Leader of Newark Bloods sentences to 45 years in prison

NEWARK, NJ — The leader of one of Newark’s most violent street gangs was sentenced June 12 to 540 months, or 45 years, in prison for his admitted role in five murders, an armed carjacking, an armed robbery of a drug dealer, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and drug conspiracy as part […]

NJ Transit police to conduct emergency response drill on Newark Light Rail

NEWARK, NJ — The New Jersey Transit Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management, together with federal, state, county and local partners, will conduct a training exercise on Saturday, May 12, near the Newark Light Rail Atlantic Street station beginning at 8 a.m. The drill, which will gauge responses to a simulated transportation incident, will take […]

NJ Transit police to conduct emergency response drill

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The NJ Transit Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management will conduct a training exercise on Saturday, Nov. 18, at Upper Montclair Train Station in Montclair between 8 a.m. and noon. The public can expect to see an increased police and first responder presence along the tracks near Lorraine Avenue. The drill, which […]

FBI, U.S. marshals warn public of jury duty phone scam

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The FBI’s Philadelphia and Newark Divisions and the U.S. Marshals Service, District of New Jersey, are warning the public about a phone scam being perpetrated by callers impersonating law enforcement or court officials, according to a Nov. 8 FBI release. The scammers say they’re with the U.S. Marshals Service, county sheriff’s […]

Freeholders honor public safety professionals

NEWARK, NJ — The Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders held its 2017 Public Safety Professionals Celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Hall of Records in Newark to commemorate fire officials, police officers and first responders in Essex County for their selfless service. Freeholder President Britnee Timberlake began the program with welcoming remarks, celebrating […]

Two Essex County men arrested for robbing a club at gunpoint

NEWARK, NJ — Two Essex County men were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 24 for their alleged roles in a September 2015 armed robbery of a club in Passaic, according to a press release from acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick. Jimmy Cooper, aka “Flip,” 32, of Irvington, and Keontrae Lawrence, aka […]

Communities respond to anti-Semitism

Religious and government leaders take a firm stand following hateful graffiti, JCC bomb threat

Communities respond to anti-Semitism

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE / WEST ORANGE, NJ — Things have certainly been tense in America in the last few months, with organizations like the ACLU showing a marked increase in anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and racist incidents. Unfortunately, Essex County has also experienced some of this hatred. Residents and officials in Essex County were disheartened during […]

JCCs respond to new wave of bomb threats

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Earlier this week, 11 Jewish community centers received phoned-in bomb threats on Feb. 20. This comes in the aftermath of three waves of bomb threats in January, resulting in, through this most recent wave, 69 incidents at 54 JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province in total. The West Orange […]

JCC evacuates following bomb threat

JCC evacuates following bomb threat

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is investigating a string of bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers throughout North America in January, including one that forced West Orange’s JCC MetroWest to evacuate Jan. 31. FBI spokeswoman Samantha Tucker Shero told the West Orange Chronicle that the […]