Press Release:
June 26, 2021; Theft; At approximately 11:50 pm a customer entered the Wawa on Springfield Ave and accidentally left their phone on the counter. When they returned to retrieve it, the phone had been stolen.
June 26, 2021; Stolen Motor Vehicle; During the overnight hours an unsecured vehicle containing a key was stolen from Lenox Pl. The vehicle was recovered in East Orange after being involved in a collision.
July 3, 2021; Stolen Motor vehicle; At approximately 8:15 pm a vehicle left running in the driveway of a Jacoby St home was stolen.
July 5, 2021; Theft from Auto; At approximately 3:30 am two males were observed inside of an unsecured vehicle in the driveway of a home on Orchard Rd. The males fled the scene with a small amount of cash from the vehicle.
Between June 22nd and July 6th there was also two shoplifting incidents.
July 7, 2021; Armed Robbery; At approximately 10:25 pm a male walking on Burnett Ave near Tuscan St was robbed at gun point. While the victim was walking, a silver SUV drove up next to him and stopped. A male passenger asked the 23 year old victim what time it was and then exited the vehicle demanding his belongings. At this time, the passenger displayed a handgun and went through the victim's pockets. The actor took the victim's cell phone, Ipods, wallet and cash before reentering the vehicle which fled towards Union on Burnett Ave. Following the robbery, the victim returned to his home in Union before contacting the police. The victim was not injured during the incident. The Maplewood Police Department is actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Maplewood Detective Bureau.
July 9, 2021; At approximately 8:53 pm, Maplewood Officers were dispatched to the area of Hughes St after receiving multiple calls of an individual shot. When officers arrived, they located two males, one 21 and one 23 years old (Maplewood residents) that had been shot. Both males were transported to University Hospital for treatment and are still hospitalized. The Maplewood Police Department Detective Bureau is actively investigating this incident. At this time, it appears that the victims were targeted and that this is an isolated incident. It is unclear at this point if a vehicle was involved or related to the incident. It should be noted that upon our arrival, we were getting reports from area residents of persons running through their yards. Several persons were detained and interviewed by detectives. No suspects have been arrested or identified at this time. Officers have completed a thorough canvass of the area for witnesses, evidence and video. Officers went door to door last night and this morning to address neighborhood safety and concerns moving forward. Anyone with video, information or other tips pertaining to this incident are asked to send it to Detective Baez at cbaez@twp.Maplewood.nj.us. Individuals can provide their information or remain anonymous.
July 9, 2021; Bicycle Theft; During the morning hours an unsecured bicycle was stolen from Columbia High School.
July 10, 2021; Motor Vehicle Theft; At approximately 4 pm, two males on bicycles entered an unsecured vehicle parked on North Crescent. One of the males then drove off with the vehicle as the key fob was left in it.
July 16, 2021; Bicycle Theft; An unsecured bicycle left at St Joseph’s Church was stolen during the daytime hours.
July 20, 2021: Motor Vehicle Theft; At approximately 1:30 pm a vehicle left running on Oakland Rd. was stolen.
July 21, 2021: Motor Vehicle Theft; A vehicle parked on Slater Pl. with the key fob left inside of it was stolen between 4-5:30 pm.
July 21, 2021: Motor Vehicle Theft; A vehicle parked on Oakland Rd., with the keys inside of it, was stolen between 10:30-10:45 am.
Between July 9th and July 21st there was also four shoplifting incidents.
The Maplewood Police Department works hard to protect the residents and their property. We are asking that you assist us in this effort by making sure all vehicles and homes are properly secured at all times. All charges are merely accusations. Each suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Thank You
Statement From Chief DeVaul
June 3rd, 2020
To Our Maplewood Community,
As Chief of the Maplewood Police, I would like to address the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hand of Police Officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Firstly, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the entire Floyd family for their tragic loss. I am personally outraged at this senseless loss of life. This man died as result of an accusation that he passed a counterfeit $20.00 bill. I am having trouble grasping the reality of this situation. If $20.00 is the value of a human life, then nobody is safe. George Floyd was treated without regard for humanity. There are no excuses for what happened to Mr. Floyd. He was handcuffed, held down by multiple officers, one of which had their knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck and made him suffer as he gasped for air and pleaded for help. These officers must be held responsible for their actions including those who just stood by and did not help Mr. Floyd.
In full transparency, I must acknowledge this Police Department has dealt with complaints of excessive force and misconduct in the past. I recognized that this history would change the relationship between Police and the community for many years to come. As the new Police Chief, I assembled a team of qualified diverse officers to help change the culture in the Police Department. There was no room for excuses or denial. We have learned a great many things along the way and that the officers would not accept change easily. Rebuilding trust and relationships in the community could not be set on a timetable and would have to be earned.
The Department established goals and objectives as part of this change in culture.
- Be a completely open and transparent Department.
- Adopt a “Community Oriented Policing” model putting residents first.
- Create a Community Services Bureau in support of this model of Policing.
- Treat all persons with dignity and respect.
- Support the creation of a Community Board on Police
- Collaborate with the Community Board on Police to make the vital necessary changes to achieve our goals.
- Making Body Cameras standard issued equipment
- Requiring Making Body Cameras be used on all calls with very few exceptions.
- Supervisors Conduct random reviews of body camera video for compliance.
- Hold our officers and supervisors to a much higher standard.
- Not to overlook small violations as they only lead to larger problems.
- Increase officer training and establish expectations as one method of reducing discipline and internal affairs complaints.
- Implement a Juvenile Restorative Justice Initiative as part of Stationhouse Adjustments
- Recruitment candidates of color from the community to reflect our community.
- Conduct de-escalation and peer to peer training annually at a minimum.
Why do these types of tragedies continue to happen?
Simply, it is a lack of vision, accountability and follow up. Change in department policy must be real and not just politics. And it must be accompanied with a comprehensive plan.
Law Enforcement Executives can expect that there will be limited or no help from outside agencies.
First there must be acknowledgement that change is necessary.
The department must commit to change as we stand shoulder and shoulder with our community.
The Law Enforcement Executive should prepare a plan to the Appropriate Authority for review.
A plan with goals, objectives, timelines, accountability requirements and ways to measure the effectiveness of not only the plan but its implementation. The plan must be publicly available for the entire community to read. It is crucial for the Law Enforcement Executive and the entire Command Staff to know all aspects of the plan. They will have to deliver a unified message to all personnel on how they can take personal ownership in their part of the plan. The plan must include reporting from the Law Enforcement Executive to be effective. There must be a performance evaluation mechanism for the Law Enforcement Executive as well.
To enact change and provide true justice, employment laws need to be changed or strengthened to make it easier to terminate officers before a tragedy occurs.
The public is outraged and rightfully so because they don’t trust or believe that anything will change.
Take responsibility!
Hold people accountable! Be accountable!
Don’t defend or make excuses for bad officers!
Don’t ignore what is right in front of you!
Don’t let this happen in your community!
Take a stand for what is best for our community!
Respectfully,
Chief DeVaul