Petition Urges East Windsor Officials To Address Burglary Incidents

EAST WINDSOR, NJ — Residents in East Windsor have signed a petition requesting Township officials to take steps to address residential burglaries.

Around 443 residents have so far signed the petition. According to the petition, a number of burglaries in the months of November and December have made residents feel “unsafe and vulnerable.”

“We do understand that crime can happen anywhere, but the frequency and brazenness of these the recent burglaries and house break-ins on Klee court and Van Gogh Drive recently are alarming and cause for major concern,” the petition said.

“What has compounded the situation is total lack of transparency on the part of Township administration and information sharing on the crime in our area.”

The residents have requested authorities to “take immediate action (both interim and long term) to address this spurt in crime,” by increasing patrols and installing cameras in public areas.

Residents have also requested for more street lights and improved communication from officials on crime statistics.

East Windsor Police Chief Jason Hart told Patch that in 2022 there were seven residential burglaries. In 2021 six residential burglaries were reported, 12 in 2020 and 14 in 2019.

The Police Chief said authorities understood the impact of such crimes on residents and that it takes every incident seriously.

Outlining the steps taken by the police department, Hart said the East Windsor Police Department is committed to solving these crimes.

“Residential burglaries are assigned to a detective, who uses every investigative tool to solve the crime. Detectives communicate with surrounding jurisdictions and work with county and state agencies to identify similar crimes, develop evidence and identify and apprehend those responsible,” Hart said.

“Burglaries are typically random in nature and increasingly committed by out-of-town professional criminals, which makes solving them that much more challenging.”

In their petition, residents have called for increased police patrol in affected neighborhoods. In response, Hart said patrol in these areas increase automatically after such incidents. “Information is circulated throughout the police department and it is each officer’s responsibility to address any issues in their assigned zones of enforcement. This includes increasing their presence in neighborhoods where burglaries have occurred,” Hart said.

In response to the request for more cameras in public places, the police chief said such a move was more effective in large cities with densely populated neighborhoods that have a high crime rate. “East Windsor Township is a largely spread out 16 square mile municipality. Permanently installed cameras, which are very cost prohibitive, would be much less effective in suburban neighborhoods,” Hart said.

“Crime in East Windsor is sporadic and seldomly reoccurs in a specific location. For this reason, it would be difficult to identify locations to permanently install surveillance cameras.”

Addressing the residents’ compliant of lack of communication and transparency, Hart said the police department’s Facebook page regularly provides information to the community.

“We have for example provided public service announcements regarding ways to prevent car burglaries, and posted pictures and videos asking for information and tips to help solve crimes,” Hart said.

Typically, the response is positive and we have solved crimes with the tips we have received.”

He also noted that the Township issues a weekly crime blotter and residents are encouraged to attend the police department’s crime watch meetings, which occur every other month at headquarters.

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