EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor was thankful for someone special this year at Thanksgiving, actually several people: the members of the East Orange Police Department.
Specifically, Taylor said he was thankful to have such a dedicated and professional police force that has managed to continue the trend of a historic decrease in East Orange’s crime rate that began with his predecessor, former Mayor Robert Bowser and Bowser’s police director, Jose Cordero. Taylor said the current police department is managing to avoid many of the abuses of power that have plagued other departments and made national headlines. He used one recent incident to illustrate the merits of the East Orange Police Department.
“We’re excited that we live in a city that’s one of the safest of its size and demographics in the country; and that’s something to be thankful for,” said Taylor on Thursday, Nov. 24. “Just two days ago, we had an unfortunate incident in the city of East Orange, where our law enforcement officers responded to a scene of a transaction involving a weapon and the suspect actually fired their weapon at the police officers. I’m happy to say that our officers did not return fire, but they were able to apprehend the suspect safely, without it ending tragically.”
And that, Taylor said, is something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, in light of incidents involving unarmed black male suspects in other parts of the country. He said it’s nice to know that East Orange police officers are better trained, more experienced, more disciplined and more in sync with the community they protect and serve.
“That’s something that, in this day and time, when we look across our state, as well as our country, with the interaction between law enforcement and the community they serve, they always don’t have a happy ending,” Taylor said. “So I hope and trust that the individual will be held accountable in our justice system. But I also pray and I thank our officers for responding intelligently and exercising discretion where they could.”
Taylor’s Thanksgiving Day remarks stem from an incident that occurred Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 3:45 p.m., when city officials said police received an anonymous tip that two males were observed exchanging a handgun in the area of Park Avenue and North Walnut Street. That information was immediately broadcast to patrol units in the field, and several school resource officers in the area began a search for suspects fitting the description provided.
The suspects were observed by these officers in the area of North Walnut Street, city officials said. As the officers approached both suspects, one fled fleeing south on North Walnut Street and then east on Summit Street, eluding police.
The second suspect — who police and city officials said was observed to be in possession of a handgun — fled into an open lot on North Walnut Street, pursued by two officers. During this pursuit, police said the suspect disregarded commands to stop and instead turned and discharged his weapon in the direction of the pursuing officers, as he continued to flee.
The officers continued to pursue this suspect without firing their weapons, police said, and the suspect eventually discarded his weapon and was shortly apprehended without further incident.
Both Taylor and Public Safety Director Sheilah Coley commended the officers involved in the incident for exercising great restraint despite the circumstances.
“Rather than responding with gunfire, these officers relied on their tactical training and employed sound judgement to de-escalate a situation that easily could have turned out tragically,” Taylor said Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Police said the suspect’s handgun was recovered by the pursuing officers. Further investigation identified the armed suspect as Anthony P. Mitchell, 20, of East Orange, who was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.
Mitchell’s bail has been set at $200,000. Taylor and Coley said if anyone has further information about this incident, they should call the East Orange Police Department Tips Line at 973-266-5041.
“So we’re doing our part in East Orange and again I can’t thank our officers enough,” said Taylor on Thursday, Nov. 24. “Oftentimes, it goes from the top to the bottom — it trickles down — but from the bottom up. I thank them for relying upon their training and expertise in a real-time, real-life situation, because sometimes what you learn in a book is not easy to do in the street. And so I appreciate their diligence in following through in that regard. And that’s just one example of dozens, if not hundreds, of everyday encounters that happen that help make East Orange a safe city, as we’re on our way to a destination city.”
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