have a good night.