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Reducing Crime & Increasing Quality of Life
Crime Rate Drops By Nearly Forty Percent!
Mayor Bret Schundler Made Jersey City A Great Place To Be!
While serving as Mayor of Jersey City in 2001, Bret Schundler proposed a comprehensive agenda to
reduce poverty. Called "The New War On Poverty," this agenda has three
major components: safe and clean streets, expanding educational opportunity through
vouchers, and fundamental welfare reform. Successful implementation of these programs
will not only increase the quality of life experienced by our poorest residents, but transfer
power from government bureaucracies to individual families so that government can be
more accountable to the people.
Mayor Schundler Demonstrates ZERO
TOLERANCE
As The Answer To The Drug Scourge
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To combat crime, Mayor Schundler has implemented an aggressive community policing plan.
Currently over 80 police officers are assigned to neighborhood foot patrols. In addition, the
Mayor has reorganized the structure and work schedule of the police department and civilianized
station house clerical positions to increase police presence on the street. These changes will make
more officers available for patrol when they are needed most -- in the evenings and on weekends.
As a result of these changes, there is a 19% increase
(669 vs. 564) in the number of police officers
actively patrolling Jersey City's streets.
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Safe and Clean Streets:
The key to improving the quality of life of the urban poor is to generate economic
growth and job creation in impoverished neighborhoods. However, before businesses will
invest in a neighborhood, they must first be convinced that the area is safe.
Mayor Bret Schundler Welcomes Graduates From The Police
Academy
Mayor Schundler's community policing program would make Jersey City's streets
safer by increasing the number of police officers that patrol our streets.
His plan assigns 300 police officers to foot patrol in 133 neighborhood districts. The
Mayor's plan also calls for the creation of neighborhood-police committees. These
committees will help strengthen community-police relations and help individual officers
target the specific needs of the neighborhood that they patrol.
A city's reputation is determined, in part, by its physical appearance. Therefore, it
is important to have neighborhoods with clean streets. A sharp appearance will not only
create an inviting atmosphere for business, but will also help revive the spirit and hope of
community residents. That is why we are hiring inmates from the Hudson County
Correctional Center to help remove litter from our busiest streets and the Public Works
Department is removing graffiti from public buildings.
Educational Opportunity:
If Jersey City wants to prosper in a globally competitive economy, we must have a
workforce that is well-educated. Mayor Schundler believes that his school voucher plan,
"The Tax Expenditure Neutral, Educational Opportunity Act," will help increase the
quality of education our children receive in both the public and private school system.
Since education vouchers give parents the power to choose the school that is best for their
child, families will be able to hold schools accountable for the quality of instruction that
their children receive. The Mayor's school voucher plan gives Jersey City's poorest
families access to the same educational opportunities that wealthy, suburban families
presently enjoy.
Welfare Reform:
Mayor Schundler believes that society has an obligation to provide a social safety-net for the poor, but he also believes that able-bodied individuals who receive government
assistance should be required to work.
Schundler has endorsed two specific welfare reform initiatives for Jersey City: the
Oregon Full-Employment Act and America Works. The Oregon plan requires able-bodied
recipients to work in return for health coverage and the cash-value of their public benefits
(AFDC, food stamps, etc.). America Works is a private employment agency that
specializes in placing welfare recipients in permanent,
private sector jobs.
Project Exile -- Jersey City's Tough New Approach To Reducing Gun Violence
"What we're doing here is saying: If you're going to break the law, definitely don't
bring a gun, because we're going to come down on you."
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- Jersey City Mayor,
Bret Schundler
NEWSRADIO88 Interview
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What is Project Exile?
Project Exile is a program pioneered in Richmond, Virginia that uses tough,
current Federal law to prosecute gun-wielding criminals.
In less than a year, Project Exile lowered Richmond's crime rate by 55%.
Under Project Exile, Federal, State and local authorities work together to exile gun
criminals out of state, into a Federal penitentiary where they will serve a
lengthy term of imprisonment.
Tough enforcement is only half the battle, however. Using a local, media awareness campaign,
Project Exile gets its message to the street and puts potential criminals on notice.
What does Jersey City Exile do?
Mayor Bret Schundler launched Project Exile in June 2000.
As a cooperative effort between the local community, and various governmental entities,
Jersey City Exile is working to further reduce crime in Jersey City by using
stiff penalties and extensive advertising.
Project Exile does not require new legislation that further restricts the rights of gun owners.
Instead, Jersey City Exile utilizes a combination of existing Federal and State laws.
Under Federal law, for example, someone who:
- unlawfully possess a firearm is subject to up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine; or
- possess a firearm in relation to any violent crime or drug trafficking offence face an additional, mandatory term of imprisonment of 5 years; or
- is a convicted felon and commits a crime with a firearm may receive up to ten years
in prison regardless of the "degree" of the crime.
All crimes involving firearms, committed within Jersey City,
will be evaluated and referred to the appropriate authorities.
Violations that elicit a potentially stronger punishment from State law will be
tried in local courts, while cases that draw a greater penalty from Federal
law will be referred to Federal authorities.
Who does Jersey City Exile target?
In implementing Project Exile, Mayor Schundler has a single purpose:
to keep serious gun-carrying criminals out of our city.
Jersey City Exile does this by using the law to take them off the street for a
significant period of time, so that they are no longer a threat to our neighborhoods.
Primarily, Jersey City Exile is a community-awareness effort that says,
"If you get caught in a crime with a firearm, you're going to do serious time in prison.
Jersey City Exile means no more second chances."
Summary:
While the three major components of the Mayor's "New War On Poverty" are
tremendously beneficial, Schundler believes that a long-term solution to urban poverty
must concentrate on creating a fiscal climate that will attract businesses and foster job
creation in our urban centers. This will require Jersey City to continue its efforts to
control government spending and reduce taxes.
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Hudson County, New Jersey is a place of many firsts - including genocide and slavery.
Political corruption is a tradition here.
First in a series by Anthony Olszewski – Click HERE to find out more.
Special Improvement District - Downtown Revitalization - Business Improvement District
COMPUTERCRAFT
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