Doug Carman

By: centraljersey.com
HIGHTSTOWN – Mayor Steve Kirson and the Borough Council this week denounced the Police Department’s response to a state police survey on gang activity, calling it "data which appears to be without substance" in a written apology to the borough and its neighbors.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Mayor Kirson said borough Police Chief James Eufemia acknowledged that the data his department submitted was unreliable, quoting an earlier written statement from him where he said, "There is no criminal activity to handle. … The amount of gang activity in Hightstown is nearly non-existent, with only one documented incident. … There are no specific, documented gangs operating in Hightstown."
Chief Eufemia struck back at the borough’s release Thursday, calling it "premature."
"It was premature for borough officials to issue a press release without having all the information regarding the survey," Chief Eufemia said in an e-mail. "I have not acknowledged that the survey data was unreliable."
Chief Eufemia said Mayor Kirson told him of the release Wednesday afternoon and said he had questions on the data.
"I mentioned that the New Jersey State Police Intelligence Unit renewed their offer to brief him about the survey at his convenience. After completing his review, the Mayor said that he would respond accordingly," Chief Eufemia wrote.
The state survey’s report stated that Hightstown, with a population of about 5,000 residents, had 119 hoodlums claiming membership to 23 gangs operating within the borough’s 1.2 square miles. That’s more gangs than any municipality in Mercer County, and second only to Trenton in terms of the number of gangsters. The same report said Newark’s 2,664 gang members were affiliated with 23 gangs.
The borough news release went on to say that the council was "embarrassed" by the alleged misinformation of the report, and apologized to the residents and businesses of Hightstown, along with its neighboring municipalities, the East Windsor Regional School District, the Peddie School, the children attending school through either system, and the New Jersey State Police.
The release also said Mayor Kirson and the council are taking "further steps to correct the damage," but it did not elaborate on those steps.
Calls to Mayor Kirson after the news release was published were not returned before press time.
Chief Eufemia began backpedaling on the report almost as soon as its Jan. 28 publication. Earlier this month, he told the Herald that he was not aware of any gangs operating in Hightstown, though he chalked up the numbers to the borough’s proximity to highways.
"The Borough of Hightstown has several major roadways passing through it; Route 33, Route 571, Route 539, along with the NJ Turnpike and Route 130 being nearby," Chief Eufemia said in an e-mail to the Herald earlier this month. "These heavily traveled roadways facilitate travel by everyone, including suspected gang members."
Residents and government officials from Hightstown and East Windsor have blasted the report since its release, with some wondering how East Windsor, completely surrounding the borough and containing portions of all those highways, could report no gang activity while 23 operated in Hightstown.
Chief Eufemia scrapped a presentation on Hightstown’s gang activity set for the Borough Council’s Feb. 7 meeting, claiming he was ill that day, and contrary to rumors that he was to discuss it this past Tuesday, it never appeared on the council’s agenda.
Rob Thibault, who unsuccessfully ran for Hightstown’s mayoral post last year, on Tuesday blasted the report and Chief Eufemia for bailing out of his Feb. 7 presentation to the council before the public apology was issued.
"Are we facing a gang epidemic in town, or did somebody exaggerate and my property values have been driven down because of it," Mr. Thibault said at Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting. "Do we have 23 gangs in town with 119 members?"
Tuesday’s council agenda included a police committee report and a personnel matter concerning both Chief Eufemia and Detective Ben Miller in an executive session, which is closed to the public.
At the council meeting Tuesday, Council President Isabel McGinty, who also has a seat on the Police Committee, said she could not elaborate on what was going to take place during the executive session beyond reading that line on the agenda: "Public Safety – Police Committee Report."
Mayor Kirson told reporters late Tuesday after the meeting that the gang report was becoming a "very sensitive issue."
"We want to make sure the information is right," he said of the report. "I know there are no gangs here."