'We've had enough!' — pastors say Jersey City is 'in a crisis' over violence
Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
on December 02, 2015 at 5:29 PM, updated December 02, 2015 at 7:22 PM
JERSEY CITY — Enough.
That was the message a group of nearly three dozen religious and community leaders sent today about the violence that has plagued Jersey City's southern neighborhoods in the last two months.
Standing outside a deli at the corner of Old Bergen Road and Neptune Avenue — where Markice Hatten, 33, was fatally shot on Nov. 23 in the city's most recent homicide — the pastors led a prayer service and demanded city police officials meet with them to discuss the violence.
"The police don't seem to have the sense of urgency that we share," the Rev. Mona Fitch-Elliot, of St. John's Lutheran Church, said today.
Jersey City pastors rally against violence A group of pastors gathered in Jersey City on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to denounce the recent spurt of violence in the city's Greenville and Bergen/Lafayette neighborhoods. Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
The pastors, part of a group called Jersey City Together, said they called Police Chief Philip Zacche's office nearly two weeks ago to request he join them for a Dec. 1 meeting to discuss the recent shootings, and followed up with a letter hand delivered on Friday. There was no response, they said today.
"We've had enough," said the Rev. Laurie Wurm, of Grace Church Van Vorst
Hatten was the fifth homicide the city saw in a 12-day period. Since Oct. 16, there have been at least 18 episodes of gun violence and seven shooting deaths, largely concentrated south of Communipaw Avenue. Public Safety Director James Shea has said the police are hampered in their investigations by residents who are "reluctant" to cooperate with officers.
The Jersey Journal asked Mayor Steve Fulop after an event at New Jersey City University this morning to respond to the pastors' complaints, but Fulop said he would not discuss anything off-topic. He told this reporter to "go through the proper channels" and speak to city spokesman Ryan Jacobs.
Jacobs said Zacche does intend to meet with the group at a time that is convenient for both, adding that it is not "unreasonable" for the pastors not to have heard back by today regarding a letter they dropped off the day after Thanksgiving.
"We meet with clergy monthly and (are) always happy to have more community involvement," he said.
Fulop, speaking to the NAACP last week, noted the criminal histories of some of the victims of the recent violence, according to the chapter's president, Bill Braker. Today, the Rev. Tom Murphy, of St. Paul Episcopal Church, said the victims' past criminal deeds are irrelevant — the neighborhoods beset by violence are filled with residents who are afraid to step outside, he said.
"What about the people who live here in this community?" Murphy said. "People in their homes have to live behind bars."
For more than 20 years, Julio Maldonado has lived on Neptune Avenue, less than a block from the deli near where Hatten was killed. Maldonado, 60, who said he installed a high fence in his backyard to stop people fleeing police from cutting through his property, said the area has always been violent but the problem is getting worse.
He said he won't allow his children near the deli.
"That's where it's happening, bro," he said. "It's all about the corner."
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