Westfield's Top Cop Defends Communication Protocols After Robbery

WESTFIELD, NJ - Newly-minted Chief of Police Christopher Battiloro spent much of Tuesday's meeting of the Mayor and Council defending the communication protocol employed by the department in the wake of an armed robbery that took place at the 7-11 during the early morning hours of Jan. 25.

The suspect in that robbery, 22-year-old Justice Lassiter from East Orange, was arrested after what Battiloro described as an "intense" foot chase later that day. Criticism arose after the robbery that no alerts were being sent out by police to let residents know what was happening. Battiloro acknowledged the frustration, but said there was no need to cause undue public alarm, because police had determined there was no threat to the public.

"There was no doubt that this robber was a danger to the general public," he said. "Just not to Westfield at that time."

Resident Jen Blasey said that she and her neighbors needed to know when the suspect was apprehended and how long they were in the neighborhood.

"I think its important especially when you have teenagers that might be coming home in the middle of the night, people that are working night shifts or late shifts," she said. "There doesn't need to be specific information, just some kind of information that says 'listen this is going on your neighborhood.'"

Battiloro said that the Nixle alerts will only be used under certain circumstances, and that this situation didn't meet the criteria.

"We will only transmit alert messages when there is an immediate danger and definitive action needs to be taken. When we first launched the Neighborhood Watch and Nixle alert last October, we specifically stated we would be sharing information about criminal activity in order to heighten awareness," he said. "We advised that messages often cannot and would not be offered in real time as police need time to verify details to ensure that any information disseminated is factual and that it does not compromise any police investigative efforts."

Battiloro noted that to date the department had only transmitted one alert message and that was when a 350 pound bear cub was running through neighborhoods.

"That bear cub presented an immediate threat and required immediate action, which was for residents to seek shelter indoors," he said.

Battiloro said he understood the frustrations of not getting all the information up front, but said that the police work done by multiple agencies, utilizing resources like K9 units, made the need for such messaging unnecessary.

"I am quite confident in saying this, that our officers conducted such an intensive and comprehensive search during those early morning hours there was no likelihood that anyone was subject to any danger," he said. "I am quite satisfied in saying that there was no chance that you were going to come out in the morning start up your can and find someone hiding beneath it or inside it or in your yard. That is how intensive and comprehensive this search was. And we did employ every resource including tracking dogs that were at our disposal that morning."

Despite those assurances, Councilman Mark LoGrippo said that he was finding out about incidents on social media and described that communication as "work to be done."

"I understand your concern," Battiloro said. " I'm not shy about saying when I made Chief one of the things I told the men and women of this police department is we can do this job better and we will strive to do it better. So I take your comments under consideration. And we will work to do a better job."

(Photo courtesy of the Town of Westfield)

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