Last weekend the village of Newark experienced one of its biggest tragedies in recent memory. A shooting during the early-morning hours on Saturday along Murray Street left one person dead.
Newark Mayor Jonathan Taylor spoke about that incident in a recent appearance on Inside the FLX.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and his family,” Taylor began. “I felt the response from our police department was very good; and with assistance from state troopers they immediately, and expeditiously began their work once they arrived on-scene.”
As is frequently the case, the Mayor is looking forward.
“This has really led to the village looking at what options we have available to us,” he continued. “In relation to these events, and what we can do to prevent this from happening again.”
While the tragedy has prompted some to consider whether Newark is adequately staffed on the public safety front – Taylor says it comes down to realizing that Newark isn’t alone.
“That’s the challenge facing all communities,” he explained. “How do you respond and what’s appropriate?” He says most residents understand that police can’t be everywhere at once. That said, the one thing residents want – when they dial 911 for emergency services – is for someone to be at the other end of the line.
“Just a couple months ago a resident said to me, ‘If I have a disaster, or catastrophe on my hands, whatever the situation is in a critical time – I don’t care what color the car is that responds’,” Taylor recalled. “He just wants someone to show up, whether it’s a black, white, or blue patrol car.”
It lends itself to the organized approach Taylor has instilled in his administration.
“We really can’t live on an island,” he explained. “Sometimes we look at these things through that lens. We’ll police our own village, and we don’t need anybody’s help. That’s just not the reality of today. We’re going to do the best we can for our department and our community. We’ll staff it and give it the technology to succeed, but we’ll also partner with agencies around us too.”
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