Newark Police Open New Precinct on Maplewood Border (audio)

Newark Police Department opened its recently renovated Vailsburg precinct Friday on Irvington Avenue in the city's West Ward in an effort to help propel community policing.

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Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said the red brick building on Irvington Avenue (next to Fine Fare and Colosseum Gym) that once housed undercover and technical units, will now be home to the city's new Vailsburg Task Force. The building is directly across the street from Maplewood, and a parking lot away from South Orange.

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When the decision to make the building a precinct house was announced in late May, Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca voiced his support. "This is a very positive development," DeLuca told Patch in May. "For years that was an underutilized facility that was caught up in a Newark political struggle. I look forward to speaking to our police chief about ways in which Maplewood and Newark can work together in that neighborhood. It will be a real plus with our efforts to revitalize the Irvington Avenue shopping district and to heighten public safety in the adjoining residential neighborhoods."

Maplewood Chief of Police Robert Cimino also was pleased with the announcement.

"While I have not yet been contacted directly on the opening of the new precinct, Maplewood and Newark Police Departments have been coordinating policing efforts in a variety of ways for many years, so I expect that coordination to expand with the opening of this precinct," Cimino said in May. "I know Director DeMaio to be a results-oriented police executive and a great law enforcement partner. I’m sure that both agencies will capitalize on the new policing opportunities presented by having a precinct so close to the Maplewood border."

Check Patch Monday for a more in-depth story about the precinct and Friday's opening.