N.J. Firefighters Use Training Drills to Deter Crime

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Firefighters have started using regular training to increase their presence in the community and help residents feel safer, Chief Dennis Brooks said.

The new outreach began in Bungalow Park, after Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Scott McKnight attended a community meeting there where residents expressed concerns about crime.

"We have certain drills we have to do on the streets at certain times," Brooks said of requirements to drive through sections of the city in preparation for fire calls.

Now, rather than just driving around, the firefighters will engage residents, including turning on the lights of the apparatus.

"We want to be as visible as we can to try to help the residents of these areas," Brooks said.

Station 3, at Grant and Indiana avenues, is the first to participate in the program, but Brooks said officials hope to develop a concrete policy in cooperation with police.

"They've been assisting us up on the Westside," Deputy Police Chief Ernest Jubilee said. "If they see something, they give us a call."

In June, McKnight coordinated a firetruck escort for an anti-violence march through Stanley Holmes Village organized by the local National Action Network. He will continue to attend community meetings and get feedback on how the Fire Department can help, Brooks said.

"This is really a police issue," Brooks said. "But any time there's any kind of crime, it's always best solved when the public is involved."

Two men were gunned down in the first two weeks of the year. On Tuesday, a man was threatened at gunpoint and another stabbed multiple times during an argument in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot.

"We're out on the streets a lot," Brooks said. "We're just trying to be a better partner with the community. Any way we can be a conduit to try to help residents out and ease their concerns, that is our intention."

Jubilee welcomed the effort.

"Anybody who's willing to help us, we'll take that help," he said.

Copyright 2012 - The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service