Theft Concerns Raised At Chatham Township Council Meeting

CHATHAM, NJ — As car thefts and vehicle crime continue to plague New Jersey, a resident of Edgewood Road in Chatham Township addressed the Chatham Township Committee on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday night, Dan Flynn addressed the Chatham Township Committee about an attempted car theft in his driveway while his wife and children were present.

"Someone attempted to steal our car out of our driveway in broad daylight… This is at least the second time that this has happened and Edgewood is a loop street right by Lenape which is a loop street, where something similar happened while children were in the driveway right across the street," Flynn said.

The Chatham Township and Borough Police Departments have previously issued warnings, reminding residents to be cautious when leaving their cars parked. During the week of July 7, five vehicles were stolen from surrounding areas in a 48-hour period.

"This is a huge problem… It is terrifying to think, and this is coming from speaking to police officers, that some of these individuals might be gang members who have firearms on them as they're driving around our streets while our children are out there," Flynn said.

Flynn then asked the committee what their plan is to address the growing problem, along with inquiring if the Mayor and committee would be able to possibly push pressure up towards Trenton. "I don't care about what was stolen out of my car, I care that what if there is an altercation if someone encounters one of these people in our town and something tragic happens."

In response to Flynn's inquiry, Chatham Township Mayor Ashley Felice said, "We are well aware of the situation and it is scary, it really is. Public safety has been the No. 1 priority of this committee."

According to Felice, the Chatham Township Committee has provided the officers with every possible item. This includes purchasing new police vehicles for the department this year. They are also installing surveillance cameras and license-plate readers throughout the city.

"We are also in the process and hopefully going to get a federal grant that will allow these cameras to alert our police officers in real-time when something bad occurs, when a bad guy comes into town, so they can preempt it," Felice said.

The Chatham Township Police Department advises residents to lock their vehicles and remove all valuables, key fobs, and garage door openers from their vehicles when they arrive home and store them inside their homes.

"Right now we are a targeted town. They know Chatham has expensive cars and they target us," Felice said.