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is bloomfield nj safe?

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Answer # 1 #

Bloomfield has an overall crime rate of 11 per 1,000 residents, making the crime rate here near the average for all cities and towns of all sizes in America. According to our analysis of FBI crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of crime in Bloomfield is 1 in 94.

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Joshua Blessitt
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Answer # 2 #

After years of climbing crime numbers, the crime rate has dropped significantly in Bloomfield, according to officials.

Since 2014, violent and non-violent crime has fallen, something Mayor Michael Venezia attributes to the 2015 hiring Samuel DeMaio, the director of public safety. DeMaio previously served as the police director for the Newark Police Department and many changes he made to Bloomfield were based on procedures followed in Newark.

"Bringing Director DeMaio on is one of my proudest achievements as mayor and a move that immediately paid dividends," Venezia said.

In 2014, violent crimes peaked at 1,212 after rising for several years, Venezia said in a statement. Murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, car theft and arson are classified by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports as Part 1 violent crimes. Such crimes dropped 14% between 2018 and 2019, from 700 to 600.

It's a trend DeMaio hopes will continue, though he said he knows it's impossible for all crime to disappear.

Since becoming the police director, now known as the director of public safety, DeMaio began changing police department procedures. He attributes creating and updating policies to the success the department has seen.

DeMaio said 40 percent of the department left during the first two years he took over and began restructuring. It's a young department, which includes 125 officers, with only two eligible to retire. Commanders within the department range between their 30s to early 40s.

Every officer is equipped with a body camera and all police cars have cameras as well. DeMaio said the department recently secured money to update the cruisers' aging technology. He said the support from the mayor and council, both financially and in general, has been integral to the department's success.

There is a focus on community policing and daily meetings with police commanders. The department has adjusted the schedule so more officers  cover shifts during evening hours, when the department receives more of its calls. There is also an increasing focus on using crime analysis, crime mapping and predictive policing and transparency.

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DeMaio said they revamped the "cookie-cutter and sporadic" schedule to make sure they have officers out in the community to handle problems and have enough officers on duty when the most calls come in, from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m.

Venezia said DeMaio's leadership "restructured the culture and tactics" in the department. The somewhat dysfunctional environment that had been at the police department when he took over is gone, DeMaio said.

In 2014, two Bloomfield police officers, Orlando Trinidad and Sean Courter, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit official misconduct, tampering with public records, falsifying public records and giving false statements under oath related to an incident in 2012. The pair were convicted of wrongfully arresting and beating a man on the Garden State Parkway and sentenced to five years in prison. A third officer pleaded guilty in 2013 to tampering with records.

The mayor said community policing has helped residents identify officers with being generally helpful beyond responding to emergencies. There have been fewer negative interactions between officers and residents and a higher number of cases closed, according to Venezia.

"We’ve accomplished this by reconstituting the police department with a greater emphasis on working with the community and promoting positive police-citizen encounters through public forums, roll calls, and involvement with public school students and their parents," DeMaio said.

DeMaio said the department has also built partnerships with the FBI, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit and the Essex County Sheriff's Office's narcotics unit, giving them access to resources they do not have within the department.

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Chaim Kampmeier
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