Patrolman Perry

Chief Marker.

The public had access to printed material and to talk with officers after the presentation.

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ERMA — Lower Township police saw an increase in calls from 2010 to 2011 in a time when a weak national economy has brought an increase in burglaries and illegal scrapping of metals.

Police Chief Brian Marker told the audience at a community meeting held at the Lower Cape May Regional high School Auditorium Tue., Feb. 7, the department answered over 1,000 more calls in 2011 than in 2010.

“I know how hard our officers are working as they are going from call to call, responding to the emergency needs of our community,” said Marker.

He said police and citizens needed to work together.

Patrolman Mike Perry said home burglaries were on the rise, nationally not just locally. He said most burglaries in the township were occurring in the daytime when most people are at work.
Perry said police were seeing a number vehicle burglaries with many of the vehicles left unlocked by their owners.

“Lately, we’ve had a rash of vehicles that have been entered through forced entry, through damage to windows,” he said.
Items were left in plain view inside the cars, said Perry.

He said arrests were made recently for criminal mischief, for stones thrown thru vehicle windows.

Perry said a large amount of property damage involved juveniles particularly during night time hours. He said some of the property damage seemingly happens for no reason.

The department has been dealing with unlawful scrapping of recyclable materials. Perry said a local ordinance prohibits scrapping items from someone’s yard or by their trash can without receiving permission of the resident.
He urged citizens to call police if they see something being removed from someone’s yard or trash such as metals. He said copper pipe and aluminum has been removed from job sites.
There has been a trend of stealing ground wires from telephone poles with an arrest being made, said Perry.

Other community policing issues include unruly rental property tenants, underage drinking and unregistered vehicles. Perry said a vehicle may be parked in one spot for a long period of time with our without tag, flat tires and sometimes, no tires. He said police will respond to such complaints and may be able to remove the vehicle from the street.

Perry said police should contacted for persistent speeding problems in a neighborhood.

Lower Township has a curfew law for juveniles. He said when juveniles are out late, there are rarely up to any good. Juveniles under age 14 are required to be home by 10 p.m. and cannot leave the residence without a parent or guardian until 6 a.m. year-round.
Juveniles ages 14 to 17, from Sept. 15 to May 15, must be home from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

From May 15 to Sept. 15, juveniles must be home by midnight until 6 a.m.

Perry said a parent or guardian is not an 18-year old brother or sister. Exemptions to the curfew law include traveling to and from work or a medical emergency.

“There’s also something called parental responsibility,” said Perry. “In the local ordinance it states a parent is responsible to know where your son or daughter is located at all times and you’re going to be held responsible if not.”

At first offense, a written warning is issued. A second subsequent offense in a calendar year results in a summons, he said.
Perry said it is issued for a curfew violation and for parental responsibility. Fines and penalties can be issued up to $1,000 and 180 days of community service.
Perry said the parent can be forced to serve the community service with their child.

He said community policing included Cop Stop where residents can meet an officer at a Wawa store or the Millman Center. Perry said officers stop in schools in their zone and eat lunch with students when possible.
The Drug Abuse Resistant Education (DARE) program has been in schools for nine years. Perry said the program provides youth with a positive outlook on law enforcement and provides activities.
Perry is the School Resource Officer (SRO) for Lower Cape May Regional High School. He said his job involved law enforcement, being an educator and a mentor.

“It’s really good to be able to help troubled children that are at risk in our community, to stay on the right track and not make bad decisions,” said Perry.