By Elizabeth Wulfhorst
MIDDLETOWN – Mayor Tony Perry called Middletown “one of the safest towns, not just in New Jersey but in America” at a press conference this week, but noted that feeling of security is waning as the entire county – and state – sees a rise in auto thefts.
With harsh words and, at times, vehement deliveries, officials from across the county spoke about the need for action in dealing with a problem that has been growing in the past few months.
“As elected officials, our No. 1 priority must and will continue to be public safety,” Perry said.
According to statistics through March 31 from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, vehicle thefts are up 105 percent over the same time period in 2021, when 63 cars were stolen. The chart displayed at the press conference showed 129 thefts through March 31; while speaking at the May 3 event, Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said there had been 158 vehicle thefts since Jan. 1. The theft of high-end vehicles is up 183 percent over last year’s numbers, with the BMWs and Land Rovers among the most popular makes stolen.
Notably, in most of the thefts, owners left the car doors unlocked and the key fobs in the car. In one instance a driver left the car running in a parking lot while entering a store.
Officials at the press conference Tuesday listed a number of issues they feel are directly responsible for the rise in these thefts.
At the end of last year New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew Platkin instituted guidelines for law enforcement curbing vehicle pursuits. Friday his office walked back those guidelines after many, including some of those present Tuesday, complained the new rules have directly led to the increase in thefts. The guidelines were meant to limit the danger imposed by high-speed pursuits to officers and civilians. According to the state, “over 10 percent of vehicular pursuits end up in accidents resulting in injuries or fatalities.”
Perry noted he was “happy” Platkin backpedaled on the nonpursuit guidelines but said that is “just one very, very small component of this problem.”
Gov. Phil Murphy also announced Friday that $10 million in funds have been allocated from the American Rescue Plan to expand the state’s automatic license plate recognition program. Departments can apply to the state for grant funding. But both Perry and Golden noted the county already utilizes the technology – which uses high-speed cameras to read and store images of license plates to track stolen vehicles – to a great extent.
“We in Monmouth County have one of the most comprehensive and cooperative and probably the most intense plate reader system in the state,” said Golden.
“Throwing money at this problem is also not a solution,” added Perry.
Golden suggested bail reform was another factor in the increase in thefts, noting that many of the perpetrators are repeat offenders who had been arrested but released pending court hearings, only to commit the same crime again. As an example, he noted a person was arrested March 30 for vehicle theft and released the following day from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. That person was rearrested for vehicle theft April 7 and released April 19.
He urged stronger penalties for those who engage in this type of crime and even more repercussions for those who use juveniles to steal cars, noting that “inner city” crime rings use 17-year-olds as “mules because they fully well know that the 17-year-olds will be caught and released.”
“It should be a tiered system,” Golden said. “The ‘three strikes you’re out’ should apply when it comes to motor vehicle theft,” including for juveniles who reoffend. “Juveniles should no longer get stationhouse adjustments if they continue to reoffend and be rearrested.”
And individuals in the car rings who use juveniles “should be held to a higher standard, mandatory minimums without exception, and should be sentenced accordingly,” Golden said. He also asked for mandatory sentencing and increased penalties for car thieves using “electronic tagging,” like GPS tracking, during a theft.
Golden also called on community leaders to “speak up and speak out” and “set an example” for young people so they know this type of behavior is wrong.
Shrewsbury Mayor Erik Anderson said at the conference that local officials would be submitting a letter to the United States Attorney General asking the federal government to “intervene and help destroy the criminal rings that are terrorizing our community.” He said his hope was that federal “resources, stiffer penalties and tougher laws” could help reduce the thefts.
Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn (R-13), who has only been in office since January, also spoke at the press conference, announcing her and Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger’s (R-13) decision to draft legislation that would address the issue.
“People are frightened in our district,” Flynn said. “I’m frightened. I have new drivers in my house and I’m worried about their safety every time they pull up in the driveway and if they’re one second too long, there might be someone who might come up to them.”
Golden noted at the press conference that most of the thefts are of unattended vehicles from driveways and a few garages, with very few involving any contact between the victim and the perpetrator. “We don’t have any aggravated assault, not that I know of, with these particular cases” where keys were stolen from inside a home, he said, but added some instances did “involve carjacking, where they are physically removing somebody from the car, or pushing them out of the way to get into the car.”
The Two River Times reached out to the sheriff’s office requesting exact numbers for these occurrences but was told that specific data is not available. Data does show that overall incidences of burglary and theft (from homes, businesses and cars) was down from 2020 to 2021, according to the sheriff’s office.
Monmouth County Commissioners Director Thomas A. Arnone also spoke at the press conference, supporting the efforts of local municipalities to combat the thefts. He noted he was there with a number of other elected officials to show that “we will stick together through the county and give whatever resources we need to, obviously, our police departments, because we truly are a supportive county of law enforcement.”
The sheriff’s office provided numbers for car thefts by town for the time period Jan. 1 through March 31. The municipality with the largest increase year-to-year over the same time period was Monmouth Beach with three thefts last year and 10 this year. Oceanport and Atlantic Highlands saw drops while Middletown stayed the same, with seven thefts each year. The following shows Two River-area towns with the number of thefts in 2021 and 2022:
Atlantic Highlands 1, 0; Colts Neck 0, 2; Fair Haven 1, 2; Highlands 0, 0; Holmdel 2, 2; Little Silver 1, 2; Middletown 7, 7; Monmouth Beach 3, 10; Oceanport 3, 1; Red Bank 3, 3; Rumson 4, 6; Sea Bright (unreported); Shrewsbury 0, 3; Tinton Falls 4, 4.
The article originally appeared in the May 5 – 11, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times. It was updated online May 9, 2022 to include theft statistics from the sheriff’s office.
