New Jersey Must Return What They’ve Taken From Atlantic City

James Sarkos is a truly dynamic and outstanding Atlantic City Deputy Chief of Police. Sarkos is also the current Acting Officer in Charge.

The position is kinda, sorta like a “Chief,” but, it’s not a Chief. This must be corrected as soon as possible.

I wrote an opinion editorial a few weeks ago calling for the state of New Jersey to officially promote Sarkos to Chief without delay.

Sarkos has the full support of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small for the promotion. There is no excuse for the extended delay in promoting Sarkos.

Sarkos has earned it, and, the good order of the Atlantic City Police Department demands it.

Addressing this critical leadership issue now is an imperative.

Additionally, the draconian staffing cuts that the state of New Jersey has made in Atlantic City over the past several years is a big problem.

The crime statistics that we’re going to share amplify this point.

There is a resource called NeighborhoodScout.com

They meticulously comb through raw data from more than 18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the United States.

The most recent complete crime data that is available is from year 2019. This data was released by the FBI in 2020.

They have analyzed 9.4 million crimes that were committed in The United States and then they break it down by individual cities.

This is Atlantic City’s Crime Index:

A crime index score of 3 is really bad, as compared to 100, which represents the safest.

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The chances of becoming a victim of a property crime in Atlantic City is 1 in 22. In all of New Jersey, it’s 1 in 75.

The chances of becoming the victim of a violent crime in Atlantic City is 1 in 117. In all of New Jersey, it’s 1 in 483.

Here’s a graphic of total year 2019 Violent crimes in Atlantic City:

Here are your chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in Atlantic City:

Here’s a graphic of total year 2019 property crimes in Atlantic City:

This look at crimes per square mile paints a disturbing picture:

Here is a look at Property Crime in Atlantic City:

According to NeighborhoodScout.com, here are the safest neighborhoods in Atlantic City:

Reminder, these statistics lag by two years. They do tell the disturbing public safety story of a great destination resort, whereby more than 30 million visitors come to Atlantic City each and every year.

More people visit Atlantic City each year then vacation at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

When the state evaluates Atlantic City’s public safety needs, they must use the 30 million visitors number and not the fact that they are 37,000 residents.

Atlantic City needs a Chief of Police (Sarkos), along with appropriate increases in overall staffing.

The time is now.

I remain bullish on Atlantic City. I also strongly believe that these crime statistics can be successfully addressed.

The state of New Jersey must step up and return what they’ve taken from the Atlantic City Police Department; as well as what they’ve done to the residents and visitors of Atlantic City.

In conclusion, I’m reporting these statistics not to speak ill of Atlantic City. I love Atlantic City. I believe in Atlantic City. We hold a personal financial investment in Atlantic City.

I am filing this report in order to urge the state of New Jersey to step up and do the right thing.

The state’s leading industry, the Atlantic City Casino jurisdiction is doing their part and delivering record numbers.

They directly and materially benefit the City and the entire state with their outstanding performance.

It’s time now for my friend Governor Phil Murphy to step up and make Atlantic City whole.

SOURCE: NeighborhoodScout.com