Antigang patrols begin along River Line

Police in Burlington County made surprise patrols along the River Line Saturday, the first operation in what Sheriff Jean Stanfield said would be an antigang effort on the five-year-old light-rail line.

The six-hour operation resulted in five arrests of people wanted on warrants, one driving-while-intoxicated arrest, 12 traffic tickets, and several citations to passengers for not paying fares.

No gang-related arrests were made. Nonetheless, Stanfield called it a good night's work.

"You can't measure the prevention value by arrests," she said. "The visibility of officers out there is a strong deterrent, and we were able to gather some intelligence.

"We plan to do it again."

Officers from Bordentown Township, Burlington City, Palmyra, Riverside, NJ Transit, and the Sheriff's Department rode trains and patrolled parking lots and stations along the line, which runs between Camden and Trenton.

The operation cost about $3,000, primarily for overtime for the police officers, Stanfield said. The money came from an antigang fund provided by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

In May, Stanfield said she wanted federal and state support to combat gang crime along the light-rail line. She seeks a $187,071 federal grant and some of the $13.4 million in federal stimulus money that Gov. Corzine is allocating for antigang projects.

Her application for the federal grant cited police accounts of gang activity on the River Line: an assault and robbery, a drug deal, and a fight among gang members, all involving "perpetrators from Camden who used the light rail."

Stanfield wants the federal money to pay overtime for 48 law enforcement operations over two years, boosting patrols on and along the rail line. She said nine towns along the line reported gang crime in 2007, compared with five in 2004.

Some in transportation and law enforcement have expressed skepticism about linking trains to crime.

Criminologist Jon'a Meyer of Rutgers University-Camden said the "benefit the train brings outweighs the chance that an occasional bad guy will use it."

And FBI statistics show that violent crime in most River Line towns has fallen since the service started in 2004.

Of the 12 cities and towns with River Line stations, 10 reported less violent crime in 2007, the latest year for which numbers are available, than in 2004. Only Palmyra and Beverly had higher violent-crime rates than in 2004, and even there, the latest rates were lower than in the early years of the decade.

With property crimes, the trend was mixed. Pennsauken, Palmyra, Riverton, Delanco, Burlington, and Florence had an increase in property crime from 2004 to 2007. The rate dropped in Camden, Cinnaminson, Riverside, Beverly, and Trenton, and there was almost no change in Bordentown.

More unannounced police operations on the River Line will improve safety for residents and passengers, Stanfield said.

"It can't be overstated that the River Line has been a major economic success story for Burlington County that has seen its ridership grow beyond predictions. Our goal is to work cooperatively to maintain the safe environment that River Line customers enjoy," she said.

The issue of crime along the River Line has gotten more attention as plans for a similar line between Camden and Glassboro advance. Some Gloucester County opponents of that line have said they fear it would bring more crime to the small towns along the route.