CSI: Verona -- Not ready for prime time
Gil Grissom, Mack Taylor, and Horatio Cane have nothing to fear from the crackerjack investigative team in the Verona PD. According to a story in yesterday's print edition of the Star Ledger (not online) a local woman had her purse stolen from her car. A witness spotted the thief outside a Bloomfield Avenue business and the police managed to recover the purse, sans her money, credit cards, and a digital camera. The Verona PD brought out their K-9 unit but was unable to track him down.

Several hours later a resident called police to report a man matching the thief's description was hiding in a swing set in his back yard. Once again the Verona PD and the K-9 unit rushed to the scene. The thief pilferred a bicycle from the homeowner's garage and made his getaway. The Verona PD gave chase but he managed to elude them.

Got that? A guy on a bicycle escaped from the combined manpower of the Verona PD. They have 8 squad cars and 30 officers for a town of less than one square mile. There isn't a whole lot of crime here so it's not like they were off solving murders or catching rapists or anything like that. This purse snatching was probably the only crime committed that day, and they failed to track down a guy on a bicycle.

I guess it's because they couldn't give him a ticket. Oh yes, the Verona PD is absolutely relentless when it comes to issuing parking and speeding tickets. It's pretty much all they do all day. When my wife parked in front of my office to make a cell phone call she didn't bother to put any money in the parking meter. Oops. Within 30 seconds a squad car pulled up behind her and hit his flashing overhead lights. The officer sauntered over to her window and cited her for parking at an expired meter and "impeding the flow of traffic". She tried to explain that she was only stopping to make a cell phone call (driving while talking on a cell phone is a moving violation in New Jersey). The officer stated that Verona was being "extra diligent" with regard to traffic violations.

Maybe "Officer Diligent" should brush up on his crime investigation skills instead of hassling hapless motorists. Then the thief on the bicycle might not have gotten away. But, as I found out many years ago, the Verona PD is not always "citizen friendly". I lived in an apartment on the second floor of a building. The first floor had some offices and a retail business. One night at about 1 AM I was awakend by the klaxon of a burglar alarm going off downstairs. I did what any responsible citizen would do, I phoned the police to report the alarm. The officer took my name, number, and address and said someone would look into it. About 15 minutes later the alarm went silent and I figured that things were OK so I went back to sleep.

Two days later I received a letter from the Verona PD. It admonished me for reporting a false alarm! It stated that if I reported another false alarm within the span of one year I would be cited for a violation of municipal ordinances and assessed a fine of $100. So much for being a good citizen; to the Verona PD I was a nuisance who wasted their time. Is it any wonder that people don't want to "get involved" with reporting crimes? Who needs that kind of aggravation?

The letter was signed by a Lieutenant Doug Huber. Doug Huber is now the Chief of Police for Verona. I wonder if he's going to send the homeowner who spotted the purse thief in his back yard a letter similar to the one he sent me. Perhaps this poor guy will get a bill for the K-9 unit's dog food.

Like they say on Fark, that's some fine police work there Lou.

Posted at 10:51 by Chris   []   | | | Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble It! | Reddit | Link