EAST BRUNSWICK — As part of an ongoing effort to address residents’ concerns, police recently placed special patrols in the area of the Lawrence Brook Manor development off Route 18.
The directed patrols were used to gather data in order to provide township officials with an updated view of how crime and traffic safety may have changed since the start of a construction project at New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 9. Three directed patrols were completed each day over a recent stretch of 64 days. During that time, officers issued 12 motor vehicle summonses for moving, nonmoving and parking violations.
There has not been a significant increase in criminal activity in Lawrence Brook Manor since the project began, according to Deputy Police Chief William Krause, who cited data gathered from the directed patrols and police reports collected during 2012 and 2013. He said his research yielded results that are expected for that area, and that the differences from year to year were negligible.
“It has been suggested that [the police department] were doing directed patrols because we recognized there was a criminal problem in Lawrence Brook. That is not the case,” Krause said. “We instituted the directed patrols because the residents came to us with concerns and we take every resident concern seriously.”
While conducting the directed patrols, officers found that many commuters who use the nearby commuter bus stop were parking their cars in the neighborhood.
“Over the six days that special [operations] looked at this, there were a total of 64 cars that were non-neighborhood vehicles. The largest number on any given day was 11, and there were a number of repeat offenders,” Krause said.
However, he said, there was little police could do to address the residents’ concerns.
“If [commuters] are parked legally along the curb, facing the right way, and they don’t violate the 48-hour parking [time limit] rule, it’s no different than going to your friend’s house and parking in front of his neighbor’s house. It’s not illegal to do,” Krause said.
In order to address the issue, Krause offered three possible solutions for the Township Council to consider:
Impose no regulations, considering that residents may be divided on such a decision
Impose a two-hour parking limit
Impose permit parking
“Any one of these is going to bring on a problem,” he said.
Council President James Wendell urged Lawrence Brook residents to email their opinions to the council.
“There’s no perfect situation. There’s good and bad in every action we take,” Wendell said.
Police will continue to monitor the area daily, officials said.
Contact Thomas Castles at [email protected].