2003 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

February 21, 2003

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi today unveiled a new suburban crime-fighting program known as STEP - Suburban Targeted Enforcement Partnership. Joined at a news conference in the borough of Lindenwold by Mayor Frank DeLucca Jr., Sarubbi announced that Lindenwold is the first municipality where STEP is being implemented. Also on hand for the announcement were community leaders, apartment complex managers and Lindenwold Police Lt. Stan Lemayski, who represented Lindenwold Police Chief Frank McHenry. The chief was called away on other business and was unable to attend.

"The premise of this strategy is simple: that Camden County residents deserve nothing less than the best public safety effort we can put forward," Sarubbi said. "Only through a coordinated, creative sharing of strengths by all levels of government, working hand-in-hand with our neighborhoods, can we best focus our resources."

Built on collaboration between local police and the Prosecutor's Office, STEP employs traditional law enforcement tactics such as short- and long-term narcotics investigations and street arrests. But the strategy also recognizes that law enforcement agencies can't solve the problems alone.

STEP therefore teams law enforcement officials with residents, municipal government, social service agencies, businesses and faith-based organizations. Together they address issues that foster crime and degrade quality of life, such as neglected properties, noise complaints, loitering and abandoned or blighted homes and cars.

STEP employs a problem-solving philosophy that considers crime prevention through nontraditional means such as environmental design - lighting, roadway conditions, building layout and landscaping. Municipal prosecutors, elected officials, public works employees and code enforcement officers may play key roles, drawing on the experience and expertise of Prosecutor's Office investigators and attorneys.

STEP enables suburban communities to benefit from lessons learned in South Jersey's most challenging public safety environment - the city of Camden. Operation Sunburst, underway in the city since 1999, has achieved unprecedented success in targeted city neighborhoods by attacking crime at every level - from replacing burned out streetlights to demolishing abandoned homes and conducting long-term investigations of drug traffickers. STEP employs the same approach but tailors it to attack pockets of criminal activity in suburban towns throughout the county. Raising residents' quality of life is the ultimate benchmark. "Problem solving" is the guiding principle.

The first step is for officials to listen to the community - no one knows better the challenges and what efforts might yield long-term improvement. Then officials and other stakeholders formulate tailor-made responses.

STEP calls on the local police department to provide two officers to work in the partnership to understand underlying causes of problems and to work toward successful results: a community oriented policing officer and a narcotics detective, since studies show the vast majority of crime is drug-driven. The only other resource needed is access to a computer and printer within the police department.

STEP also groups police departments from the county into two units, one consisting of municipalities from the lower end of the county and one for the upper end, to meet on a regular basis to share intelligence information. The Prosecutor's Office brings legal and investigative expertise, as well as our community outreach experience, gained largely in Camden.

The office will also make available problem-solving software, crime mapping and other technological aids that will allow police to analyze crime and other data and share the information with other departments on an intranet.

In addition, the following Prosecutor's Office will be assigned to work on STEP:

• A community relations officer who will work to create partnerships in the suburbs;
• A narcotics investigator to work with local police;
• An analyst to use crime mapping and other software to gather, enter and interpret data;
• And an assistant prosecutor to do legal research and advise on such issues as towing abandoned cars, landlord responsibility, eviction procedures, drug offender restraining orders and private versus public domain.

STEP positions this county's law enforcement community to deliver on its promise to help maintain a proud, peaceful, safe environment in which all law-abiding citizens can thrive.