UEZ police funding to be
extended in Lakewood
LAKEWOOD — Bolstered by a greater police presence and statistical evidence of a decline in the incidence of crime within its Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) boundaries, Mayor Marta Harrison announced that the township will continue the funding of salaries and benefit packages of five specially assigned UEZ police officers during the coming year.
"Our town has been and remains committed to providing a safe, secure climate for our residents and those who choose Lakewood as their destination for shopping and doing business," Harrison said.
"We are convinced these specially assigned UEZ officers are the contributing factor to the dramatic decline in crime in the township’s commercial and business districts," she said, noting the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority (UEZA), at its Dec. 12 meeting, approved Lakewood’s Police Security project funding for a seventh year.
Harrison said the funding proposal was approved by the Township Committee and was submitted by the Lakewood Development Corporation, the UEZ administration of the township. Lakewood’s UEZ designation provides for reduced 3 percent state sales tax on certain consumer purchases at certified retail locations in the designated area. The sales tax receipts are then targeted for projects which promote further economic development and activity.
The Lakewood Police Department provides detailed reporting statistics of the activities on the five officers assigned to the UEZ patrol area. Since the project’s inception in 1996, the police department has documented a 30 percent increase in the number of calls for service. According to municipal officials, a large portion of the increase is due to a more aggressive community policing campaign in the downtown area and the after-hours business checks conducted by the UEZ officers in the downtown area and at industrial parks.
In approving the township’s request for $420,240 in available UEZ revenues, the members of the state UEZA commended Lakewood and the Lakewood Police Department for their detailed statistics regarding the reduction in crime. The UEZ represents approximately 23 percent of the township’s land area. Lakewood was cited as one of only a few UEZ municipalities to readily gather and provide such data to the UEZA. Lakewood will contribute $105,060 as a matching share of the $525,300 total Police Security project cost.