UPDATE: New Jersey Police Warned They Could Be Target After Gangs Threaten to 'Take Out' Cops

Primary reporting by ELIZABETH JANNEY (Patch Staff)

Two New Jersey police unions have warned the state’s officers to use extra caution since some of the country’s most notorious gangs have banded together to put ”hits” out on cops nationwide.

On its Facebook page, the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police has warned officers to “continue to be vigilant and ever-aware of your surroundings during your tour-of-duty.”

“Additionally, it may be prudent to use extra caution while off-duty, especially if wearing police/union related clothing or apparel, which would identify you as [and officer] at a time when you are alone, or with your family and without your vest or other defensive gear,” the union said in a statement on Facebook. “Please be careful.”

The New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, also on Facebook, said it has received credible information from law enforcement in the Baltimore area that members of various gangs including the Bloods, the Crips and the Black Guerilla Family have entered into a partnership to work together to “take out” law enforcement officers.

“This is a credible threat. Law enforcement agencies should take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of all members of the NJSPBA,” the union said in a statement.

Police departments in New Jersey acknowledged the threat, but said they were not specifically threatened and continued to perform their duties as usual.

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, said Ocean County had not received word of any specific threats to local police related to the Baltimore warning.

But, he added, “There’s always a threat.”

There are cyberthreats that come in from time to time warning of an intent to “wreak havoc” on law enforcement, said Della Fave, a retired New Jersey state trooper.

“For individual officers, there’s always a concern about retribution from individuals you arrest,” he said. “It goes with the job.”

Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little said he had not received any information about a direct threat to Toms River.

Baltimore police, meanwhile, encouraged law enforcement agencies nationwide to take appropriate precautions.

Baltimore Police called for backup over the weekend, when a national rally against police brutality took place in the city in the aftermath of the April 19 death of Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old Baltimore man died in police custody from a mysterious spinal injury, which has prompted a week of demonstrations.

Over the weekend, the Nation of Islam facilitated a truce between rival gangs the Bloods and the Crips, who united in the rally against police brutality, according to The Daily Beast.

The protests in Baltimore on Saturday had started peaceful—and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said 95 percent of them were in that spirit—but by Sunday morning, 34 people had been arrested and six police officers injured. Storefronts and police vehicles were also damaged. Images captured on social media of the violence included video of a man smashing a patrol car window with a trash can and angry protesters yelling directly in the face of officers.

Both peaceful protests and the acts of violence follow other high-profile cases of police-involved deaths in the past two years.

In 2014, Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. The officer involved was not charged because he argued he was defending himself from the unarmed Brown. Also in 2014, an unarmed Eric Garner died after a police officer put the large man in a choke hold during an arrest for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes.

Earlier this month, a North Charleston, S.C., police officer fatally shot Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was running away. The officer had claimed self defense until a video surfaced showing the officer shooting Brown multiple times in the back as the victim tried to run away. The officer in that case, Michael Slager, has been charged with murder.

Screenshot of Baltimore riots from WBAL.